By Paul Chika Emekwulu
John L. Mason, an American minister, motivational author, president and founder of Insight International, an organization that helps people pursue and fulfill their dreams, in his book, A Enemy Called Average says: “The most unprofitable item ever manufactured is an excuse. Don’t sit back and take what comes. Go after what you want.”
Who is this message for? The above and the entire message is primarily for those parents, parent or guardian in the Diaspora and unfortunately, the motherland who always shop for excuses why their child doesn’t speak Igbo language but attend classes in other languages notably German, French and Spanish.
It is a message of hope not a message of hopelessness, it is a message of encouragement and not a message of discouragement.
Now, I’ve been delaying writing this article for an obvious reason waiting for the psychological moment to do so. There is no better time to do it than this time of festivity (Christmas time). This is a time when parents and some if not all the members of a household living in big cities like Abuja, Lagos, Enugwu, Benin, Aba, Ibadan, Portharcourt etc. are home for Christmas celebration.
Whether you are living in a big city or in the village, it is well known to us all that Igbo Language is experiencing a lot of problems. No pretense about it. Unfortunately, some of these problems were self-inflicted because they were created by the very owners of the language – the native speakers not by non-native speakers.
It has already been predicted by UNESCO, the educational arm of UN that by the year 2050 the Igbo Language would be extinct. God forbid!
Now watching Bro. Evangelist Chukwuebuka Obi of Zion Ministry, Lagos, made me remember all the books I’ve written and still writing about the Igbo Language. These books include Faces of Igbo Language, Somebody Should Help Me: Asụsụ Igbo Na-ada Ụmị, When Spell Your Name in Igbo is Equivalent to Spell Your Igbo Name in Igbo and The “U” Point with a Keke Driver etc.
Each book deals with a specific problem or problems about the Igbo Language, at times crossing each other’s path though that is not too common. These problems have nothing to do with Igbo grammar, comprehension or composition as some readers will erroneously think. These problems which come collectively under what I call the anglicizing movement include vowel interchange, mixed spelling syndrome etc
.
By anglicizing movement I mean
any formal or informal deliberate act done either implicitly or explicitly aimed at belittling the Igbo Language in favor of the English Language or any other foreign language.
Vowel interchange occurs whenever the vowels u, o and i are interchanged for ụ, ọ and ị respectively. Any time vowel interchange occurs, a crime has been committed against the Igbo Language, though metaphorically, and also, an election has been rigged, rigging being a dishonest act.
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Examples are: Diocese of Aguata (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) for Diocese of Agụata, Ekwulobia (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) Urban Mass for Ekwulọbịa Urban Mass, Ndi (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) Anambra for Ndị Anambra, Diocese of Ekwulobia (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) for Diocese of Ekwulọbịa, Isuofia (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) for Isuọfịa, Okonkwo (spelt in English and pronounced in Igbo) for Okonkwọ etc.
Dear parents, how can you spell an Igbo name, place or thing in English and pronounce it in Igbo? Mama Emeka and Papa Emeka doing so is sheer dishonesty and disrespect towards the Igbo Language. When this is being done what we are saying is that there is no difference between u and ụ, no difference between o and ọ, and no difference between i and ị. That is exactly what is being said and that doesn’t look good when written and of course, that doesn’t sound good when said.
If spelling in English language and pronouncing in Igbo were to be a crime, most Igbo Language native speakers will be serving different prison sentences, depending on the severity of the spelling situation. Some will be released as soon as they arrive but that doesn’t mean that a crime was not committed against a language.
This situation can be compared to traffic lights for those of us who don’t obey the lights where there is no difference anymore between red and green lights.
Generally, you cannot spell names, places and things in one language and pronounce in a different language, no matter how similar the alphabets are. So, specifically, no matter how similar English and Igbo alphabets are, you cannot spell in English and pronounce in Igbo.
In any conceivable situation in life, once you can identify evil in such, you’ll discover that Albert Einstein’s views on good and evil that the world is dangerous not because of those who do the evil but because of those who do not want to do anything about it becomes a sub routine as in computer programming. In other words, we can call upon his views to describe the evil situation.
One of such situations is a child’s inability to speak the Igbo Language. Dear parents your child’s inability to speak the Igbo Language is metaphorically evil. At times you hear things like:
“My child understands the Igbo Language when spoken to, but he doesn’t speak the language.”
“He was born in the States (US) so she can’t speak Igbo.”
“She was born in Lagos. She can’t understand you. Please speak English to her.”
“She was born in Abuja. She can only speak English and German.”
Unfortunately, some parents or guardians take pride in saying these things. Yes, we all know, no pretense about it that true American accent is admired all over the world. Should that prevent your child from speaking his or her mother tongue? The answer is no.
We have to bear these other things in mind. First, understanding a non-native language and not able to speak the non-native language is not as dangerous as understanding one’s native language and not able to understand one’s native language. Second, understanding one’s native language and not able to speak one’s native language is not synonymous with understanding a non-native language and not able to speak a non-native language.
The Igbos are the only group in the world and the only tribe in Nigeria that hate their language. As Igbo people, your child’s mother tongue is the Igbo Language. It is a part of his or her identity, a part of who he or she is. By refusing to teach your child the Igbo Language you are denying your identity thereby stripping your child of his or her identity as well.
The West African French colony, Ivory Coast now has a new name made up of two words. The first is Cote with an accent mark on top of the letters “C” and “e” while the second is written as d’Ivoire. These accent marks (called diacritics) are there anytime, anywhere, wherever and whenever they appear not sometimes but at all times and everywhere. Their lingua franca, French retains these accent marks when written, otherwise it will mean something else.
Dear parents, stop comparing Igbo Language with other languages. That is exactly what some, if not most of you are doing.
My dear parents, listen to this. This is serious. To be technologically or scientifically literate, rejecting the Igbo Language is not a pre-requisite, has never been and will never be.
“Languages are like butterflies in the wind. Some fly higher than others. Each flies the best it can. Each is beautiful, each is different. Why compare one against the other?” Speakers of every language should be proud of their language and stop the comparison.
There exists similarity between English and French alphabets. Because of this similarity English and French speakers don’t despise the individuality in the letter sounds, but that’s exactly what we are doing with English and Igbo alphabets. This is unfair to sense impression and very unfair to speakers of the Igbo Language. We forget that in any language it is only when you spell words the way they should be spelt, write words the way they should be written and pronounce them the way they should be pronounced that your speech starts getting closer to that of the native speaker and that’s when you start being understood by the majority.
So, my dear parents in the diaspora and the motherland, notwithstanding where you reside, whether you live in the US (Seattle, California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington D. C., Houston, Atlanta, Connecticut, Dallas, Tulsa, Oklahoma City etc.), UK, Canada and so on, this entire message is for you. Listen to this story.
On the 20th of April 2022, an Igbo woman and her son living in the United States appeared on a live program with Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi of Zion Ministry, Lagos. She came to testify to the goodness of the Lord towards her family. She started her story by telling how she lost her husband in a ghastly motor accident in January 2020 and her mum in February of the same year.
“Nwa gị ọ na-asụkwa Igbo?”
The excited Evangelist asked the woman.
“Yes,” replied the proud mother. .
“Ọ na-ekpe ekpere n’Igbo,” she continued.
He turned to her son and asked:
“Were you born in America?”
“Yes,” the boy confirmed.
“Where in America?”
“New York,” he responded.
“Kedụ aha gị?”
“Aha m bụ Jọshụa Omekaokwudịlị,” the boy answered.
Evangelist Ebuka Obi then turned in the direction of the audience and started preaching. He specifically condemned those parents living in the UK, US or Canada whose children don’t speak the Igbo Language. He said it was a parental fault for that to have occurred in the first place. He then compared the situation to children born in Lagos who don’t speak their mother tongue.
Continuing the man of God said, “If your children don’t know how to speak your language, and don’t bear your name, you are a slave.”
He also compared the Igbo situation with the other two major languages in Nigeria. The Evangelist said that the Hausas and the Yorubas don’t disrespect their languages as the Igbo people do and when you speak Igbo in some places instead of English, you are considered being what he called “Igbotic.”
“Call me Igbotic,” the man of God told his audience who was listening with rasp attention.
My dear parents, now having listened to the Evangelist, the woman and her son, let’s ponder over these questions:
(aj Is teaching your child his or her mother tongue synonymous with teaching him or her how to do drugs?
(b) Is teaching your child his or her mother tongue synonymous with teaching him or her how to be a criminal?
(c) Is teaching your child his or her mother tongue synonymous with facing the firing squad?
(d) Is teaching your child his or her mother tongue synonymous with teaching him or her how to be a yahoo boy or a yahoo girl?
My dear parents, if your answer to the above questions is all no, then why not do the right thing and the right thing is allowing your child to experience the joy of expressing himself or herself in the language of his or her parents?
Here is another story. Listen to this.
The story is about another Igbo woman whose four children were born and raised in the United States. Their parents never took the time to teach them the Igbo Language. Now not taking enough quality time to teach your child his or her mother tongue (a type of input) could be regarded as sowing sparingly despite other things available to the child through you the parent or guardian. Such a decision will result in reaping sparingly and reaping sparingly means your child will either understand the language when spoken but never speak the language or not able to understand the language and speak the language. You will agree with me that this is a type of output. It is an outcome. Undoubtedly, a lot of you parents can relate to this and similar stories. Can’t you?
Now listen to this my dear parents. In 2 Corinthians 9:6, the word of God says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Also listen to this from Galatians 6:7 where the word of God affirms, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows that will he also reap.” Do you want to sow sparingly and reap sparingly or do you want to sow bountifully and reap bountifully? It is a choice, a choice you’ll either regret or rejoice in.
Occasionally the woman and her children visited Nigeria and whenever they do, they stay in their house in Lagos.
Now at a certain age in our lives some mistakes can be corrected while others can’t and failure to teach a child his or her mother tongue is one of them.
When this mother was busy working from job to job while in the US she side-stepped the responsibility of teaching these children the Igbo Language. Like Nigerian drivers who use impatience as an excuse to disobey the lights, she used job as an excuse for not doing what she was supposed to do when these children were little. As far as these children are concerned, English is their first language, of course. What this means is that the parents or the guardians shouldn’t worry about their children’s English skills, spoken and written. They are already speaking the language. They speak at school, they communicate in English with their peer groups etc.
What this mother who is now crying over spilt milk should have done was to concentrate on teaching her children the Igbo Language at home. This is exactly what most Asian and Hispanic parents and guardians are doing with their children born in the United States from generation to generation.
If the Nigerian mother ever communicated with her children and I know she did, she should have left the English aspect to the school, speak and teach the Igbo Language at home most of the time and stop giving excuses.
Most Chinese parents do it so well as well for Chinese language and have books on it.
By not exposing them and therefore, not teaching them the Igbo Language she made them to lose interest.
The woman in question is now retired and back to Nigeria. Her children are still in the US and now at the time she appeared on the program she was planning to adopt. Reason: Her children vowed never to come back to Nigeria and maintained that America is their home and have nothing to do with Nigeria anymore.
As far as these children are concerned, they needed or still need that one Sadducee who, through direct spiritual experience (not through faith) could have changed the unbelief of some other Sadducees in angelic spirits. In other words, these children need to learn from that one of them who was born outside Nigeria but not only understands the Igbo language but speaks and writes in the language as well. Such could serve as a role model.
No Igbo man or woman anywhere in the world has ever been and will ever be asked to present a certificate of rejection of the Igbo Language before being admitted into an English Language class or as a pre-requisite (requirement) for mastering the English Language or any other foreign language.
In conclusion, my dear parents in the Diaspora and the motherland, as one of my last words to you, listen to me. The New Year is fast approaching and very soon we’ll all be engaged with our various New Year resolutions. Yes, at times change is difficult and this is one of them. Why not resolve today to teach your child his or her heritage language – the Igbo Language?, You will not regret doing so.
Unless we individually and collectively regard the anglicizing movement as evil, and take up arms against it, we shall be bequeating this silent movement to our children and future generations and we know what that means. The anglicizing movement as far as Igbo Language is concerned is evil. Reject it! It is a war – a war between good and evil. Choose wisely
In Matthew 11:15, the word of God says, “A word is enough for the wise. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Asụsụ Igbo ga-adị. Ọ gaghị anwụ. Igbo Kwenu!
Happy New Year to all of you!
