Social media influencer Reno Omokri has called on the Federal Government to include Nigerian languages such as Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba as official languages.
Omokri, in a statement on his verified X page on Wednesday, noted that the inclusion of Nigerian languages as co-official languages in the country would help promote the rich culture and heritage of Nigeria.
He mentioned that many Nigerian languages, such as the Igbo language, may go into extinction in 50 years if appropriate steps are not taken to stop their extinction.
Omokri, who mentioned that countries like South Africa and Canada have multiple official languages, urges the federal government to take a leaf from their pages.
Omokri’s statement reads, “Why should English be our only official language? Why can’t Nigeria be like Canada, India, and South Africa, which all have multiple official languages?
“Look, whether we like it or not, Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba are the most spoken native languages in Nigeria. What is wrong with making them co-official languages with English?
“I can understand smaller ethnic nationalities being upset, but we need to educate them on the need to develop our culture. There are multiple languages in South Africa, too, but they have taken the pragmatic step of promoting the major ones as official languages.
“Yoruba and Hausa may survive. But if we do not take this step, it is more than 100% certain that Igbo and many other languages will die out in fifty years.
“And Nigerian banks, telecommunications companies, other large corporations, and even the Federal Government should do their part to promote our culture. When I see their job advertisements, I often get irritated.
“They say things like, ‘Ability to speak good English is a must’. What nonsense! If you are hiring a person to work in Ibadan, then the advertisement should read, ‘Ability to speak good Yoruba is a must.
“Also, speaking good English will give you an edge’. If they are employing for the Kaduna office, then the announcement should highlight Hausa.
“If in Enugu, then Igbo. We cannot keep on promoting only English in corporate Nigeria. We are killing our culture and building European culture!”
