The much that is being done to promote Igbo culture particularly the language has failed to extend the campaign to embrace Christmas season long holidays. Every community in Igboland bubbles with activities within this period as the returnees comprised sons and daughters in diaspora.
Hitherto, saboteurs of the language have made strong presence in rural communities where in some cases, English, Hausa and Yoruba languages are in competition among the returnees.
Being a cosmopolitan race, the scope of the aberration is astonishingly high with others not so gifted or lucky in mastering these languages being flaunted by returnees striving to do so in the coming year. The way out of the cultural impasse is to revisit our roots and rediscover the missing links causing the distortions.
The first step may be to undertake a census of Igbo homes where English language is still the lingua franca and blacklist such homes.
Another stiff measure involves closing down all nursery and kindergarten schools where the mother tongue is English and not the indigenous language. Because cultural disorientation is manifestedly infectious, no efforts should be spared by the government in uprooting the cancer at its tender stages.
Politics aside, leaders of the South-East Geo-political zone must appraise the challenge as beyond partisan politics and work together to protect their common cultural heritage. Linguists in various parts of the world who communicate in five to seven languages do so without sacrificing the indigenous language.
Igbos in diaspora must be actively involved in the crusade to rescue Igbo language from self destruction. They can do this and more by designating Igbo language the official lingua franca in the homes. To fast track the journey back to the root, Igbo political leaders should declare the 26th of every December as Igbo National Day where the medium of expression from dawn to dusk must be Igbo language. The Day will also feature drama and idiomatic expressions in Igbo, wrestling and Igbo traditional music.
In South-Eastern states like Imo, the conceived Community Government Council should conduct 80 percent of its activities in Igbo language. Being a grass root government, only the recording and the reading of the minutes should violate the language code. The Imo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Barr Lady Nnanna Okoro should reflect on this and work towards the actualization of the suggestion in 2013 Christmas long break.
