Inauguration of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) driven Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) moved to its North-East Zone recently. The opening ceremony of the maiden edition there took place at the main auditorium of the State Cultural Centre located at Ribadu Square in Yola.
Declaring the event open, the Special Guest of Honour, and Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Gibson Nathaniel, who was represented by the House Committee Chairman on Information and Culture, Hon. (Barr.) Sadiq Ibrahim, commended Dr. Ayakoroma for the bold initiative of making Nigerians appreciate each other’s culture by learning and speaking an indigenous Nigerian language other than their own mother tongue.
Since NICO was set up with the primary responsibility of harnessing our cultural resources to meet the challenges of social integration, peace, unity and national development, the Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme has defined the role of the Institute as the pivot through which Nigerians can be effectively mobilised towards a culture-oriented lifestyle, he submitted.
Concluding, Rt. Hon. Nathaniel stressed that against the backdrop of the importance attached to protecting our indigenous languages from imminent extinction, government recently formulated a policy, which makes it mandatory for secondary schools students to offer one Nigerian language compulsorily. He then encouraged all concerned, both old and young, to take pride in their mother tongues and other Nigerian languages.
In his Welcome Address, the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, noted that as the first in the zone, it is the Institute’s sincere belief that the Indigenous Language Programme will foster unity and a sense of cultural identity and awareness in the community, as well as appreciation of our intangible cultural heritage.
The essence of the exercise therefore, according to Dr. Ayakoroma, is to collectively address, as a Nation, the dangers posed by foreign cultures which have affected many aspects of our daily existence.
“There is need for us to go back to our cultural values in order to stem the tide of western or foreign cultural imperialism,” he emphasised, noting that “because of the total erosion of our cultural values, people are beginning to realise that the only way out of the doldrums is to go back to our primordial cultural norms and ethos.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Adamawa State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Musa Bubakari Kamale, described culture as embodiment of our norms and values. He enjoined attendees and participants to attach importance to the programme and all the attention it deserves, reminding them that the programme’s focus is “Languages: Native to us.” He noted that language is communication, which is one of the most important aspects of our livelihood.
Bemoaning the way the youth debase our culture in the society, Alhaji Kamale wondered why we consider anything of western cultural value as an embodiment of civilisation. He maintained that the thrust of NICO in this programme is to reverse this ugly trend, and urged parents and guardians especially, to tap into this crusade of reviving our dying languages.
The event which was interspersed with drama and cultural dances performed by the Adamawa State Council for Arts & Culture Troupe, had top government functionaries, representatives from military and para-military formations, the academia, civil society, student bodies, and the media, including the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji (Dr.) Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, represented by the District Head of Michika, HRH Dan Isah Adwa, were among the crème of society that added colour to the occasion.
For photos of the event, just click: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57808&id=1594691166&l=d2e340b717
Gillowei James (Snr.)
Media Asst. to the ES
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