Nigeria Scraps Mother Tongue Policy: What It Means For Education

The Federal Government of Nigeria has officially reversed its 2022 National Language Policy, which had mandated that instruction from Early Childhood Education through Primary Six be delivered in the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community.

At the opening of the “Language in Education International Conference 2025” organised by the British Council in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced that English will now serve as the language of instruction from primary through tertiary levels.

He explained that evidence gathered by the ministry showed that students taught mainly in local languages performed poorly in national examinations and lacked essential literacy skills.

The minister described the 2022 policy as one that had “destroyed” the education system in some regions, adding that English will henceforth serve as the unifying language of instruction across all Nigerian schools.

The 2022 policy, initially designed to promote indigenous languages and preserve Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, recognised more than 600 native languages. However, it faced major hurdles such as lack of trained teachers, inadequate learning materials, and difficulty implementing it in linguistically diverse communities.

Why FG Scrapped The Mother Tongue Policy

The government said the decision to scrap the mother-tongue medium of instruction was based on several critical factors:

Poor Learning Outcomes And Exam Failures

Minister Alausa noted that students taught predominantly in local languages recorded high failure rates in national examinations like WAEC, NECO, and JAMB.

He said, “We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an over-subscribed manner.” He described the earlier policy as one that had “literally destroyed education in certain regions.”

Implementation Challenges

Nigeria’s vast linguistic diversity over 500 spoken languages made the policy extremely difficult to implement. Many communities are multilingual, making it nearly impossible to select one language of instruction or provide standard teaching materials and teacher training across the country.

Mismatch Between Instruction And Examination Languages

While the policy encouraged teaching in local languages, all national examinations are conducted in English.

Alausa pointed out that “Exams are conducted in English, but we taught these kids through their mother tongue,” adding that this disconnect left many pupils ill-prepared for assessments or higher education.

Evidence-Based Review And Data Findings

According to the minister, the review conducted by the ministry revealed that the use of mother-tongue instruction from Primary One to Primary Six and in some cases even up to Junior Secondary had not yielded positive educational outcomes. He said the ministry’s findings were “evidence-based, data-driven, and supported by real-life classroom experiences.”

Need For A Unified Language Of Instruction

Alausa concluded that adopting English as the sole medium of instruction would bring uniformity, improve communication standards, and ensure that pupils transition smoothly to higher education without language barriers. He emphasized that the government’s goal was to align language instruction with national assessment and global education standards.