THE NIGERIAN Academy of Letters (NAL), the nation’s foremost body of scholars in the humanities, has issued a strong condemnation of the Nigerian Government’s recent decision to cancel the National Language Policy of 2022, labelling the move as a “setback” that “undermines decades of advocacy” and disregards expert opinion.
The criticism follows a resolution by the 69th National Council on Education (NCE) at its meeting in Akure from November 3-6, 2025, which not only scrapped the existing policy but also designated English as the sole official medium of instruction across all educational levels in Nigeria.
In a press statement dated November 14, 2025, and signed by Prof. Andrew Haruna, its President, the Academy expressed “deep concern” over the abrupt reversal, arguing that the cancelled policy was the product of over forty years of incremental decisions and was founded on “years of rigorous research, extensive consultation, and expert input.”
The 2022 policy had mandated a mother-tongue-based multilingual approach, ensuring that children would be taught in the language of their immediate environment for the first six years of their schooling.
The Academy’s statement highlighted that the policy reversal “contravenes constitutional and educational provisions” and poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s linguistic diversity and cultural identity.
It further warned that the decision “risks social and symbolic exclusion,” particularly for speakers of minority languages, and is “tantamount to reverting to the colonial enterprise of linguistic domination.”
Citing extensive international research, including UNESCO guidelines, NAL affirmed that education in a child’s mother tongue enhances literacy, cognitive development, and overall academic achievement.
The statement pointed to the landmark Six-Year Ife Primary Education Study by the late Nigerian professor, Babs Fafunwa, as the local empirical foundation for such an approach, a model it said has been successfully replicated globally.
“Ironically, while other African countries such as Ghana are following Nigeria’s lead, Nigeria is reversing a policy that it has not even implemented,” the Academy noted, calling the situation “curious.”
NAL also challenged the government’s rationale, suggesting that the Honourable Minister of Education may not be aware that a detailed implementation framework already existed as part of the 2022 policy, designed to address potential logistical challenges.
In its call to action, the Academy urged the government to immediately reinstate the National Language Policy and retain Nigerian languages in the national core curriculum.
It further called for substantial investment in teacher training, curriculum design, and the production of learning materials in indigenous languages.
The statement appealed to civil society, the media, and international partners to advocate for the policy’s protection and implementation, asserting that “silence is not an option.”
“Protecting our languages and promoting mother-tongue education is a national responsibility and a moral obligation to current and future generations,” the statement concluded.
NAL reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with the government and relevant institutions to ensure Nigerian children can build their education on a strong linguistic and cultural foundation.
