I teach English but I am worried

Language and culture go hand in hand and as one with a deep interest in Economics, I am not happy about Nigeria's high propensity to import.

The more we import, the less independent and more dependent  we remain. Independent we have been

since 1960 but still mired in foreign goods and values.

The teacher in me cranks in what I am writing but the patriot in me is my refuge and my tonic. A student of mine had A1 in Economics and F9 in English and took to Danfo driving. 

When I saw him, I begged him not to give up and today, he is a top Human Resources practitioner.

The elevation we give to English Language in our Educational set up should be revised. Many a prospective University material have had to stay at home and wait endlessly for credit in English to gain admission. The student I referred to with A1 in Economics and F9 in English is not alone. There are several who are in the same boat and may have lost hope in University Education.

While I stand for excellence, I refuse to bow to a thinking that excellence in English is the only route to higher education. I am even more appalled at the Economic consequences of neglect and relegation of our indigenous languages.

When are we going to teach Science and Mathematics in our indigenous languages? Do others not do it?

The more, we rely on English, the more we channel scarce Economic resources to England and further impoverish our local indigenous producers.

Unemployment is real and it is a cankerworm we do not need. Technology has no language, just like science. We can do for ourselves what the non English speaking powers of the world are doing.

We just have to pause and ponder.