The Centre for Applied Ethics and Political Communication in Africa (CAEPOCOM AFRICA) in commemoration of the annual International day of Mother Tongue which is celebrated on the 21th of February, held an in-house seminar with the theme ‘’Mother Tongue as a catalyst for transmission of Ethical Values’’.
This event had in attendance, key stakeholder, youths, scholars, researchers and people from the grass root. In her welcome address the programmes coordinator for the center, Mrs Deborah Oluwole, stated that the center has the vision of restoring ethical values in African societies.
In her speech on the theme of the event, Dr Sharon Omotoso from the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, highlighted the importance of mother tongue. It was noted that the mother tongue is termed so because the first contact a child has is with the mother. Sadly, there is prevalence of the decadence of mother tongue in today’s society.
Mother tongue is an identity marker and it should be the first indigenous language to which a child would be exposed.
According to the speaker, ‘’there is a need to rekindle passion for our mother tongue, our ancestors who couldn’t speak other languages weren’t illiterate; they were knowledgeable and had their own vocabulary for everything’’. Understanding indigenous language gives a sense of responsibility and connection and there are certain concepts that are better expressed in the mother tongue because they are value laden.
Other activities at the event included a poetry presentation and interactive sessions.
The Project coordinator for this event Mrs Geraldine Ezeobi, in her vote of thanks summarized the meeting by affirming that all hands must be on deck in ensuring that indigenous language is used in communicating values and fostering holistic development and this task should not be left for mothers alone even though they are expected to be custodians of culture.
