The National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Prof. Chinwe Anunobi has officially presented the Map of Nigerian Languages to the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman SAN and his counterpart, the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu.
Presenting the Map at the Minister's office, Federal Ministry of Education Secretariat Abuja, Prof. Anunobi reminded the Honourable Ministers that she is the Lead Expert representing Nigeria in the Communication and Information (CI) for Commission of UNESCO and that UNESCO has dedicated the period of 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022-2032). Accordingly, the National Library of Nigeria has taken steps to preserve and promote our languages and culture which includes: commemorating the International Mother Language Day since 2022, documenting family history in Indigenous languages, secured a grant from UNESCO and trained 60 students, teachers, young adults and authors on documentation of their family history in indigenous languages. The Map of Nigerian Languages is one of such steps aimed at preserving our languages. She therefore implored the Honourable Ministers to support the National Library's efforts in the preservation of our National Heritages.
In their responses, the Honourable Minister of Education applauded the efforts of the NLN for the laudable project. He emphasized that the languages belong to the heart of what a person is and what a community stands for, it is a critical part of the culture. The Minister emphasized how important the project is to the Ministry and hoped that the compendium of Alphabets and Numerals of Nigerian Languages will be ready as quickly as possible to help the Ministry in its strive to adopt mother languages for instructions in schools and other public uses. He further stated that the mother tongue facilitates the transmission of knowledge and research. Similarly, the Honourable Minister of State equally applauded the project and suggested minor areas that needed to be fine tuned.
The Map of Nigerian Languages is an initiative of the National Library of Nigeria, born out of concern for the existential threat to our indigenous languages. The Map reflects all 36 states of the federation, as well as the FCT and the languages spoken in each of the states. The Map shows the locales where the languages are spoken. The Map is based on the languages of the people considered indigenous to those states and not transitory languages by sojourners. It is part of the local content creation of the National Library of Nigeria and a reference material that has a Creative Commons license to be referred to by researchers worldwide.
The National Librarian/CEO was accompanied by the Director of Collections Development and Technical Services, Malam Abubakar, H.H., the Head of Public Services Department, Alhaja Olani, O.K. Also in the team were the Special Assistants on Administration and Professional matters; Misters James Aworinde and Mohammed Baba respectively including the Head of the Public Relations Division, Mr. Vershima Orvell-Dio.