Indigenous African languages are dying out and it’s a good thing.
A bit of an inflammatory title I know, but please read on with an open mind.
Recent studies have shown a steady decline in the use of indigenous African languages, especially among middle to upper-class African millennials and post-millenials (Generation Z). If the stats are to be believed, then the next generation of business leaders, academics and politicians in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya will speak English as a first, and perhaps only language.
Many are alarmed by this prospect, denouncing it as a loss of culture and ethnic identity which must be stopped at all costs. Various suggestions have been put forward ranging from the implementation of revised school curriculums, to the promotion of indigenous languages in mass media, and even the launching of grass-root campaigns aimed at encouraging parents to speak native languages to their children.
Some would call me crazy, disrespectful or self-hating but I take a different view. I think it is a trend that should be celebrated and welcomed with open arms. As with other sacred cows of African culture that have been sacrificed at the altar of progress, we must also be willing to put native languages to the sword for the sake of nation-building. I consider it no coincidence that the poorest continent in the world is also the most linguistically diverse continent in the world. According to UNESCO, Africans as a whole speak a combined total of around 2,000 different languages, which roughly equates to about one third of the entire world’s linguistic heritage. For those who would point to this statistic as evidence of the cultural richness of the continent, I have a simple question. Which is better? Cultural wealth or economic wealth?
Many middle-class diaspora Africans I know would most likely respond boldy to this question by swearing full allegiance to Mama Africa. Lecturing me about how our culture is priceless and how we must hold on to our heritage at all costs, about how I need to stay ‘woke’ and not sink into the ‘sunken place’. A very easy sermon to preach when you are living comfortably, enjoying the luxuries of the West. I very much doubt that I would get the same response from the street cleaner in Lagos struggling to feed his family of four on a daily basis. Or the millions of African children who cannot afford to go to school because they need to work to feed themselves. Or perhaps the thousands of African migrants that are choosing to risk their lives on a perilous trip across the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea, all in search of a better life. I wonder what these children of Mama Africa would prefer, if given the choice of either holding on to their cultural heritage, or trading it in for a more stable and prosperous homeland.
On that note, I turn to the meat of the argument: the strong case in favour of Africans allowing native languages to run their natural course. My approach will primarily be from a Nigerian perspective as that it is the country I grew up in. However, being married to a Ghanaian woman, I know for a fact that the discussions to follow will be equally as relevant to other countries across the continent.
Colonial mentality
Whenever intellectuals gather round to discuss the causes of African underdevelopment, very rarely does anyone point a finger at the division and disunity caused by indigenous languages. Most African intellectuals are careful to avoid engaging the issue, so as not to labelled as having what the legendary Fela Kuti called ‘Colonial Mentality’. This is quite unfortunate as the singular goal of intellectual discussion should be the pursuit of truth, regardless of how unpalatable that truth might be.
The reality of the matter is clear for all those who are willing to look honestly at the facts: Based on current and historic data, there is virtually no evidence in support of the idea that a country can create and sustain economic prosperity while equally maintaining the same level of linguistic diversity which is currently observable in most African countries — in fact, there is strong evidence to the contrary. Of the top ten most developed countries in the world according to the UN’s human development index, Singapore is the only country with any notable level of linguistic diversity, with a grand total of four languages in use (of which English is the Lingua Franca). Contrast that with the situation in Africa: Nigeria alone is said to have over 400 dialects, Ghana has over 80, Cameroon with over 250, the list goes on. This is not to say that having less languages in a country automatically translates into economic prosperity — the picture is obviously a lot more complicated than that. However, it is to say that there is such a strong correlation between linguistic homogeneity and economic prosperity, that it cannot be ignored in our quest to see the continent transformed.
A fundamental prerequisite for the pan-African vision put forward by the likes of Kwame Nkrumah and Nnamdi Azikiwe, is that the walls that separate Africans from each other be pulled down. The strong link between language and ethno-national identity means that linguistic differences are one of the most formidable barriers to African unity. A man’s language is probably the most significant determining factor of what tribal or national identity he adopts. It therefore stands to reason that a country that is home to large populations of people who speak different languages, will always struggle to establish a cohesive sense of national unity across its people groups. In the case of modern African states, this lack of national unity has been a key contributing factor to the current climate of identity politics, nepotism, tribalism, civil war and unpatriotic leadership.
As will be explained in the subsequent paragraphs, I am not arguing that the solution to the problem is the complete abolition or erasure of all native languages. The mere existence of these languages is not a problem in and of itself, my main concern centres on the socio-economic consequences of their existence.
“The white man’s language”
Growing up in a Yoruba household, I have a good first-hand understanding of the sentiment of ethnic pride that comes from speaking one’s native tongue. As far as my parent’s generation were concerned, being unable to speak the language of your forefathers was a sort of unpardonable sin — evidenced by the all too familiar awkwardness that ensued when an uncle or aunty would open up conversation in Yoruba, only for me to respond in English. Their general view was that English was the “white man’s language” and therefore adopting english as my first language was a form of submission to, or even approval of colonial dominance. However, I was not born in a British colony. I was born in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a sovereign nation which of her own volition, chose to adopt English as her official language for the sake of national unity.
During the six years I spent at secondary school, I arose every morning with my fellow young compatriots to sing Nigeria’s anthem and recite her national pledge — which as every true Nigerian will know, includes a solemn vow “to defend her unity”. l learnt her anthem, pledge, history and laws all in her preferred language, without a care as to where it originated. The language was to me a true symbol of Nigerian unity. It was the language without which I would not have been able to connect with the life-long friends I made at school. It was the language that brought together young boys from the east, west, north and south, to an obscure boarding school deep in the heart of Lagos. It was the language with which my childhood friends and I made some of the best memories of our lives. So unlike my parents perhaps, I never perceived English as the white man’s language because all the English speakers I knew growing up looked just like me.
As far as I was concerned, the language we spoke was authentically ours. It was not the language I heard on the BBC World Service or in hollywood movies — perhaps that language could more rightly be classified as the ‘white man’s language’; because what they colloquially referred to as a ‘traffic Jam’ we called a ‘go-slow’, what they called a ‘minibus’, to us was a ‘danfo’. The man they called ‘wretched’ was to us a ‘sufferhead’. The uncooperative man to them was described as ‘being stubborn’ but to us, he was ‘just forming stronghead’. In formal settings, we spoke the the language of Achebe, Okri and Soyinka not that of Shakespeare, Dickens and Twain. I did not grow up speaking a ‘white man’s language’. I spoke English as spoken in Nigeria. Nigerian English.
The reality of conquest
Yes — of course, one must not be naive, European languages were indeed superimposed on Africans during the colonial era, but that being said, this form of cultural imperialism is not in any way unusual when viewed in light of the common experience of all mankind. Throughout the ages, men have sought to build empires, going out to conquer other men and imposing new norms on their subjects. As with other parts of the world, conquest was also standard practice in Africa long before the arrival of Europeans. Stronger African tribes were constantly expanding their territories, wealth and influence by conquering weaker neighbouring tribes. However, like most of my friends, I grew up under the impression that Africans lived in peace and harmony singing kumbaya until they were violently invaded and corrupted by armed and greedy Europeans. Having looked deeper into the subject however, I am convinced that this was most definitely not the case. You need look no further than the millions of slaves that were sold by ancient African rulers to the Americas and the Arab world. Many of these slaves were in fact prisoners of local warfare, kidnappings and conquest. Even until this day the continent is riddled with warring tribes, some of whose disdain for each other dates back centuries.
As I see it, the only thing that differentiates the colonial enterprise in Africa from other forms of conquest is that it involved people of one race conquering people of another race. This unique feature of colonial conquest is in my opinion, the main driving factor behind the type of chest-beating inferiority complex I have observed among Africans young and old. This perspective, created by a combination of ethnic pride and a sense of righteous indignation for the perceived historic subjugation of their ancestors, causes many Africans to double-down on their perceived ‘African-ness’, regardless of its long-term consequences. These Africans tend to have a deep-seated aversion to the the adoption of western norms as they view it as being tantamount to an affirmation of European ethnic superiority. I understand why many are drawn into this way of thinking and while I sympathise with the sentiment, I must reject it in its entirety as it is a destructive mindset and a major stumbling block in our journey towards a more prosperous Africa.
Divide and Conquer
The irony of the matter is that while many would consider the unwavering dedication of some Africans, to the preservation of their native languages and norms to be an act of resistance, it was actually a key component of the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy that was employed by the colonialists in their bid to subjugate the continent.
When the European powers gathered in Berlin to divide the African continent, it was not out of ignorance that they divided the continent in a way that paid no regard to the existing tribal orders. Using the Nigerian situation as an example; the British government chose to lump together groups of people with significant religious, cultural and linguistic differences. This was a clear recipe for disaster of which they were well aware, as evidenced by the fact that they did not apply the same kind of thinking to their own people. At home they maintained a degree of separation between the Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh even though these groups had a lot more in common than the Yorubas, Igbos and Hausas who were involuntarily united under the Nigerian banner. The British certainly reaped the reward of their labour with the emergence of an unpatriotic and greedy political class with no loyalty whatsoever to the newly formed republic of no man’s land. The French and Portuguese achieved even better results with their colonies; successfully creating a fine bunch of banana republics, each with its own unique value offering, be it oil, gold, diamonds, timber or cocoa. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a stroke of political genius. The strategy served to greatly reduce the number of European soldiers that needed to be deployed on African soil, as it significantly reduced the need for continuous military confrontation. It was cost-effective, efficient and most importantly, virtually certain to succeed. The battle was over before it even began. The existing fragmentation of the peoples of the continent gave them absolutely no chance against a more united and calculating opponent.
A new chapter
Today we see evidence that a key component of the divide and conquer infrastructure laid down by the colonialists may be under threat. The threat of a generation that is pulling down age-old tribal barriers; a generation that see themselves as being born into free and sovereign nations without the mental baggage of how those nations came to be. A generation that understands that their parents’ tendency to separate tribal from national identity, inevitably simplifies the work of those seeking to plunder their resources. A generation that understands that a disunited nation is easier to overcome. A generation that understands that the current instability and divisions within African countries are an absolute joy for those benefiting from the cheap supply of resources and capital flight that flows freely out of the continent. A generation that realises that until we have a Nigeria of Nigerians, a Rwanda of Rwandans and a Kenya of Kenyans, these countries will never know any real progress. Their resources will remain open for pillage, their progress will be the pride and joy of no one in particular, and their enemies will face no resistance. This is the generation I want to be a part of. This is the generation the continent needs.
I have great sympathy for those whose approach to the problem of division, is to advocate for the breaking up of African states into smaller nations, more in line with the historical distribution of the tribes that occupied the region in the pre-colonial era. However, valid as this suggestion may be in theory, I suggest that it is undesirable and largely unworkable in practice. The millions of lives lost during the the Biafran war in Nigeria have taught us that separation is not necessarily the easier option. Instead, we should set our sights and direct our efforts towards nation-building. We should not see the breaking away of tribal barriers as a loss of identity, but as the creation of a new identity, a new culture, and a new heritage.
A blessing in disguise
The road to progress is near impossible for those that exalt sentiment over truth. In order for us to move forward, we must be willing to put our feelings aside and look directly at hard facts with an objective eye. One of such bitter truths that we must all be willing to admit is that; economically speaking, the political restructuring of the African continent implemented during the colonial era, has on the whole, done a great a deal of good to the region.
We say the average African is poor today, but in actual fact he is only poor relative to current world standards. Middle to upper-class Africans living in cities like Lagos, Kigali, Luanda and Nairobi, enjoy standards of living much higher than even the local chiefs and kings that would have occupied those same territories during the pre-colonial era. Indoor plumbing, air-conditioners, modern transportation, and mass-produced food and textile products — these are all things that we take for granted today, but they are in fact luxuries that even the most privileged of our forefathers could never have dreamed of.
Post-colonial Africa has richly benefitted from the economies of scale that have resulted from the merging of various people groups which would otherwise have remained separate from each other. Africans enjoy a comparatively much higher standard of living thanks to the emergence of new industries which only exist as a result of the coming together of a mix of people, who hitherto would have struggled to even communicate with each other. You need not look any further than the post-colonial population boom in Nigeria as evidence of how much stronger we are together. There is no way such a drastic expansion in the population would have happened without the emergence of the thriving food and healthcare industries which have contributed to a drastic reduction in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy across the nation.
We must not fall into the trap of ignoring the obvious and downplaying our progress. The level of development seen in Africa over the last 100 years is actually rather impressive, especially when one considers the fact that it has been achieved in a climate of division and disunity. But how much more we can achieve if we put unity above tribal pride? How much further could we go with a dedication to building nations and not ethnic groups? Again, using Nigeria as a case-study, I will attempt to answer these questions in the paragraphs to follow.
Politics and Governance
Identity politics is the name of the game in most African countries. There is no real ideological left-wing/right-wing divide between the political parties. In the United States for example, we can generally distinguish the Democrats, who tend to subscribe to socialist ideals like wealth redistribution, increased government regulation and collectivism, from the Republicans who tend to promote the virtues of free-market enterprise, deregulation and individualism. In Nigeria by contrast, I would struggle to find anyone who can point to the ideological underpinnings that differentiate the ruling APC from their main rivals the PDP. Politicians basically choose their parties based on the side that is more likely to boost their chances of entering office. They hop from party to party at the earliest opportunity because they are not guided by any deep seated philosophical conviction, but by a winner-takes-all drive for power and influence.
Even the Nigerian presidency is not decided on policies or competence, but on tribal identity and voter demographics. The average Nigerian voter can tell you the tribe, religion and maybe even the hometown of the incumbent president, but would struggle to list just 5 of the policy promises he made during his presidential campaign. This problem is present in virtually every area of Nigerian civic life. State governors, local government chairmen, ministers, commissioners and even judges are often appointed based on tribal identity as opposed to raw competence, ideas and track records. It goes without saying that the current arrangement is draining the life out of the country.
Interestingly, a united and tribalism-free Nigeria would not be a very conducive environment for the crop of incompetent demagogues currently running the country. It is therefore no surprise that they are satisfied with the current state of affairs. It would be rather naive and maybe even unreasonable to expect them to have any interest in promoting true national unity as that would be pure self-sabotage. Nevertheless, there is hope for the next generation provided they are willing to be brave enough to reject the short-sighted, small-minded and self-centred ways of their predecessors.
In a Nigeria of Nigerians, the political debate will be more about issues as opposed to tribal identity. Ministerial appointments will be based on competence and not the need to fill tribal quotas or pander to ethnic interest groups. The electorate would care more about the president’s views on monetary and fiscal policy than they do about what language he speaks or what village his father was born in. We cannot continue pouring new wine into old wineskins. If we are to continue with the western-style democratic systems we chose to adopt post-independence, then we must do away with the old mindsets that stem from our pre-colonial tribal monarchies.
The emergence of a fully English-speaking generation of Nigerians is for me, one of the first steps towards a Nigeria of Nigerians. When Babatunde meets Emeka but neither of them can speak their tribal languages of Yoruba and Igbo respectively, it becomes quite hard for them to see themselves as anything other than Nigerians. As stated earlier, language is one of the greatest determining factors of what tribal identity people adopt. Regardless of his ancestry, a man who primarily speaks Nigerian English as opposed to the Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa of his grandparents, is more likely to identify with other Nigerians as opposed to other Igbos, Hausas or Yorubas. When language is taken out of the picture, the remaining vestiges of tribal identity that you are left with tend to be things like food, clothing and marriage rites which are comparatively a lot more superficial. Nigerians today are not divided by tribal clothing, food and drink — if anything, these are the things with which we tend see a great deal of cultural exchange and appreciation. An Igbo man may enjoy wearing Yoruba attire and eating Yoruba food at his Yoruba friend’s wedding but will nevertheless feel out of place or even foreign, due to him not being able to speak or understand the Yoruba Language spoken by everyone around him. In the absence of language barriers, we automatically have a greater chance of eliminating tribalism as people can more easily identify with each other regardless of their ancestry. The ability of language to create tribes can be seen even in the professional world. For example, lawyers typically refer to non-lawyers as ‘laymen’ due to the non-lawyer’s inability to understand legal jargon. Therefore in a very interesting way, legal jargon as a technical form of English, separates people into tribes of ‘learned friends’ and ‘laymen’. The same phenomenon can be observed in virtually every industry in which technical language is used, be it medicine, tech, engineering or accountancy. When one fully understands the power of language to create or divide tribes, its becomes almost impossible to see the withering away of native languages as anything other than a step in the right direction.
In an English-speaking Nigeria of Nigerians, demagogue politicians would find it slightly harder to gather support from the people of their own tribe or hometowns simply for being ‘sons of the soil’ or for doing large street rallys in which they ‘speak to the people in their own language’. Western-style democracy will never work in Africa until the politicians with the best ideas are selected as opposed to the politicians who can gain support from the largest or most influential ethnic groups. This is not to say the problem of political demagoguery in Africa will be solved simply by the decline of tribal languages — far from that. The point being made is that the complete adoption of a common language such as English in the case of Nigeria, French in the case of Senegal and Portuguese in the case of Angola, will contribute significantly towards strengthening of the democratic process in countries across the continent.
Economic growth
You need look no further than the success of the Nigerian movie industry (Nollywood) to see evidence of the economic benefits of a common language. This booming industry gives us a glimpse into the potential of a linguistically unified Nigeria. The use of English in our movies has broken tribal barriers, bringing together actors from all over the country. It has also granted access to a much larger target market. Nollywood movies are viewed all over the world, creating opportunities for not just screenwriters, actors and directors, but also tech entrepreneurs like Jason Njoku of Iroko TV. Even more amazing is the fact that despite Nollywood’s international success, there is still a huge amount of growth potential within Nigeria itself, even as our population of native English speakers continues to grow. The larger the audience, the more profitable our films will become, and the more likely we are to see good money put towards the production of higher quality films. I dream of an era where Nollywood will have the capacity to produce big budget retellings of African folk stories. A day when the world will not have to wait for Marvel studios’ next installment of Black Panther in order to get a taste of what a futuristic Africa could look like. A day when we would no longer spend our time ranting and raving about inaccurate portrayal of Africa by the rest of the world. A day when we will be able to tell our own stories instead of waiting for someone else to tell it for us. Admittedly, It is hard to envisage how such a vision can become reality from where we are now, but it is certainly no pipe dream. We are more than capable of achieving it but not without a radical dedication to national unity.
The market enlarging power of a common language is not limited to the movie industry. In fact, it rings true in virtually every sector, be it legal, retail, marketing or even manufacturing. It is always a lot easier to do business when you and your workforce, speak the same language as your target customers. A common language fosters trust and transparency, which is a key factor for economic growth. It boosts the internal efficiency of businesses and also increases the willingness of customers to do business.
Although to a lesser degree than political entities, businesses can also fall victim to the wider tribalistic culture of the countries in which they operate. Their productivity and profitability can be greatly affected by internal conflicts between staff members from opposing tribes, and the prejudices of its upper management which may manifest itself in poor decision-making in terms of hiring, remuneration and investment. One cannot underestimate the degree to which internal conflict within public and private organisations can affect the economy of a country, especially when it occurs in multiple organisations across multiple sectors.
It is no coincidence that the most developed regions in Nigeria are also the ones where English is most widely spoken. Hence, it is not difficult to predict the economic benefits of a fully English-speaking Nigeria. An increase in the number of native English speakers would grant new and existing businesses access to a wider pool of talented candidates to choose from. International companies looking to outsource services like call centres and online support would now have more of a reason to choose us over places like India for example. Such opportunities would likely lead to an increased labour participation in our less developed cities, thus aiding in the decongestion of commercial hubs like Lagos and Abuja. The resulting increase in household income in previously underdeveloped regions would have a knock-on effect of contributing to an increase in the demand for consumer goods which, in turn, would boost investments and overall economic output as businesses swoop in to satisfy the newly emerging markets.
A fundamental prerequisite for the economic success of any nation is the development of its human capital i.e. the collective skills, knowledge and know-how of the individuals that make up its economy. Education is the primary means by which human capital is developed so it is, therefore, absolutely crucial that it is available to the largest number of people and delivered in the most efficient way possible.
Some have suggested that the way to boost our academic attainment levels is to allow for the courses to be taught in native languages and not English. This is in my opinion an incredibly short-sighted and sentimental perspective which completely ignores the big picture. English is more than just than just the language of the Englishmen. On a deeper level, it is more like a conduit for the world’s historic, scientific and philosophical knowledge. Virtually anything that is worth knowing or writing about will have been written in, or translated to English. Furthermore, in today’s internet age, education has moved beyond the classroom — anyone with an internet connection and a curious mind can gain access to a nearly infinite amount of educational content for their personal development. A failure to equip the youth with the ability to study and reason in English, would therefore impede their access to the ideas of some of the world’s leading minds.
With English being the global language of commerce, there are great economic benefits to be gained from being an English-speaking country, irrespective of the difficult circumstances that brought the language to African soil. The honest truth is that when push comes to shove, most people place their economic well-being above their cultural heritage. There is no greater evidence of this than the eye-watering number of Africans that have chosen to emigrate to Europe and the Americas with no intentions of ever returning to their homeland. Once sentimentality and hypocrisy are put aside, it is undeniable that an English-speaking Nigeria is better equipped for economic success on the global stage than a linguistically diverse Nigeria.
As a man thinketh
As the economist Thomas Sowell put it, there are no solutions in life, there are only trade-offs. There is no easy solution to the negative effects of Africa’s linguistic diversity although a trade-off is certainly available: We can either hold on to our cultural pride and remain divided and unprosperous or we can choose to opt for a new identity in which the adoption of common languages serve as a means by which the lines that separate tribal and national identity can be erased.
As a man thinketh so is he. If we choose to think in the same way as generations of old, then we must not expect to have a higher standard of living than they did. Our ancestors were indeed men of wisdom, excellent craftsmen, orators, story tellers and warriors, but we must nevertheless be careful to acknowledge the fact that their ways of doing things were a fruit of the socio-economic realities of their time. As we engage with our contemporary world and its unique challenges, we cannot remain shackled by a sentimental allegiance to tradition and history. We are the ancestors of tomorrow and we owe it to our future generations to construct the best possible society today, while still allowing them the free reign to deviate from our way of doing things in light of the challenges of their world.
