English is the official language of Nigeria, and it is also the common language of teaching and learning in all learning institutions in the West African country.

The Nigerian government has approved a new National Language Policy that is aimed at promoting the use of local languages as a language of instruction for primary school pupils rather than in English.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, announced the policy for implementation on Wednesday after it was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, local media reported.

“The government has agreed now that, henceforth, instruction in primary schools, the first six years of learning, will be in the mother tongue,” Adamu was quoted as saying.

According to the education minister, the objective of the new policy is “to promote and enhance the cultivation and use of all Nigerian languages” in the country. He added that “pupils learn much better” when they are taught in their own mother tongue.

He further stated that there are about 625 local languages in Nigeria, and the policy would be applied nationally. “Since the first six years of school should be in the mother tongue, whereby the pupil is, the language of the host community is what will be used,” he explained.

Adamu said that after the exclusive use of local languages for the first six years of school, the mother tongue would then be used together with English at the junior secondary level.

He added that while the new policy has officially taken effect, it is more in principle, as full implementation will only happen once more preparatory work has been done.

Adamu, who acknowledged that implementing the new policy would be challenging as it would “require a lot of work to develop materials to teach and get the teachers,” said: “Theoretically, this policy starts from today, but the use of mother tongue is exclusive. We need time to develop the material, get the teachers, and so on,” he said.