Claim that Northern governors reject English as language of instruction in schools is FALSE

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Summary

A verified Facebook user, Chukwudi Ufondu, has posted a claim that Nigeria’s Northern governors have rejected English language as the medium of instruction in schools across the region.

OUR VERDICT: The claim that Northern governors have rejected English as the medium of instruction in northern schools is FALSE, while one of the governors urged the consideration of Hausa as a medium of instruction in schools, there is no official declaration in any of the northern states in the region.

A verified Facebook user, Chukwudi Ufondu, has posted a claim that Nigeria’s Northern governors have rejected English language as the medium of instruction in schools across the region.

His post read thus:

“Northern governors rejects English language as an instruction medium in Northern schools!”

The post has drawn multiple reactions among his followers.

READ: How true are Sanwo-Olu’s claims on Lagos budget performance, education?

 

CLAIM

Northern governors have rejected English as language of instruction in schools in northern Nigeria.

 

THE FINDINGS

Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE, as there is no evidence Northern governors rejected or accepted the proposal to drop English as language of instruction in schools in Nigeria’s northern regions.

The use of the English language in Nigeria dates back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century when British merchants and Christian missionaries settled in the coastal towns called Badagry, near Lagos in the present day Southwestern Nigeria and Calabar, a town in the present day Southern Nigeria.
The missionaries in their effort to reach out to people established schools where children were trained and the basic subject was English language. Thus, English language dominated the curriculum under various sub-heads such as reading, writing, dictation, composition and grammar.
The 1946 constitution of colonial administration first made English language the official language of Nigeria and as the language of colonial administration. On regaining political independence in 1960, English was still adopted as the official language for the country.
The 1979 constitution of Nigeria went further to approve the use of English language at the National and State Houses of Assembly; along side any of the three major Nigerian languages: Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba or language of the state in question only and only when adequate arrangements have been made to their use.
English as the official language is now the language used by government functionaries in carrying out instructions and functions in government offices. It also remains the primary language of instruction in schools, ensuring standardisation of education and national cohesion.
To verify the claim, our fact-checker did an advanced keyword search on Google. The result showed media reports including from Punch and Daily Trust that stated that Niger State governor, Muhammed Bago, advocated for the adoption of Hausa as a regional language of instruction in primary and secondary schools across northern Nigeria.

Bago stated this at the National Literary Colloquium to celebrate the 60th birthday of a literary icon, BM Dzukogi, the founder of the Hilltop Arts Foundation at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre in Minna, Niger State.

“He said English should only be taught in primary and secondary schools in the North as a subject but not as language of instruction.

“He said if adopting Hausa as a regional language of teaching and instruction would inspire enrolment and facilitate understanding among pupils and students, the northern governors should consider adopting it to reduce the rate of out-of-school children,” Daily Trust reported.

ALSO READ: How accurate is Atiku’s claim on population of social media users in Northern Nigeria?

Further checks show that there is neither evidence nor credible media reports in public domain that indicated that any northern governor has accepted or rejected the proposal by Governor Bago.

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that Northern governors have rejected English as the medium of instruction in northern schools is FALSE, while one of the governors urged the consideration of Hausa as a medium of instruction in schools, there is no official declaration in any of the northern states in the region.

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Chukwudi Ufondu via Facebook.

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