BNW

Between Speaking the English Language and Intelligence: The Crisis of Interpretation

by

Uzochukwu J. Njoku
 

Today, it has become a source of worry that many Igbo people may not be able to make two straight Igbo sentences without the flight into the world of the English Language. Today, it appears still, that except in family/kindred meetings, many other gatherings of Ndi Igbo are conducted in the English Language or consumed in the infinite movement from Igbo into the English Language and from the English Language back to Igbo. This trend may be said to have received official approval, when one considers that in some Igbo churches, the Igbo ministers/preachers preach to their exclusively Igbo audience in English, at times, with the aid of an interpreter. Some Igbo catholic dioceses still prefer to conduct the rites of ordinations in English. At times, welcome addresses to Igbo dignitaries are read in English before an Igbo audience. Funeral orations are read in English for Igbo mourners. In personal circles, some Igbo couples would prefer to have their rites of marriage in English. Some people prefer to respond to Igbo questions in English. Some Igbo families who live in Lagos and Port Harcourt do not speak the Igbo Language in their homes, while on the other hand, Yoruba families who live in England or in the USA speak their Yoruba Language happily in their homes.

One day, as I sat on my reading table, I tried to ask myself the reason for this trend among (some) Ndi Igbo, attempting to replace (or substitute) our rich language with the English Language. I said to myself, surely the British colonized Ndi Igbo as well as the Yoruba, Awusa and other linguistic regions of present day Nigeria. I then asked myself why this language of the Whiteman has today, almost eroded the Igbo language more than the other languages of present day Nigeria.

In this attempt to unravel the reason behind this crisis of language among Ndi Igbo today, my mind presented the issue of the basic psychology of the average Igbo person as a likely passage into this discussion. I discovered that the average Igbo person likes to be an achiever. He wants to attain the highest possible standard in his chosen field of life. He does not want to be a drop-out (ofeke). Excellence is his watch-word. The sky is his limit because he believes that onye kwe, chi ya ekwe. If he is a farmer, he would want to become a di-ji (or eze-ji). If he is a hunter, he would want to become a di-nta. If he is a palmwine tapper, he would want to become a di-ochi. If he is a wrestler, he would want to become a di-mgba, etc.

When the Whiteman came and outwitted our people, our forefathers felt convinced that he possessed a superior form of witchcraft compared to theirs. Hence the saying, "bekee bu agbara." Our forefathers thought that the eye glasses, which the Whiteman wore, enabled him to see spirits and to communicate with them. The Whiteman brought with him mirrors, which enabled him to see himself. His venture into the evil forests did not even hurt him (contrary to all traditional expectations). Consequently, our forefathers were mentally arrested and defeated. This was, and remains the worst form of defeat and colonialism.

The advent of the Whiteman and the power he appeared to posses may have led our people at that time to re-define the new area of achievement and excellence to consist no longer in farming, hunting and other traditional lifestyles, but in taking after the Whiteman. Excellence, which characterised the common denominator of the psychology of the average Onye Igbo remained, but in this case, it became channeled to a new direction. Parents sent their children to the Whitman�s school and church in droves. Achievement became re-focused on who will speak the Whiteman�s language better than others and who will behave like the Whiteman more than others. Good as this may seem, we forgot in this process that to speak the language of the Whiteman or to mimic him was one thing but to break into the spirit of the Whiteman, which has enabled him to control the world, was another. Unfortunately, we stopped at the former.

Those initial Igbo people, who went to school, derided others who were not as fortunate. They brandished their seeming superiority by adding the Whiteman�s language at strategic parts of their speeches. Those who could not display this pomposity were miserable and became the modern ofeke and non-achievers. They will promise themselves that their children must go to school so as to redeem the face of the family in being able to join others in speaking the Whiteman�s language. Hence, to speak like the Whiteman, to behave like him and to wear his type of dress became a new sign of achievement. It replaced the pride of being a di-mgba or di-ochi, etc. However, the disaster of this new source of achievement and fulfilment was that it merely satisfied itself with the cosmetic dimension of the Whiteman.

The Igbo person, who would not like to be looked on as a non-achiever or unintelligent, thought that to merely speak the Whiteman�s language was synonymous with the Whiteman�s intelligence. He forgot that intelligence resides in the mind and is independent of whichever language used to express it. He did not recognise that the English Language is just one out of hundreds of languages in the world and that each of these languages is as good or bad as the other. He forgot that intelligence consists more on how one handles issues, how one interprets reality, the goals which one sets, the ability to project the future and the ability to be a subject rather than an object of history. Intelligence embraces a lot more than the mere ability to speak the English Language.

Nnamdi Azikiwe caught our attention as one who spoke the the English Language well enough as to mesmerise the Whiteman with it. A lot of Ndi Igbo looked up to him as an ideal. Probably, many did not think highly enough about Mbonu Ojike, who called on Ndi Igbo early enough to �boycott all boycottables� and to be more original to their culture as the only way of surviving the future. When we put Nnamdi Azikiwe side by side with Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, we all know that none of these people spoke as much English as Nnamdi Azikiwe. Today, we all could look at the impact of this trio on the lives of their people and determine the intelligent ones among them.

Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu speaks impeccable Oxford English. Certainly Yakubu Gowon cannot stand Ojukwu in the use of the English Language. However, the outcome of the Biafra-Nigeria war could offer us a tool to start analysing who among the two out-smarted the other. Ojo Maduekwe could manipulate the English Language like the steps of an Ohafia war dancer. However, he �carries portfolio� for Babagana Kingibe, who speaks English well, but cannot see Maduekwe�s back in that art. Chuba Okadigbo is a wizard in political science. He speaks good English too. However, he depended on Abubakar Atiku for his political survival. Atiku�s academic credentials and ability to speak English are poor compared to those of Okadigbo. When one compares the academic, political and linguistic credentials of Okadigbo with that of Na�abba (the Speaker of the House of Representatives), Na�abba can at best be described as a toddler. However, that Okadigbo fell the way he did in a battle in which he and Na�abba were targeted and that Na�abba had survived up till today, can give us a lead into a discussion of who of the two is more intelligent. If a competition is staged today on speaking the English Language, the Igbo people may take the first position. However, experiences have shown that we got it wrong in our re-interpretation of what it means to be intelligent or to be an achiever in contemporary society.

What we experience today with our language is the result of a false interpretation of modernity and what it means to be part of it. In my primary school days, a fine of 5 kobo was always imposed on anybody who spoke Igbo in the classroom. Anybody who could not speak correct English was regarded as unintelligent. In fact, the ability to speak English became a standard for intelligence. One could refer to a person and say: "oh that boy is very intelligent, he speaks good English" or "that boy is not intelligent, he cannot even make a correct sentence in English." In my secondary school period, students who filled in for Igbo in their School Certificate Examinations, were made objects of caricature. Students made fun of prefects who insisted on making their addresses in Igbo. At times too, students boasted aloud to themselves on their inability to speak or read Igbo. Consequently, we came to imbibe the idea early enough that our own language was idiotic. We systematically began distancing ourselves from it and substituting it with the English Language. Gradually and unconsciously, we seem now thrown into a confusion of language and thought.

Some people think that there may be no remedy to this trend. On the other hand, I think that a remedy could be found. It may come through introducing another trend, which can counteract the earlier false interpretation about what it means to be intelligent or to be an achiever in the modern sense. It could come through making those who cannot speak, read and write Igbo to look foolish. It could come through creating a new consciousness which will challenge our present frame of mind. This is the challenge for all of us, especially for the younger Igbo generation, who have the opportunity to re-examine the values hitherto imposed on us. It is a challenge that calls for real work. Archbishop Obinna of Owerri archdiocese has started something through the Olumefula-Odenigbo lectures. A lot more needs to be done.

I wish therefore in this write-up, to make my contribution to how we can start making a revival of our language.

1) In the first place, we need to re-define what it means to be intelligent or an achiever in contemporary Igbo society. We need to convince ourselves on the need to preserve our Igbo language, not just as a �kitchen language� but as a living language.

2) The different Igbo organisations or committed individuals can begin to sponsor yearly Igbo essay competitions, in which the winners would be rewarded with some prizes. These competitions may be organised in the local governments, states or in the whole Igbo speaking region. It could be made to correspond to elementary school standards, secondary school, university and professional standards.

3) The different Igbo organisations and committed individuals can also begin to sponsor Igbo quiz competitions in the order outlined above.

4) The World Igbo Congress, the different Igbo organisations and other committed individuals ought to prevail on the Governors and other public figures of the Igbo states always to use the Igbo language when addressing our people. Besides bringing the issues down to earth, it will also help to reassure our people that our language could still be used for meaningful things.

5) The World Igbo Congress, the different Igbo organisations and other committed individuals could start working out ways to convince the governments of the Igbo speaking region to make Igbo the language of instruction in the Nursery/Kindergarten schools and up to elementary 3 in the primary schools. This will help to give our children a good foundation of their mother tongue before introducing them into the world of the English Language.

6) Efforts should be made to give more prominence to Igbo language in the different Igbo states� owned mass media.

Intelligence is a faculty of the mind to see reality in a balanced perspective. It consists in setting clear and realistic goals and forecasting the future. Intelligence consists in being able to control the tides of history. These qualities are not restricted to any particular language. Language can only be a medium of expressing what already exists in the mind. Intelligence can be expressed through Igbo language as well as through Yoruba, Awusa, Efik, Ijaw languages, etc. When intelligence needs to be expressed through speeches and languages, there can be no better medium to express it than through the vehicle of one�s own native tongue. The Igbo people may have overlooked this fact at the dawn of modernity. We embraced modernity with the wrong frame of mind, namely, placing the ability to speak the language of the Whiteman on the same level with the ability to penetrate into the spirit of the Whiteman. History is beginning to teach us that we were wrong.

The Onitsha and Anioma people answer such names as Taa-gbo (which means that today is still early enough to make amends). This name encourages us (in the light of this discussion), that we can still re-direct our spirit of excellence to the real features of intelligence rather than glorifying in other people�s language.