By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Ndị Igbo across the world have been urged to take deliberate and collective steps to rescue their mother tongue from steady decline. The call is coming as prominent women leaders, monarchs, scholars and community stakeholders advocate for urgent and enforceable legislation to protect and promote the Igbo language.
The advocacy dominated discussions and shaped the tone of deliberations among participants at the 2026 United Nations Mother Tongue Day celebration organized by the Igbo Women Assembly in collaboration with Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and the Council of Igbo States in America (CISA). The event, which held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State capital, attracted delegates and top Igbo leaders from the five South-East states and Lagos, alongside diaspora representatives, traditional rulers, clergy, academics, youth groups and cultural troupes.
Themed “Asụsụ Igbo na Omenala: Ngwaọrụ Maka Ọganihu Nke Akụnụba na Ọha Obodo” (Igbo Language and Culture: Tools for Socio-Economic Development), the summit blended policy advocacy with scintillating cultural displays, poetry performances, fashion displays and indigenous cuisine exhibitions, among others.
Speaking at the event, National President of the Igbo Women Assembly, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, warned that the Igbo language is dangerously close to advanced decline, citing data and observations suggesting that a significant percentage of the younger generation can neither speak nor write the language fluently. She lamented that even within Igbo-speaking states, many families, schools and religious institutions now default to English in daily communication, thereby weakening intergenerational transmission. These, she said, were among the key reasons why she established IWA school currently operating in Lagos State, even as she also advocated national-wide and global adoption of the school to further augment its numerous testimonies.
According to her, language loss does not happen abruptly but in stages, and Igbo appears to be nearing a critical point. She stressed that individual advocacy and cultural programmes, though commendable, cannot substitute for enforceable policies across the South-East and Igbo communities nationwide. She therefore called on governments, town unions, churches, women groups, school authorities and traditional institutions to move beyond rhetoric and institutionalize the use of Igbo in education, administration and community life.
Adding their voices, some traditional rulers at the event, including the Traditional Ruler of Obosi and Chairman of Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council , H.R.H. Igwe Chidubem Iweka and his Ifitedunu counterpart, H.R.H. Igwe Chukwuemeka Ilouno, reinforced the urgency of the moment. The monarchs cautioned that projections about the possible extinction of the language within the next half century must be taken seriously.
While reeling out the various roles of traditional institutions in saving and promoting the Igbo language, the monarchs assured their support to cause. They further called on Igbo parents to consciously speak Igbo at home to their wards, while also encouraging schools to prioritize it as a living language rather than a ceremonial subject.
On their own part, the immediate-past National Vice President of Ọhaneze Ndị Igbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, and the Chairman of the Anambra State Town Union Council (ASTUC), Sir Vincent Dike, described the preservation of Igbo language and culture as a shared obligation. While commending the organizers, the duo further noted that their respective institutions stand ready to partner with relevant groups to deepen awareness and promote structured learning initiatives that would sustain the language locally and globally.
Earlier delivering a Keynote address, Lead speaker at the event, Prof. Cecilia Amaoge Eme emphasized that language is more than a communication tool, as it anchors history, values and socio-economic development. Further dissecting the theme of the event, she further argued that losing Igbo would mean losing a vital instrument of cultural continuity and communal cohesion.
Another scholar, Prof. Alex Onukwube, proposed far-reaching reforms, including making Igbo compulsory up to the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination level and linking public sector employment in Anambra State to demonstrable proficiency in the language.
Also speaking, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of Paul University, Awka, and first female professor of Mass Communication in Sub-Saharan Africa, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, and some other speakers at the event, including Prof. Christian Okwudile and Prof. Nkechinyere Dike highlighted the responsibilities of parents, the media and especially private school proprietors in saving Igbo language from extinction, further stressing that existing language policies must be adequately implemented rather than ignored.
Adding religious voice to the call, the Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, highlighted the roles being posted by the church in sustaining the Igbo language. The Bishop, represented by the Public Relations Officer of Otu Sụwakwa Igbo, Rev. Dr. Richard Ekegbo, said Catholic and Anglican churches historically stand tall on the reason the Igbo language hasn’t gone extinct yet. He, however, also acknowledged that religious institutions still have major roles to play, further urging renewed commitment to indigenous language use in worship and community engagement.
Reacting to the concerns raised, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who was the Chief Guest of Honour at the event, reaffirmed the administration’s dedication to restoring Igbo core values, with language at the forefront.
Governor Soludo, represented by the State Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Comrade Don Onyenji, commended the organizers of the event for their dedication to the Igbo cause, further noting that all hands must be on deck.
According to the Commissioner, despite the Governor’s national and international exposure, he still consistently and proudly identifies with Igbo heritage, communicates fluently in Igbo and promotes cultural pride, both through dress and policy direction. He further explained that the Soludo Administration had taken steps towards cleansing and abolishing harmful practices falsely portrayed as culture, among other evil practices some people started championing in the guise of going back to their roots.
While noting that the state government further championed the articulation of the authentic framework of core Igbo values, in which Igbo language remains central; the Commissioner also re-echoed the call on Igbo families to make it a point of duty to transmit the language to their children.
Highlighting other ongoing efforts and various initiatives towards rescuing and promoting Igbo language, he further assured that the government would work with stakeholders to translate the summit’s resolutions into actionable policies.
The well-attended event was climaxed with cultural performances, debates on Igbo language, roundtable discussion on the way forward, and presentation of the summit’s communiqué, as well as the selection of a special committee tasked with engaging the five south-eastern governors on the need for harmonized legislative backing for Igbo language revitalization.
The communiqué, among other recommendations, emphasizes that symbolic observances are no longer sufficient and that the survival of Igbo language depends on decisive institutional action anchored in legislation, education and community practice. It further hinted that saving the Igbo language is not merely about preserving words, but about securing identity, unity and the socio-economic future of a people.
This reporter, Izunna Okafor, gathered that the International Mother Language Day is observed annually on February 21 to promote linguistic/cultural diversity and multilingualism. Proclaimed by UNESCO in 1999 and recognized by the UN, this day highlights that 40% of the population lacks education in their native language.
More photos from the event:
