The Member representing Song constituency at the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Emmanuel Kefas, has sponsored a bill for the establishment of the Indigenous Languages’ Commission.
The legislation is crafted to create a commission with the responsibility of preserving indigenous languages that are on the verge of extinction across the 21 Local Government Areas.
Adamawa State is known to house several ethnic groups with each having a unique language structure and culture. However, a number of indigenous languages are no longer spoken not to talk of passing it down to new generations.
It is against this backdrop that the legislation is floated to that effect in order to promote cultural heritage particularly indigenous languages instead of allowing same to be eroded or forgotten by it speakers.
The bill tagged,”A bill for a law to provide for the establishment of the Adamawa Indigenous Languages Commission and for the purposes connected therewith” was on Monday placed on notice for its consideration by the assembly.
According to Hon. Emmanuel, the bill became necessary to help people preserve their cultural identity, particularly their indigenous languages, saying that if the society does not take conscious step(s) at addressing this, some languages may go extinct in years to come.
He explained that the legislation will ensure that indigenous languages are taught in both public and private schools to preserve them for posterity.
He noted that the establishment of the new commission will equally create employment opportunities for the citizens while helping them to save their indigenous language.
He said that the if the law is finally passed will benefit indigenous languages and Adamawa State in general, saying that the bill is timely and appealed to his colleagues to accord it needed attention in order to see the light of the day.
