I recall how, as a Junior High School student in JSS 2, while still at Niger Grammar School, Port Harcourt; before my migration to the prestigious Baptist High School, Port Harcourt, I get apprehensive every morning when the French teacher was due to have her teaching period. It was customary for me and some classmates to hurriedly look through our previous lesson notes in French, to prepare us against the onslaught of our no-nonsense teacher who is sure to punish any student who didn’t live up to her expectation in terms of being able to answer specific questions in French. The severity of the punishment, which consisted in being knocked with a “ruler” at the back of one’s fingers, for a number of times determined by the degree of provocation of the teacher or otherwise, was definitely a horrendous experience for me as it often left me in excruciating pains.
Thus, upon her entrance into the classroom, we were wont to loudly chorus, after the routine calling to order of the class by the class prefect who bangs his desk three times, in our most vocal elocution: “Bonjour Madame”! “Como sa va? Came the response; and loudly again, like our very lives depended on it, we would scream: “Sava bie merci, evu”; or something to that effect. Well, so much for reminiscences on the potentials for being bilingual in English and French.
The foregoing thoughts, and the consequent decision to pen this piece, were informed by a recent chance occurrence. I happened to be at a dinner table with five gentlemen, a few days ago, at Tinapa, Cross Rivers State. Two of these men, were Beninois. Being from the Republic of Benin, it was natural to hear them speak French. However, my interest was piqued when they were able to interact with the rest of us on the table with something more than workable English. Therein was my immediate dilemma. When the gentlemen spoke French, we – the Nigerians – were in the dark; but when we spoke English, it was for general consumption. I wondered!
Nigeria is bordered by francophone countries, practically all over the map; with the exception of the Atlantic Ocean, if I remember correctly. But how many Nigerians can interact with these neighbours of ours? Of course, there are a few Nigerians who can hold their own in several foreign languages; yours truly, being an exception, – except you want to count Nigerian pidgin English as a foreign language – a situation which I shall not hesitate to remedy, soon as it is practical, so to do.
The issue for discourse is, whether or not, it makes sense for Nigeria to (re)evolve a national policy on education that places premium on proficiency of her citizens in French, in addition to the English Language. Are there no adverse security implications on our corporate existence to have neighbours who are mostly bilingual in English and French, whereas, we are purely monolingual in just the English Language? I know our local languages would readily come to mind. But this is beyond speaking several Nigerian languages. The international scene is the focus here; international security, globalization and its many trappings.
Apart from the security implications of being bordered by neighbours we barely understand, there are socioeconomic advantages that foreign language proficiency confer on the citizens of a nation. Take educational and scientific advancements, for instance. There is a myriad of literature which is simply prized out of our reach, by default; by virtue of our non-comprehension of the language in which they were written. Banking on translations would be tantamount to being content with second-rate or after the fact, knowledge; as substantial information is lost in translation, and a translator could undertake to mislead an unsuspecting people.
Over the years, Nigeria has been credited with being the major financier of the Sub-Regional and Regional groupings of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and the African Union, AU; an outgrowth of the defunct Organization of African Unity, OAU. It remains to be seen, however, to what extent Nigeria has benefitted from her huge financial contributions to these bodies. For one, Nigerians are not the bulk of manpower in the secretariats and agencies of these organizations, as other countries beat us to it, it appears, on account of being able to speak and write in more than one international language. Does it make sense, then, that our citizens would not be given a competitive edge over, if not placed at par with citizens of other States within the continent; when our commonwealth suffers considerable depletion on account of our sustenance of these bodies?
What about the Foreign Policy direction of the country? Where do we want our citizens, and by extension, the country, to stand in the international scheme of things and within the comity of nations? Are we content with being the so-called “Big Brother” that can barely cater for its own needs, and yet engages in transnational philanthropy in terms of resources, including citizens who make the supreme sacrifice in exporting peace to our neighbours, whereas our home is in tatters?
The principle of reciprocity harped upon by the Goodluck Jonathan administration as the hub of our Foreign Policy, must be given a concrete outlook. A government must do everything within its legitimate powers to enhance the standard of living of its citizenry. Taking into account the peculiarity of her location among francophone countries, and taking steps to bestow comparative advantage on her citizens, by empowering them to transcend the borders of language barriers to development; is one sure way to proceed.
As though the personal embarrassment that I had to contend with in not being able to understand the discussion of the gentlemen from Benin republic, was not humbling enough; I happened to meet some friends from the Middle East, who traditionally spoke the Arabic Language. And yes, they could all speak passable English. So, the question that the caption may have evoked in your mind regarding what it matters that the Nigerian President can or cannot speak French, must have been put in perspective. We must resort to a national development plan that caters for eliminating the barriers to national security, while fostering the socioeconomic wellbeing of the Nigerian citizen. Can you speak French? Can your children speak French? Are there any advantages to having Nigerians speak more foreign languages? If you answer in the affirmative, shouldn’t our policy makers and enforcers, do what they must, to bring home those advantages?
Efe Wanogho is on twitter as, @efewanogho.
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