The Controversy Over English as the Sole Medium of Instruction in Nigeria
The recent decision by the Nigerian Federal Government to make English the sole medium of instruction from pre-primary to tertiary levels has sparked significant debate among education experts and stakeholders. This shift has been met with criticism, particularly from prominent figures like Anthony Otaigbe, an educationist who views the move as a step backward for the country’s educational system.
The change was announced by Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, during the 2025 Language in Education International Conference organized by the British Council in Abuja. According to Alausa, English is now the language of instruction in Nigerian schools across all levels. His reasoning centers on the belief that poor performance in public examinations can be attributed to students being taught in their mother tongue.
Otaigbe, however, strongly opposes this decision. In a statement, he described the policy as “a step backwards” and emphasized that it erases one of the most progressive aspects of Nigeria’s education framework. He highlighted that global research and local data consistently show that children who are taught in their first language achieve better learning outcomes compared to those introduced to English from the start.
The National Policy on Education (NPE), last revised in 2013, clearly states that “the language of the immediate environment shall be the medium of instruction for the first three years of primary education,” with English introduced only as a subject. Furthermore, the National Language Policy approved in 2022 extended indigenous-language instruction to Primary Six, aligning with UNESCO’s Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education model.
Otaigbe pointed out that the new directive contradicts existing national policies and cannot override the NPE, which remains the legal and institutional foundation of Nigeria’s education system. He argued that the federal government’s decision does not reflect realities on the ground and is a bureaucratic move detached from classrooms, teachers, and learners.
He also criticized the decision for running counter to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which emphasizes innovation, national identity, and human capital development. Otaigbe shared his experiences from various states, including Benue, Adamawa, Jigawa, and Edo, where he observed that local-language instruction improves comprehension and classroom engagement.
“You cannot build an innovative or self-confident generation on a foundation that erases its linguistic and cultural roots,” he said. “Innovation thrives where identity is secure, and human capital grows when learning begins in comprehension, not confusion.”
Otaigbe further argued that Nigeria’s English-only schooling model has contributed to “rote learning and shallow comprehension,” with over 70 per cent of 10-year-olds unable to read a simple sentence. He dismissed the claim that high failure rates in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB are due to the over-adoption of mother-tongue instruction, calling it both unsubstantiated and illogical.
“The problem has never been the use of local languages; it is the chronic failure to implement existing policy, train bilingual teachers, and allocate proper resources,” he said.
Otaigbe warned that abandoning mother-tongue instruction would deepen inequality between urban and rural learners, erode children’s confidence, and accelerate the extinction of Nigeria’s indigenous languages. He cited examples from countries like Japan, France, Korea, and China, which built world-class economies by educating their people in their own languages.
Finally, Otaigbe urged the government to modernize and scale mother-tongue education instead of abolishing it. He suggested piloting bilingual programmes, retraining teachers, and leveraging digital tools to support effective learning.