By Ikeugonna Eleke
Nnamdi Azikiwe University has entered a partnership with
a group, Odinala Cultural Heritage Foundation (OCHIE Igbo), for the sustenance of the Igbo Culture and Language.
There have been fears that the Igbo Language may go into extinction soon; as well as a report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which listed the Igbo Language among those that would go extinct before 2050.
OCHIE Igbo therefore said there was need to sustain the language and even revive the Igbo Culture, noting that part of the ways to ensure that was to develop curriculum for teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the Igbo Language.
In a press conference recently, the Executive Director of OCHIE Igbo, Mr Chinedum Benedict Okoro, told journalists that the aim was to sustain the Igbo Culture with a belief that teaching in native language accelerated learning.
‘We are partnering with Unizik for the OCHIE Igbo STEM Project. STEM means Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
‘The project is a benign search to harness the gains associated with teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, using the mother tongue, Okoro explained.
The Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof Charles Esimone, who was also at the press conference, said the institution would give the project its best, saying there were enough scholars in the institution to realize the project.
His words: ‘Advanced countries have been noted to have curriculum that are compatible with their clime and the Igbo must develop same. All we need is the readiness to push a project like this. When the group came to us with the idea, we quickly bought it.’
He assured that the project would enhance learning among Igbo People, adding that once the curriculum was developed, it would be cascaded to the different levels of education, including primary and secondary, as a way of catching them young.
Meanwhile, Ifemeluigbo Dance, a cultural group, in a bid to promote the Igbo culture, has also held a competition between Community Secondary School, Amawbia and Community Secondary School, Enugwu-Agidi.
The convener of the competition, Ms Ify Nweri, said she was a lover of the Igbo Culture and that while studying at Swansea University, UK, she loved how the whites cherished their culture, even though she believed the Igbo had a richer culture.
‘My reason for convening this organisation is to promote our culture and showcase it to the world,’ she said.
The competition featured cultural dances, Igbo proverbs and meanings, among others.
