The Federal Government has officially abolished the national language policy that mandated teaching in indigenous languages, declaring English as the primary medium of instruction across all Nigerian schools.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement on Wednesday during the Language in Education International Conference 2025 organised by the British Council in Abuja.
The two-day conference, themed “Language, Education and Inclusion: Empowering Every Learner,” drew participants from Africa, South Asia, and the United Kingdom, including educators, researchers, and policymakers.
Dr. Alausa said the decision was driven by the need to improve learning outcomes and ensure consistency across Nigeria’s educational system. He argued that while indigenous languages remain culturally significant, English provides a more effective and unifying means of communication for teaching and learning.
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“English language should be used to teach our students at all levels as a means of instruction. Over the years, mother tongues have been used to teach, and this has largely been responsible for the failures recorded in exams. The national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education,” the minister stated.
According to him, evidence from national examinations such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB indicated that excessive reliance on indigenous languages in some regions had contributed to poor comprehension and low academic performance among students.
He emphasized that future policy directions in the education sector would be based on data and research rather than cultural sentiment, noting that English offers Nigerian students access to global knowledge, technology, and opportunities.
Speaking at the same event, Julian Parry, Director of English Programmes for Sub-Saharan Africa at the British Council, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to promoting inclusive and equitable education through language-responsive teaching.
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“Language can act as a bridge to inclusion, identity, and opportunity for every learner,” Parry said, adding that collaboration and evidence-sharing are key to enhancing global education outcomes.
Also, the Director of Programmes at the British Council Nigeria, Chikodi Onyemerela, highlighted the organisation’s ongoing work to foster inclusion in classrooms through its Pan-Ethnic Classrooms Programme, which has been active since 2015.
“Through our inclusive pedagogy initiatives, we help teachers embed practices that make learning accessible for every child,” Onyemerela noted.