By Osezua Stephen-Imobhio, Founder/Director, African Indigenous Language Film Festival

Globalization is reshaping the world, but in its wake it often strips away the very roots of identity. For Africa, the struggle for cultural sovereignty is not an abstract ideal—it is a battle for memory, meaning, and survival. Among the most effective tools in this fight is cinema, especially when produced in our own languages. Yet cinema itself depends on another crucial foundation: education in the Mother Tongue. The recent government decision to cancel the Mother Tongue education policy threatens not only our languages, but the cultural industries and communities that rely on them.

Language is more than a means of communication; it is the heartbeat of identity and the vessel of thought. Our history is scarred by systematic erasure—colonial powers imposed foreign languages, often displacing the tongues in which our ancestors prayed, legislated, and imagined the future. Today, more than 2,000 indigenous languages still live across Africa, yet only a fraction are used widely in public life. Without deliberate policies, many are drifting toward extinction. This government decision accelerates that decline.

Educational research from UNESCO and the African Union consistently shows that children learn more effectively when taught in their first language, particularly in the early years. A strong educational foundation in the Mother Tongue improves comprehension, fosters self-confidence, and even facilitates later mastery of other languages. Cancelling such instruction will deepen inequality and widen the gap between urban and rural communities, cutting too many young people off from the linguistic heritage that shapes their worldview.

The cultural cost is equally severe. At the African Indigenous Language Film Festival, screening works in Yoruba, Swahili, Zulu, Igbo, Hausa and more is an act of validation—affirming that our languages are modern, dynamic, and fully capable of carrying complex narratives. Films like *Supa Modo* (2018) and the enduring works of Ousmane Sembène and Tunde Kelani prove that indigenous languages are not provincial curiosities but vital contributors to global art. Artistic authenticity is rooted in fluency, in the comfort of expressing deep emotion and complex ideas in one’s native tongue. Remove Mother Tongue instruction, and within a generation the chain is broken—oral traditions fade, the pool of native speakers shrinks, and the cultural industries lose their lifeblood.

Governments have a custodial duty to protect linguistic heritage, a responsibility enshrined in international agreements like the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. By rescinding the Mother Tongue policy, the state contradicts proven educational practice, hastens language loss, undermines creative sectors from film to publishing, and erodes the bridge between young people and their elders. Language is not ornamental—it is the infrastructure of thought. To dismantle it is to dismantle the future.

The alternative is clear. Instead of cancellation, the Mother Tongue policy should be expanded and strengthened. Investment in teacher training, development of modern learning materials in local languages, and the integration of cultural industries into educational initiatives can preserve heritage while generating tangible economic opportunities. Film, literature, tourism, and media are fertile grounds for indigenous-language growth, offering both cultural pride and livelihoods.

A Yoruba proverb teaches: *Tí òkìnín ò bá fi ẹsẹ rẹ̀ rin, àlààyè ò ní mọ ọ́*—“If the lion does not walk, the hunter will not know its path.” Our languages are the lion’s footprints on the map of history. Erasing them from education forces the lion into hiding. It is time for the lion to roar again—in our classrooms, our cinemas, and every arena where Africa speaks for itself.

The government must reconsider and reverse this decision, reaffirming that Mother Tongue education is not a relic of the past but the foundation of Africa’s future.