The federal government has cancelled the national policy that previously mandated the use of indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in schools, citing poor performance in public examinations. The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, made the declaration on Wednesday at the 2025 Language in Education International Conference, organised by the British Council in Abuja, stating that “English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education.” The now-revoked National Language Policy (NLP), approved in 2022, had stipulated that from early childhood education to Primary Six, teaching would be conducted in the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community to promote indigenous languages and improve early learning outcomes.
Minister Alausa justified the reversal by presenting evidence indicating that the use of the mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction had negatively impacted learning outcomes in several parts of the country. He argued that the decision was based on “evidence-based governance,” not emotions, stating that Nigerian children had been performing abysmally in public examinations as a result of the policy.
The Minister highlighted that the government had observed a “mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geopolitical zones” of the country, which were the regions that had extensively adopted the mother tongue approach. He stated, “Using the mother tongue language in Nigeria for the past 15 years has literally destroyed education in certain regions.” Consequently, English is now the language of instruction from pre-primary through to tertiary education levels.
Data gathered from schools across Nigeria, according to the Minister, revealed that students taught primarily in indigenous languages recorded higher failure rates in national examinations and struggled with basic English comprehension, a key skill for academic and professional advancement. Mr Alausa urged stakeholders with differing views to present verifiable data to support their positions, adding that the government remained open to evidence-based dialogue.
The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmed, also spoke at the conference, highlighting other areas of government focus to address the teaching and learning crisis at the foundational level. Ms Ahmed stated that a new training package had been designed for teachers to help with literacy and numeracy learning. The British Council Country Director, Donna Mcgowan, also pledged the council’s continued support and expertise to Nigeria’s education policies.
