FG Cancels Mother Tongue Policy, Declares English as Sole Medium of Instruction in Nigerian Schools

Education Minister Tunji Alausa announces the cancellation of the mother tongue policy during the British Council conference in Abuja.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has officially cancelled the National Policy on Mother Tongue Instruction and declared English as the sole medium of instruction across all levels of education, from primary schools to tertiary institutions. This decision, announced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, marks a significant policy shift in Nigeria’s education sector and has generated wide debate among educators, linguists, and parents nationwide. Dr. Alausa made the declaration during the 2025 Language in Education International Conference, organized by the British Council in Abuja on Wednesday.

In 2022, the Federal Government under former President Muhammadu Buhari approved the National Language Policy (NLP), which mandated the use of indigenous languages or mother tongues as the primary medium of instruction from Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE) up to Primary Six. The idea behind the policy was to promote Nigeria’s rich linguistic and cultural diversity, improve learning outcomes at the foundational level, and ensure that every child could learn in a language they understood best. Under the policy, English was to be introduced as a subject at early stages and later become the primary medium of instruction in secondary and tertiary education.
However, after about three years of limited implementation in selected states, the government has now decided to reverse the policy, citing poor academic performance and evidence-based research that showed negative learning outcomes in areas where mother-tongue instruction was adopted.

Speaking at the conference, Education Minister Tunji Alausa explained that extensive data analysis and educational research informed the government’s decision to scrap the policy. According to him, the introduction of mother tongue instruction had contributed to declining performance levels among Nigerian students, particularly in external examinations such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB.

“We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geopolitical zones of the country, and those are the regions that adopted this mother tongue policy more rigorously,” Alausa stated.
"This decision is not about sentiment or emotion, it is about evidence. English now stands as the medium of instruction from pre-primary to tertiary levels. Using indigenous languages as the primary teaching language for the past 15 years has destroyed education in some regions. We have to face the evidence.”

The minister emphasized that while the intention behind the 2022 policy was noble, the outcome proved counterproductive. He said evidence from across the country showed that students taught mainly in local languages had difficulty transitioning to English-based assessments and performed poorly in national exams that are conducted in English.

“The national policy on language has been cancelled. English will henceforth be used as the sole language of instruction at all levels of education in Nigeria,” Alausa declared.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed, also spoke at the conference, shedding light on the government’s broader reforms aimed at improving literacy and numeracy skills in Nigerian schools.  Prof. Ahmed disclosed that a new teacher training program has been designed to strengthen foundational education and equip teachers with the necessary skills to improve reading, writing, and arithmetic among young learners.

“We are now designing a training package for teachers that focuses on literacy and numeracy learning.
The goal is to ensure that teachers handling pre-primary to primary three levels are well-equipped to teach these critical skills effectively,” she explained.

She noted that the program would not only focus on teaching techniques but also on developing innovative classroom approaches that help children grasp basic concepts more effectively.
According to her, the federal government is determined to address Nigeria’s learning crisis by prioritizing teacher capacity building, curriculum reform, and evidence-based policy interventions.

In her remarks, the Country Director of the British Council Nigeria, Donna McGowan, commended the Nigerian government for taking a bold step toward reforming its education sector. McGowan reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to partnering with the Ministry of Education to strengthen teacher training, language proficiency, and school leadership development across the country.

“We’re committed to working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Education. Our work spans teacher professional development, school leadership, and language proficiency,” McGowan said.
“We will continue to provide technical assistance, expertise, and international best practices that can help Nigeria reposition its education system for the future.”

The British Council has long played a pivotal role in supporting Nigeria’s education reforms, including initiatives in language education, teacher development, and skills enhancement programs for youth.

The federal government’s decision to cancel the mother tongue policy has drawn mixed reactions from education stakeholders, teachers, and parents. While some experts applaud the move as a practical step toward improving educational performance, others argue that abandoning indigenous languages could lead to the gradual erosion of Nigeria’s cultural identity and linguistic heritage. Supporters of the new policy point out that Nigeria is a multilingual society with over 500 languages, making uniform implementation of mother-tongue instruction extremely difficult. They argue that English serves as the unifying language and provides Nigerian students with a competitive advantage in the global arena.
However, critics of the policy reversal believe that instead of outright cancellation, the government could have invested in teacher training, curriculum development, and translation materials to make mother-tongue instruction more effective.

With English now reaffirmed as the sole medium of instruction, education experts believe that the government will need to strengthen English literacy from the earliest years of schooling to ensure that children grasp the language adequately. The move is also expected to influence teacher recruitment, curriculum content, and learning materials, as schools will have to align with the new directive.
Observers note that this policy shift underscores a broader trend in Nigerian education, a move toward global competitiveness and standardization in teaching and learning. Still, the debate continues among linguists and educators over how to balance language preservation with academic performance in a country as culturally diverse as Nigeria.
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The Federal Government’s cancellation of the mother tongue policy represents a turning point in Nigeria’s education strategy. While English is now the official and exclusive language of instruction, the policy’s success will depend on the government’s ability to train teachers, improve infrastructure, and enhance student learning outcomes across all regions.
For many education experts, the conversation should not end with the cancellation but should open the door for a broader discussion on how Nigeria can combine its rich linguistic heritage with modern, effective teaching methods that equip children to thrive both locally and globally.

By PrimeLineInfo