FG Scraps Mother Tongue Policy, Adopts English as Sole Medium of Instruction in Nigerian Schools
ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Government of Nigeria has officially reversed its 2022 National Language Policy, mandating the use of the English language as the sole medium of instruction across all educational levels, from pre-primary to tertiary institutions. The decision to suspend the indigenous language policy was attributed to a drastic decline in learning outcomes and a surge in mass failure rates in major national examinations.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the major policy shift on Wednesday at the 2025 Language in Education International Conference, organized by the British Council in Abuja.
Why the Policy Was Suspended
The Minister stated that the reversal was informed by "evidence-based, data-driven" analysis which revealed that the extensive use of mother tongue instruction in some regions had severely compromised educational standards.
"We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an oversubscribed manner," Dr. Alausa stated. He argued that policy decisions must be guided by facts rather than "emotional attachment to language identity."
The now-cancelled 2022 policy stipulated that children from early childhood to Primary Six should be taught in their native language or the language of their immediate community, an initiative intended to strengthen indigenous languages and improve foundational comprehension.
However, the Minister contended that the policy failed in implementation, leading to situations where students struggled with English comprehension—the language used for national examinations—and effectively advanced to higher classes "without learning anything."
A Unified Approach for Global Competitiveness
With the cancellation of the former policy, Dr. Alausa declared that English now stands as the medium of instruction across all tiers of education. This move aims to ensure uniformity in classroom instruction nationwide, enhance comprehension, and better position Nigerian students for global competitiveness. The government has also indicated plans to design a new training package for teachers to focus on literacy and numeracy learning under the new system.
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