Diri backs Ijaw language App project

Bayelsa state Governor  Douye Diri has pledged his administration’s support for the newly developed Ijaw Language App code-named Dayama Demo.

Senator Diri made the commitment  Tuesday at the Ijaw Language Awareness Summit with the theme: “Reviving The Izon Language: Heritage, Our Identity, Our Future,” at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall in Yenagoa, as part of activities marking the 30th anniversary of the state’s creation.

Governor Diri expressed concern that the language was gradually becoming extinct and urged his kinsmen and all Bayelsans to make a conscious effort to revive it in order to preserve their identity as a people for the younger generation.

He commended popular Ijaw music act, Asu Ekiye, for convening the summit and for being a true ambassador of the Ijaw nation.

He said the summit would henceforth be an annual event in the state.

He also lauded a former Commissioner for Ijaw National Affairs in the state, Dr. Felix Tuodolo, Ijaw language presenter, Erema Yanga, among others for ensuring that the Ijaws do not lose their heritage.

He called on private organisations and individuals to join government in supporting the creative talents that have been at the forefront of promoting the language.

The state’s helmsman urged the Ijaw National Congress (INC) to work with government on the Ijaw revival project as well as reactivate the Prof. Kay Williamson Centre at Kaiama in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area.

He directed the Commissioner for Education to ensure that quizzes and debates in Ijaw language were organised in primary and secondary schools in the state.

The governor added  that the move to resuscitate Ijaw language was started by his predecessor,  Senator Seriake Dickson, in 2018 when Kolokuma dialect was adopted as the official language in the state.

He said: “The responsibility of teaching our children our language lies squarely with parents. So every family should strive to communicate always in their mother tongue.

“My predecessor started the move to revive the language when he sent a bill to the House of Assembly and on February 25, 2018 and Kolokuma dialect was adopted as the central language and 200 teachers were recruited to teach the language in every public school.

“This celebration will not end today. It is going to be an annual Izon Language Awareness Day and it will be anchored in the Ministry of Culture and Ijaw National Affairs.

“Next year, we will have this Ijaw Awareness Day in an open field at the sports complex where all our families, all our mothers and fathers will converge.

“What we are doing today is about the preservation of our language, mode of dressing as well as the cuisine that make up the sum total of our culture and tradition as Ijaws.”

In his keynote address, Dr Felix Tuodolo, identified challenges affecting the survival of the Ijaw language, noting that parents no longer communicate with their children in their mother tongue.