World Mother Tongue Day: Odu calls for more attention on projecting mother tongue .

Former Secretary to Ondo State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu has expressed concern for the need to promote mother tongue both at home and in the school even as she stressed that in all the developed communities of the world, special attention is placed on the native language.

It will be recalled that UNESCO has earmarked every 23rd February as The World Mother Tongue Day to celebrate the significance of the child’s first language of contact.

Princess Odu, Ondo South APC Senatorial aspirant in the forthcoming by election, congratulated all the teachers of Mother Tongue across Ondo State, particularly in Ondo South, noting that the joy of the day is that a significant support is being accorded the teachers of Languages in their bid to imbibe Yoruba language, culture and norms in the learners.

Princess Odu called on parents to stop discriminating against the local dialects in the home front, stressing that learning the lingua franca and becoming expert in its uses for official communication does not in anyway render irrelevant the mother tongue. She said it is a sign of inferiority complex for parents to condemn their local dialects and tagging such as a medium less superior to English Language , maintaining that while a child should learn the rudiments of English Language, the mother tongue is not less important.

The astute politician and prominent state actor in the progressive politics of the All Progressives Congress, APC, called on The National Assembly to consider consolidating the importance of the mother tongue through a legislative posturing that accords the mother tongue a pride of place in public engagement.