I want to be fair to @PeterPsquare . He is not wrong that French opens doors Igbo does not. He is not wrong that parents get to decide how they raise their own children. But I guess he underestimates the fact that he is not just any parent. P-Square is a name millions of Igbo people grew up admiring, their success made them proud to be who they are. People all over the world sang their songs using Igbo words. So when a voice like that says Igbo is not worth passing on, it does not land like one man’s private choice. It gives permission for a belief a lot of people were already quietly carrying, that English and French, in short anything foreign, sits above Igbo, that their native language is something to graduate out of rather than something to hold onto.
I am not Igbo. I am Swiss. But my husband made it clear from the beginning that our children would speak Igbo, and I have never once seen that as a burden or a complication. Our children speak Swiss German, English, and Igbo at home, German at school, and now French as well, since that is part of their school curriculum too. Five languages, and none of them fighting each other for space. That is the part people forget when they frame this as a choice. Children do not need to pick one language to be strong in. They can navigate several at once, easily.
It is adults who turn language into a competition. Children just absorb what is spoken to them and grow fluent in all of it.
A language is not only a tool for getting ahead. It is also a rooting tool, the place where love, memory, and belonging live. It is the specific way a grandmother scolds you and forgives you in the same breath. It is a joke that only works in the original. Lose the language, and you do not just lose a skill. You lose a room in your own house, one you can still visit as a guest but never quite live in again. That is what worries me most in this conversation. A child who cannot speak their father’s or mother’s language will, at some point, stand in that homeland and feel like a stranger. Not unwelcome, not unloved, just outside something that was supposed to be theirs by birth.
One day, my sons will be handed a kola nut, and in that moment, no one should have to do it for them. They should know how to receive it, how to speak over it, how to break it themselves, not pass it along to someone else because they never learned the words or the meaning behind them. That is such a small moment, and yet it says everything. It is the difference between being someone’s guest and being someone’s own.
So when I hear “Igbo is useless,” what I actually hear is a wound that has not healed.
From the outside, I have watched how often English or French get treated as the languages worth keeping, while Igbo gets treated as the one you can afford to let go of. That preference did not come from nowhere. It is a colonial hierarchy that convinced generations of people that closeness to their own culture was a limitation rather than a foundation. I don’t say this to shame anyone, least of all a man raising his own family the best way he knows how. I say it because the people who shape how we see ourselves carry a weight beyond their own households, whether they asked for it or not.
My hope is simple. That we stop treating our children’s languages as a competition with only one winner. That we let them have both the world and their roots, and trust that they are capable of holding both without ever having to choose.
I just had a very disturbing conversation with a South African who is visiting Nigeria, and I am livid.
I’ve been offline for a while, so I’m only just learning about the tragic killing of Chika Ibe, a businessman from Abia State, who was reportedly murdered by South African police officers in his own home in South Africa. This is deeply disturbing, and my thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
Why is this not on the news?
What is the government doing about this?
Why has @GovernmentZA not prosecuted the killers, but hiring @Trevornoah to run ads to visit South Africa, after murdering foreigners.
Why is the whole nation silent? Where is the Giant of Africa to fight for its citizens?
@NGRPresident@alexottiofr
Egejurum Onyedikachi shares his experience winning the gold medal at the International STEM Olympiad Grand Final in Rome.
He is the best in the world in the Mathematics Primary Category.
He is a genius.
Educare received this special recognition from the International STEM Olympiad, Rome.
We will continue to build the right technology that powers education and also support our children to shine on global stages.
Don Anele Munachimso won 2 gold medals yesterday at the International STEM Olympiad.
He is currently the world’s best in Maths and Sciences.
He is also the best in IGCSE in Nigeria.
What a brilliant youngster!
The wait is over.
We have 2 golds: Chimdiebube Onwubiko and Don Anele Munachimso.
We are the best in the world!
Egejurum Onyedikachi’s name was omitted. He should have a gold.
Focusing a major part of my education intervention in the South East is not tribalism.
I am not a political office holder. I’m just an ordinary citizen like you.
If you feel upset about it, why not focus on your region?
Our collective efforts will make Nigeria better.
Over 30,000 children have already registered for the 2027 South East Maths Olympiad.
We will be unlocking a new set of exceptional students and teachers.
They all need our support to reach the heights of their greatness.
Education equals prosperity.
Students from other countries are arriving for the Grand Finale of the International STEM Olympiad.
This is way bigger than I thought.
Our boys will win the gold medals regardless.
What you got to say about this @EzeTalksSports ?
You tried to say the Christian persecution in Nigeria was made up so you could impress your Muslim friends.
I'll never apologize for standing up for persecuted Christians, you coward.
His name is Egejurum Onyedikachi, and he is a genius.
Let that sink in.
He is in Primary 6 but does wonders with mathematics that make SS3 students tremble.
The world will know him and celebrate him.
He is currently with me in Rome to challenge champions from other countries this Saturday.