The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo has set up a special committee to design a framework for reviving and safeguarding the Igbo language from running out of extinction.
President General Senator John Azuta Mbata disclosed on Saturday while receiving the 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture planning committee.
The meeting was held at the organization’s secretariat in Enugu, where Mbata emphasized the importance of reviving and safeguarding the Igbo language.
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Mbata expressed concern over a recent UNESCO report that classified the Igbo language as endangered, stressing that urgent steps must be taken to preserve it.
“We are worried by UNESCO’s revelation that the Igbo language is endangered. Hence, we must act to protect it from disappearing,” he said.
He explained that Ohanaeze is promoting research and studies on Igbo language and culture while encouraging Igbos to embrace their mother tongue as a core part of their identity.
“I hereby endorse the 2025 Ahiajoku Lecture Festival on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. We shall cooperate to ensure a successful festival. I will be there in person,” he assured.
The Ohanaeze leader noted that his administration had instituted professorial endowment chairs in Nigerian universities to drive research in Igbo history, tradition, and language.
He added that the Ahiajoku Festival remains “an avenue for deep conversations among Ndigbo on issues of culture, language, and survival.”
Earlier, the Director General of Ahiajoku Centre, Nze Raymond Emeana, traced the festival’s origin to 1979 under the late Governor Sam Mbakwe.
He noted that the 2025 lecture, the 25th in the series, will be delivered by Bishop Godfrey Onah on the theme: “The Future of Igbo Economy Amidst the Challenges of Insecurity, a call for paradigm shift.”
