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A Port Harcourt based linguist and Indigenous Language advocate, Mr. Josiah Egbilika, has called on people of African descent in Diaspora to as a matter of urgent necessity, acquire and speak the language of their African affiliations if they truly want to be identified with their place of origin.
Mr Egbilika made the call against the backdrop of the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination, with the theme, ‘A Decade of Recognition, Justice and Development: Implementation of the International Decade for the People of African Descent.’
The linguist said there is no way these recognitions will be complete when the people of African descent have not totally identified with the culture of their origin, especially the language.
According to Egbilika, “indigenous language serves as one of the best ways to identify a person and embrace one’s true identity. People of African descent must make it a necessity to consciously put in effort towards learning and speaking the language of their origin.
“It is not enough to have an affiliation with Africa without any element of African culture. To hold claim of being Africans, they have to first identify their place of origin, not just the country, and then, learn and speak the indigenous languages of the people”.
The Indigenous Language advocate emphasized that if the people of African descent will learn and speak their indigenous languages proudly, it would enhance language tourism, which will in turn bolster the economy of the nation of their origin.
