Mr Adeshina Ayeni, a language translator, on Wednesday called on African youths to use digital activism to give African languages visibility on the internet.
Ayeni made the call during an interactive session with participants at the AfricaNXT 2022 Week in Lagos with the theme: ‘The Next 10 years: Developing African Tech-Scape Through Indigenous Languages’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AfricaNXT, formally Social Media Week (SMW), is an annual event.
According to Ayeni, the inadequacy of available content in African indigenous languages and lack of youth participation in linguistic diversity on the internet cause marginalisation of African languages on the web.
He said that the danger of the relegation of African languages under the guise of globalisation was that several indigenous practices, beneficial to both the local and global communities, were overlooked in favour of the foreign ones.
Ayeni noted that it was very sad that Africans now take pride in the proficiency of imported languages at the expense of a sound knowledge of their own mother tongue for written communication.
“There is a need for youths to interact in their local dialects on instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms to give African languages visibility on the internet and drive profound change in the African digital world.
“We need young people to have the zeal and interest in language promotion and there should be the adequacy of content in indigenous languages on the web.
“Also, I don’t see anything wrong in making cartoons in Indigenous languages so that children can learn and speak fluently,” Ayeni said.
He, however, regretted inadequate digital tools in African languages, urging software developers to create digital tools in African languages to save it from extinction.
He said that the effects of the continued dominance of English and French was resulting in unfavourable attitudes to African languages.
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