OPINION: Don't Speak Igbo Publicly, Your English is Igbotic, Nonsense! By Tobenna Obiano.

As written by Tobenna Obiano.

Fellow Igbos: do you know that most Hispanic people born, breed and brought up in the America go to learn how to speak, read and write in Spanish language and prides in it.

Yet, someone who is born in one part of Ebutte Metta or Ajegunle, or Onitsha or lately also, even Kano, Nyanya, Abaji or Gwagwalada, imagine Gwagwalada which they have now christened Gwagwas insist on their kids to ditch Igbo language wholly and pride in English language, including speaking jargons and dirty English known as Pigeon or broken English.

Even at home, our brothers and sisters from the North, Hausas and those from the SouthWest, our Yoruba brothers pride in their language, but fellow Igbos are ashamed of speaking, writing or reading Igbo language and sadly, they are even proudful of that "shameful" fact that local Igbo language shouldn't be spoken to their kids at home and in school.

In my traveling experience, I have always and would remain very proud of Yorubas, on the airplane, at airports, and even at institutions abroad, they pride in their language. They speak their Yoruba language and teach it to their children. In places of work and business ventures in Nigeria, the Hausas speak their language and show delight in same. Sometime ago, I flew into Abuja, a taxi driver conveying me from the airport into the city was stopped by the FCT police and the Igbo policeman refused to accept being an Igbo. He was speaking broken language, just to insist on asking my driver to give him bribe. I told him pointblank, "ifere mmegbuo gi". I insisted that the bribe wouldn't be paid and we must go. Ofcourse we did!

Even many successful Igbo parents, particularly illiterate traders insist on broken-English to be substituted for Igbo. What is the result or after effect, their kids grow to learn and speak very terrible English. I sat in a restaurant in some part of Awka, and a supposed young undergraduate girl who was out for lunch with another young man, they were making a nonsense of English language. Their grammatical expression was stupefying to say the least. They were speaking same interchangeably with broken language, yet both of them were Igbos. I lost my appetite, left my food unfinished and quickly left the restaurant. Their grammatical blunder weakened and broke me down.

Now, most of these young pretty damsels that are "slay mamas/ queen" or the happening dudes who dress so well, look cute and have a ride of their own can't express themselves in the simplest form. Some who haven't held their ground to themselves graduate to even speaking "phonetics" when their expression is still at zero. At UNICAL, an undergraduate beauty without brain insist to my face on the pronunciation of "fork as faek" or whatsoever that means. If in doubt, get unto various social media forum and you would be heartbroken.

There is nothing wrong with speaking, reading and writing in Igbo language. I attended institutions where learning of good English was integral, but it never stopped my siblings and I from speaking, reading or writing in Igbo. My debut novel was written in Igbo language. It was captioned "Aku enwe ebee", which when loosely translated reads: wealth has no home. It tells its own story. It was approved for use in schools and it has sold a little over 30,000 copies. I'm a proud Igbo son and I pride in my language. The rich cultural heritage of ndi-Igbo remains important to some of us and it's second to none.

There is this Nigerian amazon, a model to most African women, her name is Ngozi Okonjo Iwuala who actually attended Ivy League institutions abroad, worked in many organizations of high repute, remained Nigeria's most successful and best known Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy who almost made it to the world bank Presidency, yet Aunty. Ngozi doesn't speak in phonetics, she doesn't carry "Brazilian human hair", doesn't carry bother us online with photos taken on a "K-leg" pose yet many who do all those and "dramatize" their speaking with fanfare, including and not limited to even many polished English speakers haven't and may never equal her outreach, exposure and height.

It's what in you that matters. It's what you can give that matters. It's what you bring to the table that matters, not a sense of belonging or faith of pride in the Queen's English without any serious moves. A Latin adage reads thus: "Nemo dat, non quod habet", which means: No one gives what he has not.

When next any "fool" tells you not to speak Igbo in public or not to bother to teach your kids Igbo or don't allow them to read or write in Igbo, pity the fool. If they tell you that your English is Igbotic, don't lose heart, only fools expect an Igbo to have his English language be a perfect representation of an English man. How many English people can speak Igbo without being "Englistic". Don't mind ndi-ara, ha bu ndi uchu na ndi oso chi egbu. Kitikpa ga agbagbu ha very soon.

This is particularly for ndi Lasgidi babes who are quick to remind us, "I was born in Lagos, I'm a Lagosian", na ndi Abj plus PH and lately also, ndi Coal city babes. And even that privileged "fool" who finds himself in the United States by share luck of American lottery and suddenly just within a space of six months, he has forgotten his Igbo after having lived his maybe 25years in SouthEast, Nigeria and now shames us all with his phonetic English, I pity all of you. Now, it's only sagging your trousers, wearing cains like dogs and hitting knuckles and a culture of 'yo man, what's up' that you know, shame on you.

Truth is, many not "most", many Nigerians, particularly young people are not only insensitive and myopic, they are also arrogantly ignorant and worse is, they don't care!

It is well!

Tobenna Obiano