The following item from the Lagos daily the Vanguard was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://allafrica.com/stories/200504220357.html . DZO
PDP Trustee Board Member Condemns Moves to Drop Igbo Language Vanguard (Lagos) http://www.vanguardngr.com/ April 22, 2005 Posted to the web April 22, 2005 Sufuyan Ojeifo Abuja A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Abia State, Prince Benjamin Apugo has called on the Federal Government to clarify alleged moves to drop Igbo language from the list of national languages in which the business of the National Assembly may be conducted. The Government's draft constitution to the on-going National Political Reforms Conference had excluded the Igbo language from the provisions of Section 60, providing only for English, Hausa and Yoruba. The draft provision states: "The business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, Hausa or Yoruba. The National Assembly may, in addition to English, conduct its business in one or more other languages spoken in the country as a National Assembly may by resolution approve". But the 1999 Constitution provides in Section 55 for Igbo language as one of the languages that may be used for conducting the business of the National Assembly. The exclusion of Igbo language in the draft constitution has been interpreted as either a product of typographical error or political mischief. However, reacting to the development yesterday, Prince Apugo, who holds the traditional chieftaincy title of Ochiagha Ibeku-Umuahia (Field Marshal), rejected "any attempt either by omission or commission to further relegate Igbo to the background within the Nigerian Federation". According to him "Igbo cannot be pushed further beyond the point to which it has already been pushed. If it is true that the draft constitution excludes Igbo language, then it is unfortunate and something must be done as quickly as possible to include it. "If anybody thinks he can push Igbo beyond the point where they are now, that person is deceiving himself. They did not create Igbo language and as such they cannot push it into extinction or destroy it. -- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/S.QlOD/3MnJAA/Zx0JAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
