Project All Cultures And Languages To Prevent Cultural Elitism And Internal Colonisation
Language is a strong tool for internal and external colonisation.It can be used for an agenda of "Cultural Elitism" and to malign other tribes,ethnic groups,races and cultures.
After the French revolution,the leadership imposed "Parisian French" on the people even though it was only spoken by a quarter of the population.Languages like Breton,Basque,Alsatian,Corsican and Occitan that were also widely spoken were declared barbaric. Covert and coercive means were employed to make Parisian French the National language.
In Africa, they employed the Policy of Assimilation to impose their culture and wipe the vestige of any culture.This is why the French holds sway significantly in Africa.And as a Pan-Africanist,I appreciate the shift of some Francophone countries in Africa in recent times.
Our country has to more glaringly embrace the culture of inclusiveness to prevent Cultural Elitism.All other cultures and languages must be projected purposely.This will be the surest remedy to the hydra of tribalism and internal colonisation.
When the Belgians colonised Rwanda,they purposely projected the Tutsi minority over the Hutu, making them elites and their culture more superior.
After independence,the Hutu majority subdued the Tutsi domination.As pay back,the Hutu imposed their own form of internal colonisation. This fueled the RWANDA GENOCIDE the world knows about.
The appeal by the Ga Mantse for policy makers to ensure that Ga is taught more in schools in Accra to preserve the language should be embraced as the language risks extinction.
As of now,Ga isn't taught predominantly in schools in Accra because of lack of teachers and other challenges best known to the education ministry.
Due to urbanisation,Accra for instance has become culturally diverse.This paves way for other languages to thrive.The trauma of colonialism has left us with an attachment to the English language,and as English is spoken more often in our homes and schools than our Ghanaian languages,there is active intergenerational break in the transmission of our languages.The risk of our traditional languages going extinct rises by the minute.
Ghanaians are becoming less fluent in their local languages especially the children and the youth.Once the last elderly person fluent in a particular Ghanaian language expires,the language dies too.
By this I call on the Ghana Education Service to quickly initiate a policy where the local languages originally spoken in each region are taught compulsorily at the schools in the region.
The call by Ga Mantse is in the right direction and other traditional leaders must emulate this.
Lastly,let's respect and project all cultures and languages and avoid cultural elitism.
Long Live Mother Ghana
By Dumenu Charles Selorm
Author has 105 publications here on modernghana.com
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