Dr Nkechi Udeze, Acting Director, Anambra State Library Board on Tuesday in Awka restated the need to teach young people how to speak the Igbo langauge.
Udeze made the assertion while speaking at the celebration of the 2019 edition of Africa’s World Cultural Heritage Day with the theme: “My African Heritage”
She said that any failure on the part of parents to preserve the language by handing it down to the younger generation could lead to its extinction.
“Parents should speak the Igbo language to their children and encourage them to use it in their interactions.
“Those who don’t encourage their children to speak Igbo language are helping to make the language go extinct,” she said.
Mr Dike Ndulue, Chairman of the event, described cultural heritage as a unique tool capable of being transmitted from one generation to another.
Ndulue, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Public Enlightenment, said that Africa’s foods, songs, dances, languages, sports and dressing were heritages that should be preserved.
Chinecherem Okonkwo, a student of Enizem Secondary School, Ekwulummili, said the event was enlightening.
It will be recalled that Africa’s World Cultural Heritage, is an annual event celebrated by UNESCO to promote the continent’s unique cultures and natural heritage. (NAN)