Cross-border Relations: Don Tasks Nigerians to Learn French Language
The Director of the Centre for Multimodal Transport Studies at the University of Lagos, Prof. Samuel Iyiola Oni, has enjoined Nigerians to learn French in order to avoid being illiterate when they cross the borders into neighbouring French West African countries.
Speaking during the felicitation ceremony at the weekend for the appointment of Dr. Edmund Chilaka as a Visiting Lecturer by the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Prof. Oni narrated that when the Centre organized field trips to the Republic of Benin and Ghana recently, many of the participating students and lecturers found it difficult to communicate with other Africans they met who spoke only French.
He therefore announced that henceforth, French would be added to the curriculum of the Centre to prepare students for more vibrant interaction and trade with the multilingual citizens of the West Africa community.
Corroborating his views, a French Language don in the Department of European Languages at the University of Lagos, Prof. Victor Ariole, who graced the occasion, explained that English is used as official language in only four of the seventeen countries in the ECOWAS community, while French is used in eight countries, hence Nigerians would be benefited if they spoke and understood French, even if passably.
Oni, who was the chairman of the event, congratulated Dr. Chilaka and lauded his teaching and research capacity as shown by the academic works and interaction with LJMU which led to the prestigious appointment.
He said that the Centre maintains relations with over thirty-two foreign universities for teaching, research, split-Ph.D. supervision, and other levels of collaboration, and promised that henceforth more activities would be organized for the benefit of students and the advancement of the Centre, including research for Nigerian Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and private sector corporate giants for transportation and logistics services policy-making.
Other dignitaries who graced the occasion include Dr. Feyi Oni, Dr. Ege Emmanuel, Professor Shakirudeen Odunuga, Engr. Tony Cookie (Managing Director of Marine Logistics Ltd), Engr. Peter Edeki (NPA Dockyard Manager and former student of the appointee), Prince Peter Odor (Independent Researcher), and many postgraduate students.
