Walnut Book Club marks International Mother Language Day in Lagos

By Editor

WALNUT Book Club, in partnership with DDL Marketing & Consultancy Services Ltd and Everything Literature, is set to celebrate the International Mother Language Day 2026 at the National Library of Nigeria, Herbert Macaulay Way, Alagomeji, Yaba on Friday, March 6, 2026. The International Mother Language Day event has become a remarkable annual outing in the calendar of the thriving Walnut Book Club. The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Youth Voices on Multilingual Education.’ The event is being supported by First Bank Plc, Skymark Partners and Fidelity Bank Plc.

According to the award-winning writer and book club Programme Coordinator, Mrs. Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor, the event is not just a mere celebration but a reawakening and call for an immediate readjustment in how we see mother tongues, especially for languages facing extinction.

“It has become our mission to see that our local languages continue to thrive,” Chiazor-Enenmor said. “We cannot afford to let our languages go into extinction. That is why we have undertaken this mission and have consistently kept the fire burning for the past five years and counting.”

Speaking further, Chiazor-Enenmor noted that it had become imperative for everyone to pay close attention to the issue of mother tongue, adding, “A language is an embodiment of a people’s culture and if a language gets eroded, the implication is that the history and culture associated with that language equally gets eroded.”

Although the celebration is marked globally on February 21 each year, the organisers always consider the academic calendar of Lagos State schools in choosing the closest convenient date to enable students to participate. Fifteen schools are expected in this year’s edition. They will be presenting short dramas, poetic recitation, spoken works, songs and dances in various Nigerian languages.

According to Chiazor-Enenmor, the author of such children’s books as A Father’s Pride and adult fiction on illegal migration, See Morocco See Spain, “That is the beauty of what we are doing on Friday. Every presentation will be in a Nigerian language.”

International Mother Language Day celebration is an important event in the United Nation’s calendar. The origin is traceable to a protest which took place in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, on February 21, 1952. That day, students of the University of Dhaka protested Pakistani government’s decision to impose Urdu as the only official language in the country. Some of the protesting students lost their lives as police opened fire on them. Many years after the tragic incident of 1952, specifically on November 17, 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) approved and proclaimed February 21 as International Mother Language Day. Consequently, the event was first marked on February 21, 2000, and it has been an annual celebration ever since.

Ndidi Enenmor-Chiazor