Inculcating entrepreneurial spirit through indigenous language education: The Igbo example

Abstract

It is generally acknowledged that there are more human resources in Nigeria than available employment. Thousands of graduates are added to the labour market yearly. It has also been recognized that the use of indigenous languages has helped most developed countries of the world to attain desirable development. The efficacy of using the language a learner is comfortable with, a language in which he can express his thought and translate his ideas into articulate sentences has been established by many scholars. Based on the above observations, this paper advocates the use and teaching of indigenous languages (Igbo) not only from primary and post-primary level but more importantly at the tertiary level- where there are untold number of undergraduates preparing to face the reality of life. The work collected five Igbo proverbs, interpreted and related them to the qualities of an entrepreneur. The result revealed that Igbo proverbs can be very effective in inculcating entrepreneurial spirit in the Igbo young minds. The study concludes that the use of Igbo proverbs embedded in the Igbo language should be used in inculcating entrepreneurial spirit in the Igbo youths.

Key words: Inculcating, Entrepreneurial spirit, Indigenous language, education.