MINORITY LANGUAGES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP
MINORITY LANGUAGES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP Eliel Centre, Ray field JOS, Plateau State March 28 th to April 1 st , 2016 1: INTRODUCTION There are an estimated 2000 Ethnic groups in Africa, speaking over 2000 languages. Nigeria alone makes up for more than 500 of these ethnic groups and languages. Of these over 500 languages, only 3 are officially regarded as major languages in Nigeria where official local language policies favour the development and preservation of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Some of the minority languages in Nigeria are made up of more than 5 million native speakers, while some like Baram language have less than 500 native speakers. According to UNESCO- “Languages are reserves of cultures, custom and native science, medicine and art which should not be allowed to die”. The Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic Nationalities Community Development Associations (CONAECDA) seeks to preserve and develop these native