BY UNCLE SANKARA MEDIA
Minister of Internal Affairs, Rtd AIG Morie Lengor, has suggested the usage of krio as a formal language across the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone.
Rtd AIG Morie Lengor floated the idea during the weekly government press briefing, as a way of normalizing, legalizing and adopting the rich krio language to be used as the means of communication in every sphere of life, including schools, legislature, judiciary and otherwise.
The Krio language erupted as means of communication among slaves and between the slave masters and the individuals held in servitude during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In Sierra Leone, the language evolved when freed slaves were settled in Freetown, and the language further emerged as the basic Lingua Franca among the overwhelming majority of Sierra Leoneans.
Both in Freetown (capital city) and in the provinces (chiefdoms and villages) the krio language is spoken and understood by almost everyone.
The language is also offered as a subject in the secondary education curriculum of Sierra Leone with standardized alphabets, positioning and qualifying it as a linguistic phenomenon worth adopting as a national language.
It is against this backdrop, that the Rtd AIG Morie Lengor is suggesting the formal adoption of krio as national language, serving as a means of communication across the length and breadth of the country, especially in state and academic institutions.
For many Sierra Leoneans, English is their third language in line of order after their traditional mother tongue and the widely spoken Lingua Franca, which is Krio.
Majority of the Krio language is made up of English words, and the considerable influence of foreign languages such as French and some other local African dialects has showcased a mixture of different cultures.
The Minister of Internal Affairs is of the opinion that the embrace and formal recognition of the Krio language as the national dialect will help in fostering inclusivity, unity and national cohesion.
Imagine the effect and impact on Sierra Leoneans for the first time, to see Parliamentarians engaging in debates, Lawyers arguing or Verdicts read, and even Cabinet meetings held in the Krio language.
Let us be clear, the Minister of Internal Affairs is not proposing of relegating the language of the former colonial master, which is obviously English, but it is about formally recognizing and prioritizing Krio, which is basically spoken and understood by almost every Sierra Leonean.
Rtd AIG Morie Lengor made a comparative example with other nations such as Germany, Sweden, China, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea and others that have triggered development through the prioritization of populist national languages such as Hindu, Urdu, and Mandarin etc.
In that regard, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Rtd AIG Morie Lengor, is appealing for an urgent political consideration, willingness and a sense of national urgency to formally recognize Krio as the National language across the geographical space of Sierra Leone.