ON IGBO PRIMER AND IGBO LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: REVISITING THE LEGACIES OF CROWTHER, TAYLOR AND JONAS

Abstract

On the establishment of Christianity and the church, the introduction of Western education, and the development of the Igbo language, researchers have trammeled the efforts of the clergy, voyagers, risk takers, and dedicated persons whose efforts cannot be ignored. In the voyage that brought the first church into AlaIgbo, established the first public literacy in the Igbo language, and set up modern schools, which began in 1857, the name Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a freed slave of the Yoruba extraction, looms large due to his unflinching efforts to actualize these projects. A second name that looms large was Reverend John Taylor, who was born in Sierra Leone by parents who were also freed slaves of the Igbo extraction. Consequently, the two personalities that dot the pages of literature on topics on the early development of the Church in Igbo land and functional literacy in the Igbo language were Crowther and Taylor. We shall briefly examine the works of these two missionaries as well as a third missionary, Simon Jonas, in the development of Igbo written works that served as pivots to literacy in the Igbo language, and possible reasons for the non-inclusion of Jonas amongst these Great Two. The present paper adds to the body of knowledge on the history of Igbo literacy and writing, which is an important area of Igbo studies that seeks to unlock cultural roots and social evolution as well as provide a roadmap on changes in language over time. The study adopts a historical-descriptive methodology based on documentary analysis of early Igbo publications and relevant scholarly works.