UNIMAID VC Prof. Mele Bags LAN Fellowship as Scholars Push Digital Preservation of Nigerian Languages

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Professor Muhammed Laminu Mele, has been conferred with the prestigious Fellowship of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (FLAN) at the 37th Annual Conference of the Association.

The conference, themed “Language Policy, Power and Practice in Multilingual Nigeria,” held on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the headquarters of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abuja. It was organised in collaboration with the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), and the British Council.

Delivering an acceptance speech on behalf of the new inductees, Professor Mele described the honour as not just a personal achievement, but a recognition of the entire academic community at the University of Maiduguri. He paid tribute to two late icons of the Association, Professor Emeritus Ayo Bamgbose and Professor Harrison Rotimi Adeniyi, and called for sustained efforts to position indigenous languages as tools for national unity, policy formulation and societal development.

The Board of Trustees of LAN said Professor Mele’s nomination was in recognition of his high ethical research standards, hard work and significant contributions to language development.

Other distinguished scholars conferred with the 2026 FLAN include Professor Roseline I. Ndimele, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Abia State University; Professor Oladipo Ajiboye, Professor Terver Udu, Professor Ibrahim Rabi Abdulsalam, Professor C.U.C Ugorji, and Professor Philomena Ejele.

In the Honorary Fellows category (HFLAN), the Association honoured His Royal Highness, Mai Alhaji Dr. Umar Bubaram Ibn Wuriwa Bauya (OON), Hon. Ibrahim Muhammed, and Mr. C.Y Agbegha for their contributions to cultural preservation.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief Host and Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Professor Uduma Oji Uduma, described indigenous languages as repositories of human civilisation and warned against allowing global digital trends to push African languages into extinction.

In his address, the National President of LAN, Professor Gideon Sunday Omachonu, charged senior scholars to deliberately mentor younger academics to ensure continuity in the field.

Former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Munzali Jibril, stressed the role of universities in driving language policy implementation, urging institutions to move beyond advocacy to building frameworks that fund and support research into Nigerian languages.

Delivering the keynote address, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, Professor Gbenga Solomon Ibileye, challenged linguists to confront the economic realities influencing language preference in Nigeria. He noted that parents often favour English for its global opportunities and urged African linguists to embrace computational linguistics and Artificial Intelligence, warning that any language absent from the digital space risks marginalisation and extinction.