Forgetting Igbo - BBC Radio 4 Documentary

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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:08 pm

This was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Its iPlayer tends not to permit those outside of UK to access its programmes, so it has been downloaded as a podcast and uploaded to 4Shared. It lasts approx 28 mins.

Quote:

Forgetting Igbo.

Nkem Ifejika cant speak the language of his forefathers. Nkem is British of Nigerian descent and comes from one of Nigeria's biggest ethnic groups the Igbo. He's one of the millions of Nigerians, who live in the diaspora - almost 200 000 of them living here in Britain. Nkem wants to know why he was never taught Igbo as a child and why the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, has warned that Igbo faces extinction in the next 50 years.

In this week's Crossing Continents, Nkem travels to the Igbo heartland in the southeast of Nigeria to explore the demise of a once proud language. He discovers that recent history has had profound effects on Igbo culture and identity. He discovers too that some Igbos are seeking to reassert their language and culture. Part of this is a resurgence of Igbo identity under a new 'Biafran' movement. Is this likely to find traction or will it ignite painful divisions from the past and lead to renewed tensions across Nigeria. From Nkem's own London-based family - where his wife is teaching both him and their son to speak Igbo - to the ancestral villages of Anambra State, 'Forgetting Igbo' reveals shifting perspectives on Nigeria's colonial past, emerging new ambitions for its future - and deep fault lines at the heart of its society.

http://dc775.4shared.com/img/p-lgiAmcce/154673cfdb8/CrossingContinents-20160428-Fo

NB: I wasn't sure if this should be in the News Thread, as it is a programme.