Mother tongue is the language a child hears or learns first either from his father or mother or a nanny. Specialists in languages call it ‘the first language’ (LI). It also connotes a very emotionally charged sense of belonging to a group and of one’s linguistic identity. The need to promote mother tongue in Nigeria calls for urgent attention. It is truism that a good education is one that develops the power and character of the leaner and makes him or her able to master the surrounding environment. Language is the primary medium of education, and every educational process takes place through it. Our major problem in Nigeria is a problem of the mentality of the colonized. We value anything that comes from a foreigner but we do not value our own heritage. This is the problem facing the use of mother tongue or local languages in Nigeria where English, the colonialists’ language, happens to be the only official language of education. This paper, therefore, suggests that it is high time to start valuing and promoting our local languages and to insist on using them as the language of institution in schools.