Educational Research and Reviews Vol. 5 (6), pp. 303-308, June 2010 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR2 ISSN 1990-3839 © 2010 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Language deficit in English and lack of creative education as impediments to Nigeria’s breakthrough into the knowledge era Macaulay Mowarin and Emmanuel Ufuoma Tonukari* Department of English and Literary Studies, Delta State University Abraka, Nigeria. Department of Languages and Linguistics, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Accepted 27 April, 2010 This essay discusses the linguistic and cultural factor that has acted as impediments to Nigeria’s breakthrough into the knowledge era. It identifies language deficit in English by most Nigerians, under- developed state of most Nigerian languages, absence of creative education and the presence of certain cultural taboos which stifles the flourishing of creative thinking as barriers to sustainable development in Nigeria. The essay observes that a paradigm shift from the present rote system of education, transparency in government, drawing up a road map for cultural change as barrier breakers to Nigeria’s inability to break through into the knowledge era. Key words: Language deficit, knowledge era, sustainable development, creativity and innovation skills, modern, knowledge, economy. INTRODUCTION This essay discusses the linguistic and cultural factors that have acted as impediments to Nigeria’s breakthrough into the knowledge era. It identifies language deficit in English by most Nigerians, under- developed state of most Nigerian languages, absence of creative education and the presence of certain cultural taboos which stifles the flourishing of creative thinking as barriers to sustainable development in Nigeria. The essay observes that a paradigm shift from the present rote system of education, transparency in government, drawing up a road map for cultural change as barrier breakers to Nigeria’s inability to break through into the knowledge era. Beginning from the discovery of fire during the pre historic period to the present era of globalisation which is being facilitated by the internet, human development has been premised on innovative and creative thinking. Creative and innovative ideas impact on various sectors *Corresponding author. E-mail: emmatonukari@yahoo.com. of human life like health, agriculture, technology and transportation in order to make life more comfortable and to alleviate poverty. A few years ago, the information technology era gave way to a new one known as the era of knowledge. In this new era, knowledge is the primary source of economic productivity. The most valuable resource of any country is its inherent intellectual assets which can be exploited through creativity and innovation. (Akinboye, 2003) Due to the pulling down of walls bifurcating nations, the world of the knowledge era is now flat although its surface is not smooth. Countries are no more categorized as developed, developing and underdeveloped but as smartest, smarter, smart; the parameter used for the grouping is the number of creative and innovative people in each country. While the smartest countries in the World like the United States, Japan, South Korea and Great Britain and the smarter countries like the Asian Tigers, Brazil, and China are churning out brains from their tertiary institutions and attracting brains from other parts of the World, Nigeria as well as most African countries is experiencing brain drain. The theme of this