Preserving Yoruba Language and Culture

Dr Shamsideen Allison, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Special Adviser on Education in
Lagos State, says dedicating Wednesday for Yoruba Language in public schools will help preserve the language and culture of the
people.

“Yoruba speaking day is part of the state government’s efforts to preserve the language and culture of the Yoruba.

“This is one of the laudable initiatives of the Lagos State Government.

“We want to make sure the language is adopted and given a pride of place in our schools by making Yoruba a compulsory
subject,”  Allison told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.

He said the initiative would help bring education closer to people at the grassroots.

On its effect on non-Yoruba speaking students, Allison said: “We are in a Yoruba-speaking state and we need to promote our mother tongue.

“There is nothing wrong if non-Yoruba speaking residents learn the language. It will help them to communicate wherever they find themselves.’’

Also speaking, Abimbola Okedele, the Principal of Great Grace Private School, Ayobo, Lagos, expressed delight with the development, saying the initiative was long overdue.

“I am very happy that this opportunity is given to us because I have been expecting this for a long time.

“Our children are losing their cultural values to Western education and values and if this is not properly addressed, the Yoruba culture will be forgotten.

“In other tribes, their children are well grounded in their language and culture, but this is not so among the Yoruba.

“As a teacher, I have observed that some students do not understand what we teach until it is translated in their mother tongue,’’ Okedele said.

She added that the initiative was a step closer towards reviving the Yoruba language and culture which, she noted, was gradually fading out.

Some schools in Ayobo, Lagos, have started implementing the “Yoruba speaking day” by conducting all activities in the schools in Yoruba on Wednesdays.

Oba Moruf Ojoola Junior High School and Great Grace Private Secondary School, both in Ayobo, activities were conducted in Yoruba language.