The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has charged
Nigerians to strive to promote their mother tongues so as to guard against
language extinction.
He said the most spoken languages all over the world
today like English had its origin in Yoruba language.
The monarch advised Yoruba speakers all over the
world to make use of the language as means of communication in their homes so
it won’t go into extinction.
He charged the Yoruba people to remember their roots
and pay special attention to the resuscitation, sustenance and growth of their
mother tongue if they wished to sustain their culture and identity within the
global community.
Oba Ogunwusi gave the charge during the celebration
of this year’s “World Mother Tongue Day” which was held at the Oba Okunade
Sijuwade Hall, Enuwa, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The monarch also advocated the use of Yoruba
language as means of instruction in schools for a proper understanding of their
studies as it was done in some other climes.
Tracing the etymological history of languages, Oba
Ogunwusi said the most spoken languages all over the world today like English
had their origin in Yoruba language.
He berated the situation where these languages are
given and receiving attention by the Yoruba people at the detriment of their
mother tongue.
He said “the chequered history of Yoruba race with
slavery and slave trade wherein their brethren were taken to America and Europe
and forced to work in the sugarcane farms did not obliterate their mother
tongue completely”.
Nice and tidy.
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