Hey guys! As you [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][may] know, I like funny things. And as a result, I surround myself with hilarious humans who put smiles on my face each time I read or hear from them. One of such people is my friend Femi Awojide, who over the weekend wrote a rather hilarious post on Facebook. I have hereby quoted the post because y’all need to read it to understand the perspective from which I am writing this post. So Mr. Awojide said: “So you’re Nigerian; you live in Nigeria and you hide your pikin from your neighbor who teaches them your native language? You don’t want her/him sounding ‘raz’ huh? I’m sure you wonder why your baby is not as eloquent as the oyinbo child you saw on Youtube? Study the developed world and ask yourself how many of them actually adopted the English language to reach their status. The worst is when the kids grow up and become rappers with hyper-fake British or American accents. Stop it! I should be writing this in Yorùbá right? Well, I could but how many of you can read it?”
Welcome back! Well I have to indicate that Mr. Awojide wasn’t exactly trying to be funny, but was as a matter of fact dead serious with his post. What he was talking about had (as a matter of fact) been the subject of discourse of several academic seminars and papers. But unfortunately, many Nigerians have overtime failed to get the main point- do not make it seem like your child’s ability to speak his or her native language is a bad thing! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a teenagers’ ability to speak very good Igbo; please! As a matter of fact, it should indeed be a thing of pride just as the ability to speak English is meant to seem.
But then most parents are to blame for this trend of children’s inability to speak their native languages. These parents think it is a sign of sophistication when their children can only speak English language and perhaps French language too; but definitely none of the many local languages we have in Nigeria and indeed Africa. This makes me wonder what it is about European languages [and indeed culture] that so fascinate and enthrall Africans. Why do we tend to devalue our own uniqueness while embracing the identities of others? When are we ever going to be true to ourselves and teach our children the right things?
So somewhere in a Nigerian secondary school, a teenager is being punished for speaking vernacular. It is a crime to speak Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, not to talk of the several other languages that are unique to the many tribes of Nigeria. This shouldn’t be the case. It is indeed time for us to reprioritize and encourage teenagers to embrace their identity. They should be encouraged to speak their native languages.
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