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<div class="gmail-content-article-title"><h2>Language as development: The Lagos example</h2><div class="gmail-right-title-side">
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<font>09:28</font>
<font>2018</font></div></div><div class="gmail-right-side"><div class="gmail-colored" style="margin-left:0px">
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<div class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fp3"><strong>A
creative edge was brought into governmental policy decisions last week.
It was the unassuming but very consequential policy of the Akinwumi
Ambode government of Lagos State to rescue the Yoruba language from
extinction and revive its utility as midwife of development. </strong><span class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fs6"><strong>Henceforth,
candidates seeking admission into all tertiary institutions in the
state, according to the state Yoruba Language Preservation and
Preservation Law, must possess credit pass in Yoruba Language.</strong> </span></div><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fp3"><span class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fs6">It
is compulsory for all primary and secondary schools – private or public
– to make the teaching of Yoruba Language a core subject at all levels.
The purpose, according to the government, is “to provide for the
preservation and promotion of the use of Yoruba Language.” No state in
Nigeria, prior to this, had enacted such law which seeks to preserve and
promote its indigenous language. Perhaps even bolder as an initiative
was Lagos’ resolve to translate into Yoruba all its laws and
“de-criminalize” the use of Yoruba as a communication tool between
individuals. The myriad problems of this age may not be unconnected with
lost values of language and culture.</span></p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Unbeknown
to many, there is a potent connect between language and development.
African historians say that for the colonial expenditure to succeed, the
colonizers first took the sail off the wind of Africans’ language,
culture, value system and history. The realization of this was probably
why, at the beginning of the quest by the Awolowo political group to
rebuild the Yoruba nation in the First Republic, in 1942, long before
even the establishment of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa in 1947, it coalesced all
existing associations like the Egba Society, founded in 1918; the 1923
Union of Ijebu Youngmen; the 1924 Yoruba Union; the Egbado Union and the
Ekiti National Union, into the Yoruba Language Society.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">D.O.
Fagunwa and Awolowo’s Minister of Lands, J.F. Odunjo, began a crusade
of authoring Yoruba novels and plays which promoted the mythologies,
proverbs and songs of Yoruba people. In 1956, Awolowo himself instituted
the Yoruba Historical Research Scheme headed by Prof Saburi Biobaku who
in turn brought into the team scholars of diverse disciplines and local
cultural and language experts like I. O. Delano and Chief J. A.
Ayorinde. What this did was to grow a crop of passionate, cultured,
morally astute Yoruba nationals who were extremely useful for the Awo
group in its quest to develop the West as the hub of the Nigerian
nation.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Odunjo
and Fagunwa’s books were revolutionary in this regard. They promoted
the undiluted essence of Yoruba language and culture. Using fables,
anecdotes and historical examples of great warriors, they positively
moulded the mind of a Yoruba into accepting that hard work, honesty,
associational life pay and discouraged vices like murder, greed and
larceny. For instance, not until a few decades ago did this writer come
to know that Mr. and Mrs. Tortoise (Ijapa and Yannibo, and their child,
Irere) were fictitious but fecund imaginations of Odunjo and Fagunwa.
They used this animal, Tortoise to teach a number of values. In <b><i>Otooto Ana Ijapa</i></b><i> </i>(Even
Tortoise’s In-law!) they told the story of how, peeved by an infraction
of his in-law, Tortoise had him tied to the intersection that leads to
the market. Farmers and traders leaving for the market, upon hearing the
heinous act of the in-law, upbraided him for having done such evil to
Tortoise but seeing the in-law still tied to the same spot in the
evening on their return, they excoriated Tortoise, asking what he would
have done if the culprit was not his in-law. It is an underscore of
Yoruba cultural trait of sympathy for the persecuted and abhorrence of
treachery.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Adapting the Ifa corpus called <b><i>Obara Odu Ifa</i></b><i>, </i>Odunjo wrote a story he entitled <b><i>Itansan Oorun yio fi o han</i>. </b>It
is the story of a monarch who clobbered to death a lady who refused his
love advancement, in the presence of her little daughter, without
anyone else knowing. As she lay dying, the woman shouted, “The ray of
the sun will reveal your atrocity!” Years after, the monarch unknowingly
married this lady’s child and one day, a powerful ray of the sun indeed
shone from his imperial bedroom and he began to confess. The king was
taken to the Ogun shrine where he was beheaded.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">The
totality of all these taught Yoruba that calamity awaits the evil doer;
that no matter how long it demurs, the wheels of justice grinds slowly
but arrives its destination. They backed it up with contemporary stories
of tyrants and human ritualists whose offspring bear the brunt of their
parents’ atrocities, akin to the biblical saying of the fathers eating
sour grapes and their offspring feeling the tooth ache. <b> </b></p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Musicians of the period also helped to promote this ideological mindset. Hubert Ogunde and his <b><i>Yoruba Ronu</i></b>, Ligali Mukaiba, (who in his late 1950s vinyl, <b><i>Mi o wa r’ohun t’obimrin o le finni se</i></b> long
posited the destructive implication of an untamed libido) Kasumu Adio,
Kelani Yesufu, Haruna Ishola, Yusuff Olatunji and many others
established Yoruba epistemology and concept of justice, equity and
fairness. Epo Akara, the Ibadan-born <b><i>Awurebe</i> </b>exponent,
ended every of his tracks with an anecdote that teaches morals. The
musicians sometimes also showcased the imperfectness of the Yoruba
concept of justice, like Ayinla Omowura who sang that if one does not
have a representation in the decision-making council, one’s innocence
may become guilt (<b><i>b’eyan o leni ni’gbimo, b’o ro ejo are, ebi lo mi a je</i></b>).</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">This
writer sees in the Ambode Yoruba language policy the ability to bring
back to Yorubaland the profundity of the above regenerative path
spearheaded by Awolowo. If implemented with the zeal and vigour that are
beginning to be the byword of the Ambode government in Lagos, it will
have a remarkable effect on the lives of the people.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Come
to think of it, the Yoruba can actually look towards Lagos for the
redemption of the land, if rightly coordinated. No matter his personal
foibles, Bola Tinubu should be credited with churning out of his mills a
crop of leaders who have transformed Lagos. In 2015 when Ambode was
presented as replacement for Babatunde Fashola, the ambidextrous former
governor’s shoes appeared too big to size Ambode. Not many believed he
could make passable improvement in a chaotic Lagos. But Ambode has since
proved cynics wrong. This writer dreaded Lagos like an un-barbed zoo
and only visited when necessary. The other day however, necessity drove
me to Lagos and what did I see? A lit-up Lagos which will surely aid a
24-hour economy, with the potential of greatly reducing crime. Bridges
are springing up like ferns in a plantation with three at Abule Egba,
Ajah, and Alimosho. Road construction is all over the place. I learnt
that 141 roads were constructed last year and another 181 are ongoing
across the state, including the ongoing 10-lane Airport Road and the
construction of lay-bys across the state to ease Lagos’ atrocious
traffic jam. If you add all these to the unbelievable regeneration of
Oshodi and the Lake Rice phenomenon where Lagos is partnering Kebbi
State in the production of rice, as well as the establishment of DNA lab
– first of its kind in West Africa and the construction of 120 public
health centres by the Ambode government, you will realize that
Yorubaland could put an icing on the restructuring debate by demanding a
confederal region with Lagos at the head. With Lagos’ large internal
revenue, dealing with critical issues in the South West like defense
against Fulani herdsmen, unified internal trade, common rail/road
transportation and common educational system would make Yorubaland one
of the most desirable economies in Africa.</p><h3 class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal"><b>The South African affair</b></h3><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">South
Africa opened up its gates for the Third World to pick up inspirational
examples during the week. Its erstwhile President and one of the
surviving vestiges of anti-Apartheid struggles, Jacob Zuma, had been
forced to resign by his African National Congress (ANC) party. Subsumed
in a volcano of corrupt charges, Zuma had become a dis-advertisement for
ANC and the great forefathers of the longsuffering country. Not long
ago, he fought battles to liberate himself from the leech of complaints
against his alleged spending of public funds to upgrade his Nkandla
rural estate valued in 2014 at 216 million rand (then $24 million.)
Overlooking countryside squalor and lack, Zuma’s estate work included a
swimming pool with a fire-fighting facility, a chicken run, a cattle
enclosure, an amphitheatre and a visitors’ centre.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">This
was just a miniature of how Zuma made the bones of Nelson Mandela,
Albert Luthuli, Ruth First, Ahmed Kathrada and many more who fought for
the liberation of the country turn in their graves. Rated as one of the
most uneducated African leaders as he had no formal education, Zuma
glorified primitive accumulation and exhibited a naivety which made the
modern world snigger at the black man. But those were not South Africa’s
advertisement. It was the supremacy of its party politics. Immediately
Zuma’s name became irredeemably headed for the sewage, ANC hopped up the
scene. At that time, it was no longer necessary what Zuma’s ethnicity
was, his religion or color. If it were Nigeria, those primordial
sentiments would have gained ascendancy.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Some
have argued that it was the parliamentary system of government which
allowed such victory for party politics in South Africa. First
Republic’s parliamentary system also allowed for such leeway. NCNC’s Hon
Fani Kayode (Fanny Power) in the Western House of Assembly could
effectively play opposition role and the party was bigger than the
individual. Today in Nigeria, all those are gone. Presidents, governors
pay the piper of their political parties and thus call the tune. If
Nigeria is desirous of the kind of victory South Africa got from the
hands of its rapacious elected leader, shouldn’t we look towards
parliamentary system where parliamentarians and appointed leaders are
best among equals in parliament?</p><h3 class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal"><b>Tinubu’s over-ripe cherries</b></h3><p id="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yMail_cursorElementTracker_1518901579801" class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">The
assignment handed over to All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola
Ahmed Tinubu by President Muhammadu Buhari has engaged discussions in
the polity in the last one week or thereabout. If there is one man whose
job description is certainly not to be envied, it is surely Tinubu.
Apart from reconciling the fractious APC members, Tinubu is expected to
deliver a very large chunk of the 14, 626, 800 South West votes to
Buhari as he did in 2015.</p><p id="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yMail_cursorElementTracker_1518901589776" class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Apart
from the fact that Tinubu himself ranks high among those slighted in
the APC, the former Lagos governor would soon find out that the South
West is no longer the homogenous cherry picks he made in 2015. Apart
from Lagos, the rest of the West isn’t an easy cherry to pick for him
any longer. Can he lay claim to picking Ibikunle Amosun’s Ogun, Ayo
Fayose’s Ekiti or Rotimi Akeredolu’s Ondo as easily as in 2015? In many
of the states, APC has become indistinguishable from the rot earlier PDP
governments inflicted on the people. More importantly is that, because
of their cultural disdain for injustice which they also witness on their
land, the South West is growingly becoming disenchanted with Buhari’s
covert spatial provision for his kiths, Fulani herdsmen, who are
terrorizing Benue and even Yoruba land. If you add these to the insult
from the SGF, Boss Muhammed, who <span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">on Thursday</span></span> said
that there is no alternative to Buhari, it becomes obvious that, in
2019 the cherries awaiting Tinubu are over-ripe and difficult to pick.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal"><b>For Aunty Tokunbo</b></p><p id="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yMail_cursorElementTracker_1518901584974" class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">Youngest child of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu, would be 70 years old <span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">tomorrow</span></span>.
For many of us who are not privileged to meet the former Western Region
Premier, Dr. Awolowo-Dosumu is a huge poster of what the sage looked
like, I am told in physique and from what we read, in character. For
close to an hour inside the country home of Chief Awolowo in Ikenne,
Ogun State last year, this writer and Awolowo-Dosumu engaged each other
on how the South West could recreate Awolowo. Passionate, down-to-earth
and a perfectionist, she is effectively holding her father’s torch
aloft. She has the famed self-respect and dignity of Awolowo and daily
bends over backwards in keeping tar from staining the white apparel of
the family. For instance, for the decades of my interface with Nigerian
Government Houses, mention is seldom made of Awolowo-Dosumu ever walking
down these cash-laden homes to scavenge for crumbs as is the norm among
children of leaders who have exited.</p><p class="gmail-m_-4590102276573332325yiv1312488470ydp48b4467fMsoNormal">This
writer has studied Awolowo the father over the years, culminating in a
440-page work on the rift between him and Chief S.L. Akintola which I am
lazily trying to publish as a book, especially the way the tiff is
reported in the newspaper press. I can say without equivocation that I
see Awolowo’s resolve, polish and dignity in Dosumu-Awolowo.</p><p> Here is wishing Aunty Tokunbo many more years in the service of the Yoruba nation and Nigeria as a whole, in good health.</p></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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