THE Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, has restated the commitment of the assembly to the promotion of the heritage, language and culture of the Yoruba people.
Obasa spoke on Thursday at the plenary session of the assembly where the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, was a special guest.
At the sitting, Obasa assured the traditional ruler that legislators in the state assembly would continue to promote the Yoruba language and culture.
“We have started conducting our Thursday plenary in Yoruba. We’ve gone ahead to organise the Yoruba Stakeholders’ Summit and we will ensure that the teaching of Yoruba language becomes compulsory in Lagos State. We will not relent and we will continue to do more so that our language will not go into extinction,” he said.
The speaker urged Yoruba people all over the world to make the language the tool of communication with their children at home.
“The era of using other people’s languages as tools of communication with our children should be rejected and should be done away with,” he said.
In his remarks Oba Ogunwusi commended the Lagos lawmakers for being at the forefront of the struggle to promote Yoruba language and culture.
“I’m very happy to be here and I want to commend the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly for being at the forefront of the struggle for the promotion of Yoruba language and culture.
“I’m highly impressed with what you have done. The Lagos State House of Assembly has indeed become a role model for others in the country in the area of culture promotion,” the Ooni said.