If you walk into primary and secondary schools in Lagos State, particularly government-owned ones, during the assembly period on a Wednesday, you are almost certain to hear this song: “Dide eyin ara, Waka je ipe Naijiria, K’a fife sin ‘le wa, Pel’okun at’igbagbo, Kise awon akoni wa, ko mase ja s’asan, K’a sin t’okan tara, Ile t’ominira, at’alaafia, So d’okan.”
Or maybe the second verse: “Olorun Eleda, To ipa ona wa, F’ona han asaaju, K’odo wa m’otito, K’ododo at’ife po sii, K’aye won je pipe, So won d’eni giga, K’alafia oun eto le, Joba ni ‘le wa.”
Singing the Yoruba version of the national anthem every Wednesday morning as a policy is at the heart of the implementation of the state government’s desire to officially bring the mother-tongue of the Yoruba race back to prominence amid decades of being pushed to the background and almost into extinction by the lingua franca.
When Governor Akinwunmi Ambode signed the policy into law, with the highlight being the mandatory teaching, learning and conducting other classroom businesses every Wednesday in Yoruba language, the Yoruba everywhere congratulated the governor on taking the lead in the revival project.
Six months down the line, the implementation of the policy is proving that what is needed is beyond passion. Apart from the national anthem, the rest of the super Wednesdays, going by the findings of Saturday Tribune, is more like comic relief than teaching and learning. The reasons aren’t far-fetched.
The BBC interview
Mr Kayode Ojelabi (not real name) was excited to be invited for a job interview by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) last year, in Lagos. The world famous media organisation was recruiting for its now-running Yoruba service just as it did for Hausa and Igbo languages and called for application from interested journalists who could take up the new role effectively.
All along, Ojelabi, a native of Ibadan, Oyo State, had been a broadcast journalist based in Lagos. He was so convinced that he would do very well in the written interview and also sail through other stages and be given the offer. He particularly based his confidence on the premise that as a foreign media outlet, BBC would not be that demanding in the proficiency of applicants. He was dead wrong.
Ojelabi, 45, performed woefully, according to him, especially in the translation and creative writing and lost out at that very first stage of the interview.
“We were given two different stories written in English to translate to Yoruba and one creative writing, also to write in Yoruba. I knew I didn’t do well right in the exam hall because Yoruba is no longer smooth in my mouth let alone in writing,” Ojelabi, who said he had distinction in Yoruba in his West African Senior Secondary School Examinations, told Saturday Tribune. “And the interview outcome was like a shame to me, honestly,” he confessed.
Ojelabi is not alone. Generations of the native Yoruba have seen their proficiency in the use of the language drastically reduced, particularly those living in urban and modern societies and the challenge of speaking the language as a native speaker is more pronounced among the younger generation, especially children, with many finding it difficult to speak, let alone, write in their mother tongue. Conversely, they are vast and fluent in English, the adopted official language for the heterogenous Nigeria since the colonial days while, Yoruba alongside other native languages are gradually going extinct.
Waving Ambode’s wand
But it is now six months after the introduction of the policy and Saturday Tribune’s findings showed that the challenges being faced by the implementation might make it end up like the moribund Chinese language project before it, which was introduced by the immediate past governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola.
In schools, particularly the government-owned, where attempts are being made to conduct learning processes in Yoruba, it is safe to say that none of the intended beneficiaries are benefitting from it, at least for now, and if the policy would eventually succeed, a lot would still have to go into it and the yields can be immediate. The main concern is if government is ready for the huge responsibilities and whether the stakeholders would be patient enough for the long wait required for results.
Some stakeholders, including school owners, teachers, parents, students, analysts and non-Yoruba speakers, told Saturday Tribune that the policy was a welcome development but would only work out if the government would provide what it required. Many, on the other hand, believe that the policy is unnecessary based on the premise that Lagos State is cosmopolitan and making Yoruba a compulsory subject for admission into its tertiary institutions would drive away the non-indigenes, including foreigners. Yet, another school of thought, thought differently.
For example, Saturday Tribune found out that while some schools had already keyed into the policy by conducting some of their activities on Wednesdays in Yoruba, many of them are yet to, the private schools being in the majority.
For the former, which include Yewa High School, Agege; Mende High School, Maryland and Randle Comprehensive Secondary School, Apapa, communicating in Yoruba on Wednesdays begins with the conduct of morning assemblies, including singing of the national anthem in the language, while schools in the latter category are still not seeing the language as that important and the policy, enforceable.
Interestingly, Saturday Tribune observed at the grand finale of the recent Lagos State Schools’ Quiz at the Lagos Television (LTV), Ikeja, that the entire students from a particular private primary school (name withheld) did not join others in singing the national anthem in Yoruba, while they did when singing it in English. And upon enquiry, they said they didn’t know the Yoruba version of the anthem because they were not taught yet, a claim which was confirmed by a female teacher who accompanied them to the programme. The teacher said her school was yet to implement the policy.
Long road…long walk
But at the school associations’ level, the story is different. Their leaders told Saturday Tribune in separate interviews that their members were not only aware of the policy but had since commenced implementation.
For example, the chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Lagos State chapter, Alhaji Wasiu Adunmadehin, said members believed that the policy would do the state education sector real good and they were ready to give their full support. NAPSS has more than 60 per cent of all private schools in the state as members.
According to him, the belief is that teaching in mother tongue enhances transmission of knowledge and this has been proved in other climes and there is no reason it won’t work in Nigeria and Lagos in particular.
Reminiscing on the deputy governor’s meeting with the stakeholders as regards the idea prompting the policy, Adunmadehin declared that all representatives in attendance agreed to key into the new order.
He explained that although not all members had started implementing the policy in their respective schools at the moment, especially those running international curriculum, up to 90 per cent of members have complied with the first stage of the policy.
The first stage was to conduct the assembly in Yoruba, including singing of the national anthem and using the language freely on Wednesdays.
“We also encourage both our students and teachers to dress in Yoruba attire for that day. The next stage is to teach every subject in Yoruba and that would be when their textbooks written in Yoruba are available” he said.
Maintaining similar position is the Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED). AFED is an umbrella body of low-fee-charging private schools.
The president of the association, Mrs Esther Dada, told Saturday Tribune that AFED members had equally keyed into the policy because of what she called its tremendous benefits.
According to her, teaching in Yoruba language would not only enhance students’ assimilation in class but would also enhance Yoruba cultural values.
“I cannot imagine a child born by a Yoruba-speaking parent that cannot speak the language simply because nobody speaks to him let alone encourages him to do so. Those are the types of children who always speak in English, irrespective of where they are – home, school, church, mosque, among friends and neighbours. For me, that kind of practice is dangerous for the future of the Yoruba race because if the trend should continue, the cultural values attached to the language will die naturally,” she said.
Mrs Dada, who is a founder of Peacock Nursery\Primary School, Ikorodu, however, pointed out that although AFED members were still test-running the policy to establish its workability, she had taken over the teaching of Yoruba as a subject in her school pending the full implementation of the policy.
Similarly, the chairman of the League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEAMSP), Lagos branch, Alhaji Fatai Raheem, said LEAMSP members had equally keyed into the policy and were improving on its implementation each day.
“Apart from the Arabic language which our members teach their students, we also encourage and intensify effort as regards the use of Yoruba in member schools as directed by the government,” Alhaji Raheem said.
Ironically, teachers who would be mostly responsible to carry out the policy maintain diverse views as regards their acceptability of the language as one of the official means of communication in schools.
Many of them in public and private schools told Saturday Tribune that using the language to teach might be fantastic but it would take them a long time to so do effectively.
Code mixing or code switching?
The indigenous Yoruba among the teachers, who are clearly in the majority, are not left out of this awkward position. They said as of now, they mix English with Yoruba language and at times, add pidgin English when teaching their classes. And many of them equally opened up that they didn’t know how to sing the national anthem in Yoruba and just learned it with the students.
An English teacher at Army Cantonment Secondary School, Ikeja, who spoke on condition, told Saturday Tribune that he had, for now, adopted, code-mixing and switching in class.
The teacher, just like Mr Ojelabi, hinges his excuse on the premise that he was no longer fluent in Yoruba as he always spoke and wrote in English.
“It is not that I can’t speak Yoruba. I can. But I can’t speak it for a long time at a stretch again without mixing it with English. It is because I’m used to speaking and writing in English virtually everywhere I am, be it home, among friends or marketplace and my students know this. So, whenever I’m teaching on Wednesdays, I speak little of Yoruba, little of English and little of pidgin.”
Another teacher, of Integrated Science at a public primary school in Ikeja, told Saturday Tribune on condition of anonymity that she was still not convinced on the possibility of teaching her subject effectively in Yoruba.
“Teaching is beyond a mere conversation. It involves give and take approach to be able to teach effectively in class. So, as regards the use of Yoruba language, teachers must be able to use the right words for students to understand what they are being taught and that is a skill which many of us lack because we were not trained with it. But on the whole, we shall keep adjusting until we become masters of the language,” she said.
Sharing his own experience so far on the use of the language, the head teacher of Taoheed Islamiyya Primary School, Oke-Odo, Abule Egba, Mr Jimoh Sirajudeen, said his school had complied with the directive and would continue to improve on it.
He explained that although teachers and students were aware that they were at liberty to communicate freely in Yoruba language throughout school period on Wednesdays, parents had the role of complementing the effort and actualise the objective of the policy.
Protesting pupils
According to him, parents will need to be speaking their local languages to their children at home so that they will not see the language as totally strange in school. He that that “it’s disheartening that some Yoruba parents, especially among the so-called elite, don’t speak the language to their children.”
He related the case of a five-year-old boy in his school who found it difficult to speak Yoruba.
“The boy will not engage you speaking Yoruba, no matter what. I found out that the attitude is from home. His parents don’t speak the language to him and it seems they like it that way. But I believe that with time, he will speak the language,” he explained.
Related to the attitude of the above student, a JSS3 student of Mende High School Maryland who gave his name simply as Okechukwu told Saturday Tribune that he didn’t understand the language and, therefore, stayed inactive in class on Wednesdays.
Unlike the other student who is a Yoruba, Okey is Ibo and he pointed out that he had no interest in learning Yoruba language. His thought was that Igbo, being his mother tongue, and English language should be enough for him.
Daniel (surname withheld) of Yewa High School, Agege, expressed a different view about the policy. He noted that his school had not only keyed into the policy but was vigorously pursuing it.
According to him, “apart from our Yoruba teacher, other teachers also use Yoruba to teach their subjects, maybe because they are Yoruba and any student who doesn’t understand in class can approach the Yoruba teacher from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m., during which extra-curriculum activities are held.
Amazingly, Daniel, from Benue State, speaks fluent English, Hausa and Yoruba. He, however, noted that the Yoruba teacher was expected to attend to such a student within the period that extra-curriculum activities would last.
He said he believed that the policy would help him in his studies and deepen his knowledge of Yoruba language and culture.
Moving away from lower education, Saturday Tribune sought the view of an associate professor at the University of Lagos, Dr Muminu Adamu, in respect of the policy. Sharing the belief that using Yoruba to communicate in class would help the students in effective learning and culture preservation, the don said it would somehow be difficult for teachers to do the work effectively.
The mathematician used himself as a case study, saying it would be very difficult for him to be able to teach his subject effectively in Yoruba language. The reasons, according to him, are many, the major one being that he was not trained as such and he was not aware of any maths textbook written in Yoruba.
“So, that is why to use Yoruba to teach any subject and not only maths or biology will require that the subject is well translated into Yoruba and the translation must be accurate without distorting the real meaning of any word,” he noted.
The teachers, he added, must also be vast not only in speaking the language but also in its understanding and that would require them to undergo frequent training.
He explained that though most children, as obtainable in any clime, pick their first language at home, the complementary role of parents in that regard, teaching the language to become a real knowledge, could only take place in schools.
The Head of Nigeria’s Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr Olu Adenipekun, also expressed support for the policy on the grounds that it had been universally proven that students who are taught in their mother tongues perform well academically and in character.
According to him, one can use Yoruba language just as any other languages around the world, including English, to teach mathematics, sciences as well as arts. This, according to him, has been experimented, documented and proven to be effective and, therefore, very good to be introduced in Nigerian schools.
But sustaining it, he noted, would require more competent Yoruba teachers and experts who would be able to translate various subjects into Yoruba language.
“So, it goes beyond mere policy statement. The government must be determined and ready to commit resources required to make the policy work.
“But that Nigeria has diversity of languages is an issue and that Lagos is a cosmopolitan state with various nationals as residents is another one. It is not only about Yoruba being a dominant language in the state. But on the whole, the policy is good if well implemented.
Saturday Tribune sought the view of Hausa and Igbo-speaking parents and leaders on the policy. These are two other major ethnic nationals not only in Lagos State but in the country with more than 200 native languages.
They said it was a welcome development as there was no harm in somebody becoming a bilingual or multilingual, especially from childhood.
They said their children attend schools in the state and many of them were already speaking Yoruba, which they learned through interaction with their Yoruba friends and neighbours.
Language barrier, according to them, has been one of the major problems causing disaffection among people from different ethic groupings in the country and, therefore, the policy would provide opportunity for speakers of the language to communicate easily and feel at home.
For example, the Seriki Hausawa of Ojokoro land in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, Alhaji Tayyabu Zani, said though he was not aware of the policy, it should be a good one on the belief that it would foster unity and development in the state.
On his part, Vitalis Chikwe, a prominent Igbo community leader in the state, told Saturday Tribune that inasmuch as the state had the right to implement any policy it wanted, the policy might seem tribalistic. However, he saw no cause for alarm as long as it was not injurious to common people and would also be an avenue for teaching non-Yoruba the language.
Chikwe from Ngor-Okpala in Imo State noted that his friend’s son currently studying in one of the federal government colleges in Lagos State had been compelled to study Arabic language which he might not need as a Christian, just as his Muslim mates were compelled to study Christian Religious Knowledge.
“So, if Christian students could be compelled to study Arabic Language as Muslims are compelled to offer Christian Religious Knowledge (subjects they don’t actually need), how much more Yoruba Language which is relevant for anybody living in Lagos?” Chikwe argued.
“So, as far as I am concerned, there is no cause for alarm. But it would have been preferable to restrict the use of the language to teach only Yoruba subject and not subjects like English language and so forth,” the Igbo community leader emphasised.
Egbe Akomolede
Despite the misgivings and early missteps, the stakeholders are eagerly waiting for the state government to come up with the Yoruba versions of the recommended text books in the school curriculum. They want to see the Yoruba version of Maths, Biology, English, and other core subjects. Saturday Tribune gathered that the translation project was being handled by Egbe Akomolede Yoruba. Publication of the books is expected after the translation.
Another issue, according to stakeholders, is the teachers. Apart from the doubtful commitment of the state government, despite its financial muscle to employ more Yoruba-speaking teachers and train those on the job, how easily the private schools would be able to do same and carry yet non-Yoruba teachers in the system is equally worrisome for them.
These are critical issues to experts, who believe that except they are addressed, the policy may not achieve its objectives.
EPA-compliant?
The policy, brought about by the state government, not only makes Yoruba language a compulsory subject for all students in both the public and private primary and secondary schools across the state, but also the language of instruction in class on Wednesdays, while English language remains the official method of communication on other four days of the week.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in February, while signing the bill that gave birth to the policy entitled: “Yoruba Language Preservation and Promotion” into law, said it was a demonstration of the state’s seriousness about the promotion of the language and the essence was to preserve the language and Yoruba culture for generations yet unborn.
He noted that apart from the National Policy on Education, which provides that the language of one’s immediate environment should be spoken in schools, members of the the state House of Assembly were equally passionate about Yoruba language, hence, the speedy passage of the bill and the adoption of the language for parliamentary debate on Thursdays.
To make this position clearer to the people of the state, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, noted that by the policy, a credit pass in Yoruba (just like English) language is now required to secure admission into the state-owned tertiary institutions just as it has also become a normal business communication in the state.
The sensitisation efforts by the state government did not end here. The deputy governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, who oversees the state’s education ministry, carried the message down to the relevant stakeholders, especially private school owners, principals and head teachers,who are expected to implement the policy.
“Governor Ambode wants me to pass this message to you, that henceforth, Yoruba language be made compulsory in both private and public schools while the national anthem must also be sung in Yoruba daily.
“The Egbe Akomolede has done the translation (of national anthem) and we will send the copies of the Yoruba version to your schools so you can begin to teach the students.
“We are also considering translating the textbooks of other subjects into Yoruba Language because we as a government believe that when students are taught in their mother language, learning will be easier and performance will be improved,” Dr Adebule said.
Interestingly, the policy is in conformity with the stance of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on the use of mother tongue as a mode of instruction, especially in basic education, which is the first nine years of learning.
The global agency has consistently, since 1953, encouraged countries around the world to key into the practice, stating its advantages to include increase in children enrolment and retention, increase in their level of thinking and participation in class, improvement on performance in examinations, as well as increase in parents’ communication with their children teachers and participation in their children learning, among others.
Some watchers of the development even add that only the countries where students’ first language is the language of instruction in schools would most likely attain the goals of Education for All (EFA), the global policy which Nigeria is still far from achieving today.
Ministry’s preparedness
Just as the students are warming up for a new academic session early next month, the translation of the recommended textbooks for the core subjects in the curriculum is still far from completion.
Saturday Tribune gathered that it was the Egbe Akomolede Yoruba, which is an association of Yoruba teachers, that is handling the project.
On the financial implication of the entire project and the policy as a whole to the government, the Ministry of Education seems not to have the idea. A source at the ministry said the translation would be completed first and then the publishing before one could be talking about government budget for the policy.
And when this reporter also reached out to the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Bamigbetan, he said he, too, did not know the cost but would find out and get back. He yet to get back as of the time of filing in this report.
The Egbe Akomolede Yoruba angle
The association, which is the umbrella body of Yoruba teachers in the country with many renowned scholars as members, including professors, said there was no other policy to promote Yoruba language and culture on the part of government than this one by the Lagos State government.
A past National President of the group, Chief Dipo Gbenro, told Saturday Tribune that it was a policy that should be embraced by all state governments in the Yoruba-speaking states.
He restated the importance of native languages in knowledge gaining and cultural preservation in every clime.
He, however, said that all teachers, irrespective of tribe, in public and private schools should go and learn the language and be effective in its use.
He said he was confident that they would succeed in using the language, and effectively too, once they knew the importance of doing so to their jobs.
The axiom, which says when you are in Rome, you behave like one should also be applicable to the issue.
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