Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Thursday with top traditional rulers and scholars on Yoruba cultural studies brainstormed on the way out for the Yoruba to preserve their language and culture.
At a reception organised for the Governor and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade with other prominent monarchs at Boston, Massachssets, United States, by the Yoruba people in that city on wednesday night, the threat posed to Yoruba language and other aspects of Yoruba culture by agents of modernism was brought to the fore.
Professor Wande Abimbola, with Prof J.K. Oluponna of Harvard University among others at the event agreed with the governor and tthe Ooni that the task of safeguarding the language of the race and its tradituional mores and values was that of every genuine Yoruba.
Governor Oyinlola and the Ooni in their separate speeches described the Yoruba as a major race in the world calling on stakeholders to join in making the future of the race secured.
According to Governor oyinlola, it was saddening tthat even Yoruba people living at home were discouraging their children from speaking the language while many of those abroad had long lost contacts with everything in the culture of the race.
He promised to open talks with his colleagues in the other Yoruba speaking states to initiate a programme that would reconnect Yoruba people abroad with their mother tongue and tradition.
The Governor and the Ooni are in the United States on the invitation of Harvard University which is organising a conference on the Yoruba believe system and its contributions to global body of knowledge.
Lasisi Olagunju
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
13/03/08
