THINK ABOUT THIS…
Having read and researched about culture and its development (particularly our languages) for over five years now, I have come to the conclusion that people have no idea of the abyss we are staring into or the nature of the world we are leaving for our children to endure and most people don’t seem to care. They would much rather ignore the obvious and go into denial of a truth that’s splatting them between the eyes. “Tèmi ò ṣòro”, tí kì í jẹ kọ́mọ alágbẹ̀dẹ ní idà (“Mine is not urgent.” which prevents the son of the blacksmith from owning a sword) because Africans would rather develop others and his own undeveloped. But if Africans lifted its eyes from the latest soap opera (say…second chance) or game show for long enough to engage its brain, it would see that African languages extinction are not just going to happen - they are happening. The momentum for the centralized control of a global language is gathering pace by the hour.
It is believed that most Africans would rather do what he thinks is right for himself in the moment than consider the wider consequences of its behaviour for human existence. Imagine parents discouraging their children not to speak in their mother tongue. The question is which language is our father tongue? Wọ́n ní, “Afọ́jú, o ò tanná alẹ́.” Ó ní àtọ̀sán àtòru, èwo lòún rí níbẹ? People said, “Blind man, you did not light a lamp.” He asked, night or day, which one would his eyes register? How can an average African youth develop something new when he is being eroded of his God giving language of reasoning and he cannot fully comprehend his adopted language? Ignorance is bliss, we say, and that’s true - but only for a while.
To be continued…
thank you for this.
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