Follow Us on Google
By Kehinde Aderemi
United Kingdom-based Nigerian linguist and former lecturer at the College of Journalism Lagos, Kayode Akinropo, recently embarked on a journey of culture rebirth. He taught elementary school pupils in the United Kingdom basic Yoruba language.
To make this possible, Akinropo partnered with a non-governmental charity organisation.
He said he was fulfilled that the initiative was worth his time and efforts.
The Ibadan, Oyo State- born linguist said the idea was to get more people globally to recognise Yoruba as an important language and to know and respect Yoruba customs and culture.
He was he was delighted that the programme, Success 4All Initiative, was successful, and as a facilitator, he was happy that he was able to give back to the British society.
“It was a free-of-charge tutorial, but it is interesting that those primary schools in North East of England responded very well to the tutorials and many of them asked interesting questions.
“The reason for the initiative is to remove lack of awareness of what Yoruba people stand for and show how important our language is to us wherever we find ourselves and what other people worldwide can learn from us.
“It’s totally free. I did not even collect a penny to fuel my car to and from the workshop venues. It’s all about giving the coming generations and other people that will read about the workshop the chance to know that each of us has got some important history behind us to hold on to,” he stated.
What was the experience like for him? “It’s been fantastic,” he noted. “Why? Children are open-minded. They’re always eager and ready to learn new things. With the help of their schools, we enjoyed their cooperation.
“Some of the inquisitive ones among them did some research before we got to their schools. As a result, they asked wonderful questions about Yoruba people, Yoruba Language and Nigeria in general.
“Britain is now a multi-cultural society. As such, you have children from parents from diverse countries. Majority of them are British and they know little or nothing about Yoruba people.
“The pupils are between the ages of 9 and 11. And from their interactions with us, they really enjoyed the event.”
Akinropo said he had plans to sustain the initiative. “We want to do this every year all over Britain, our time and self-sacrifice permitting,” he said.
He has a word of advice for Nigerians.
“Know what you’re doing. Prioritise education. Promote our mother tongues. Stop copying and pasting anything foreign. Revive our country, Nigeria, which is terribly sick as I speak to you. Let’s accept who we are and use our made-in-Nigeria products.
“Leaders should lead by example. With all these ideas vigorously pursued, many things will fall in place again,” he said.
With the success of the first phase of the Success 4all Educational Initiative, the linguist said the way forward is for a complete rethink, pointing out that now is the time for Nigerians to change the wrong mentality about their ways of life and showcase their true identity.
“Wherever we go, let us show our identity. In Turkey last year during our annual holiday, my wife and I wore our Yoruba native dress one day. You know what? We became celebrities of a sort! So many people asked us a lot of questions about who we are and took photos with us.
“Thanks to my wife for agreeing to my suggestion to go out that way that day. We actually achieved what we set out to achieve. Those people in Turkey who were from all over the world will never forget such an unusual experience. If you don’t first promote yourself, who will promote you?”
Director, Success 4All Charity, Mrs Caroline Afolabi-Deleu, expressed delight at the success of the initiative, saying with the success of the first phase, the next phase of the programme will bolster pupil’s knowledge about the Yoruba language.
