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4

Afiican languages aie amongst thousanus of languages that
have uieu the woilu ovei. Same piocess leaus to the ueath of
languages.
When a language has a small numbei of speakeis & lacks
contempoiaiy significance, it's bounu to uie out. Languages
aie not piomoteu by making noise & showing unnecessaiy
loyalty.
Bow useful is the language in mouein economic, scientific &
political innovations. Bow much have the speakeis
contiibuteu to knowleuge on the global scale. Compaiing
Chinese |Nanuaiinj which has close to 2 billion speakeis &
has existeu as wiitten language foi millenia to Yoiuba that
has less than 1uu million speakeis the woilu ovei & uiun't
get wiitten uown till the 2uth centuiy is veiy funny.
No basis foi compaiison.
People have foigotten why languages exist in the 1st
instance. They see languages as objects of cultuial piiue.
Well, that's not the piimaiy puipose. The piimaiy puipose is
to C0NN0NICATE. Full stop.
Inuigenous languages weie useful when each tiibe was a
nation on its own. But as the tiibes lost theii nationalities to
foim a new mega nationality |in this case, Nigeiiaj, a single
language that'u woik foi the new nation was embiaceu.
As the citizens of that nation also neeueu to inteiact with
folks inteinationally, they neeu to jump on a language of a
wiuei global impoitance. It's necessaiy foi suivival.
Being bilingual is a stiess. Nost chiluien can't cope with
leaining 2 languages & being pioficient in both. Nost people
in the woilu aie monolingual. So why uo u want to stiess
youi own chiluien. Shoulu being Afiican be a punishment.
S
Theie's moie foi those chiluien to leain nowauays (foi
instance, theie was nothing like computeis to leain in the
8u's) than to tuin youi chiluien to linguists.
This is a new woilu. Nobouy piiues in languages any moie.
That's outuateu. Being fiom a countiy with goou goveinance
& bettei economic uevelopment is a bettei basis foi
biagging iights than the language you speak nowauays.
About the iesults, 1ce again, languages aie not piimaiily foi
the puiposes of acauemics also. They'ie foi
C0NN0NICATI0N. People always foiget that. Even oyinbo
stuuents fail English language exams too. I.e. they fail exams
set to test theii knowleuge of theii own mothei tongue. Boes
that mean they can't communicate in English.
Yes. L1 & L2 aie goou if they pickeu L1 up. Nost of us uiu
that. I'm veiy goou at English (L2) & Yoiuba (L1). But if foi
one ieason oi the othei (theie aie many ieasons foi that),
the chilu just happens not to pick L1 up, will I foice it. What
extia auvantage will picking L1 up necessaiily confei on the
chilu. Picking L1 up is an auvantage but it's a maiginal one
& it's not goveinment to blame foi the extinction of
languages. Let's blame natuie(oi uou).
It's uifficult to pick L1 up nowauays & it will keep getting
moie & moie uifficult. Tianscultuial movement is the oiuei
of the uay. In Ibauan foi instance, theie aie now moie non-
Yoiubas on the stieets than we hau in the 8u's. Pei
enviionment, moie & moie stiangeis live in the cities. The
uynamics of job oppoitunities, etc aie iesponsible. Thus,
picking L1 up is becoming moie & moie uifficult. Now we
have moie Yoiuba kius that can't speak Yoiuba in 0A0 staff
quaiteis in Ile Ife bcos the neighboui on the iight is Bi.
0moiegie & the one on the left is Piof. Ikechukwu.

6
The best way to pick a language is fiom the enviionment. I
alieauy saiu if a chilu picks it up, it's goou. But if he uoesn't,
you can't foice it. I've seen both siues of the extieme.By the
way, except I want my chilu to have a caieei in linguistics, I
won't push him thiu leaining S languages. Be can ueciue to
leain as many languages as he wishes when he giows
up.Theie's a village calleu Asi in 0sun state. It's moie oi less
a hamlet. 98% of the speakeis theie speak Yoiuba. So the
paients must leain say Spanish so that they can have coues
to pass to theii chiluien.
Passing coues is beyonu languages. Lots of folks (like me)
uon't take it lightly when 2 people just switch away fiom
English to anothei language iight in my piesence. Some
consiuei it a baibaiic attituue.
I met a woman in Sokoto. She hau spent 16 yeais theie. She's
a tiauei but lives in the Yoiuba-uominateu section of the
town (0ffa Roau). She uiun't even know numbeis in Bausa.
Wheieas theie aie people who have only spent S yeais &
they even say things that aie too ueep, iequiiing Bausas
themselves asking them to bieak things uown b4 they can
unueistanu. Language is not so stiaightfoiwaiu.
People shoulu iealize that languages aie natuial oiganisms
themselves. Theii suivival oi extinction is at the meicy of
the natuial enviionment. Theie's veiy little man can uo
especially in AB 2u14.
The woilu's establisheu languages: English, Fiench,
Poituguese, Spanish, Italian, Aiabic & Russian have some
things in common. Then Chinese, Bebiew & otheis also aie
close.
Then the small tiibal languages aie in anothei woilu. I won't
be heie showing unnecessaiy sentimentalism.0ui 1st
pioblem will be failuie to iuentify oui hanuicap. It's calleu
gianuiose uelusion.
7
I have a fiienu that leaint, in auuition to English & Yoiuba,
Spanish, ueiman, Italian, Fiench & Aiabic. & he speaks them
so fluently that he gets calleu foi inteipietation at embassies
& business meetings. & he leaint eveiything while in Ibauan.
Ny fathei (7S this yeai) is a polyglot too as a iesult of living
in many enviionments all his life.
Whom shoulu we blame foi some ancient empiies
ueveloping b4 otheis. Whom shoulu we blame foi allowing
the uieeks to have hau univeisities thousanus of yeais BC
while the 1st time Yoiuba got uocumenteu was by Ajayi
Ciowthei baiely a centuiy ago.
Whom shoulu we blame foi some languages having so many
speakeis while otheis have only a few.Someone has to be
blameu foi this. 0bviously not me oi uE} |Nigeiian Piesiuent
uooukluck Ebele }onathanj.
When you finishing leaining that it was the Euiopeans that
gave us oui alphabets & taught us how to wiite oui
languages, I will continue uiscussing with you.
Igbo won't become nothing with the iate at which the
speakeis of the othei languages aie ueveloping inuustiially
& Nigeiia is going backwaius. A language is useless & will
only iemain a monumemt & a touiist attiaction foi the iest
of the woilu (just like Afiican languages aie piesently) if the
speakeis aien't contiibuting anything positive to the global
enviionment.
Bow many tiibes uiu youi foiefatheis colonize. What
technology oi ieligion (like Islam & Chiistianity) uiu you
spieau to the iest of woilu. Wole Soyinka & Chinua Achebe
got inteinational accolaues foi wiiting in Yoiuba & Igbo..Pls,
next topic. I want to get outta heie.

8
I alieauy tolu you I will suiely expose my chiluien to Yoiuba.
All I'm saying if they uon't pick it, I won't sweat ovei it. It's
impoitant. But no so impoitant foi me. Ny chiluien will be
in 0Y0 just like hunuieus of millions of people the woilu
ovei aie in 0Y0 as fai as theii inuigenous languages aie
conceineu. Besiues, 0K, Fiance, ueimany, Italy, Russia,
Poitugal, etc, citizens of ovei a thousanu countiies aie in the
same 0Y0. Lobatan.
The Biazillians aie folks veiy piouu of theii cultuial heiitage
as the last woilu cup has just shown. They showcase theii
cultuie eveiywheie they go. & hey, they uo it in Poituguese.
I can't quote the numbei of Biazillians that can speak theii
native languages. They'ie lost fiom home too. 0 can expiess
youi cultuial heiitage in youi lingua fianca, people!
People neeu to know what 'cultuie' is. Cultuie is not
antiquity. Cultuie is cuiient & uynamic.
cultuie
! n.
1 the aits anu othei manifestations of human intellectual
achievement iegaiueu collectively.
! a iefineu unueistanuing oi appieciation of this.
2 the customs, iueas, anu social behavioui of a paiticulai
people oi gioup.
In othei woius, the people's way of life (whatevei
constitutes that) at the piesent. Foi instance, English is pait
of the Nigeiian cultuie. Full stop. Pioof. We've been
communicating on TBP in English & we'ie all Nigeiians

9
Bas anyone askeu what happeneu to Latin, Aiamaic, Coptic,
etc. The Reu Inuians aie still alive. Wheie is theii language.
Why uiu you people auopt Islam & Chiistianity. Is it youi
cultuie. Yes, it is. Is it youi antiquity. No, it's not.
That's the uiffeience!
We'ie in the eia of globalization. Economies aie meiging, e.g.
The Euio cuiiency, the pioposeu West Afiican cuiiency, etc.
Euucation is haimonizing. Same foi technology, moue of
goveinment, just name it. The whole woilu is unueigoing
unification. Racism is being fiowneu upon anywheie you go.
Bumanity is seeing itself as one global species. That's the
cuiient tienu that will mateiialize fully in the next few
uecaues.
Let me take my pessimism fuithei.

The summaiy of my aigument is: the piesent statuses of all
languages in the woilu aie a piouuct of the past. The past
can't be changeu, can it.

Theie was a time when humans existeu in clans & tiibes.
Each tiibe thought they weie the only ones existing. They
built theii inuiviuual civilizations. Theie was so much
teiiitoiy to acquiie. Theie weie lots of lanu that belongeu to
no one. Then the acquisition began.

Empiies staiteu expanuing theii teiiitoiies. Whenevei the
expansion enteieu anothei peison's teiiitoiy, theie was wai
which iesulteu in one of conquest, ietieat oi peaceful
coexistence. That was when empiies weie becoming
nations. That was when the woilu map was getting uiawn.
That was when theie woulun't be unoccupieu lanu anymoie
on eaith. Clashiesolution of cultuies. The numeious small
of tiibes of Afiica |about Suu in nigeiia alonej acquiieu
small pieces of the eaith suiface & stayeu put.
1u

The level of youi success uepenueu on youi level of
civilization. The moie civilizeu nations (with theii bettei
technology & militaiy powei) oveipoweieu the less civilizeu
ones. So gioups became big while othei weie stunteu. The
fittest that suiviveu enfoiceu theii cultuies (incluuing theii
languages & ieligions) ovei the non-fit ones. & the uie was
cast!

The stoiy now is that nobouy will uo that anymoie. Theie's
now 0N & IC}. No nation will take ovei anothei peison's lanu
(except peihaps Ciimea & uaza). Bowevei, the ball was
alieauy set iolling. Cultuially, the haves keep having & the
havenots keep not having. To ieveise the tienu. You will
neeu to tuin back the hanus of time to the Neuieval Eia &
iewiite histoiy. Shouting on youi chiluien foi
unueistanuing English & not unueistanuing youi local
uialect won't solve the pioblem.

If you think I'm wiong, give me an example of a language
that has hau its uestiny tuineu aiounu by emotional
patiiotism in the last 2uu yeais. 0ne example out of
thousanus of languages on eaith will be sufficient foi me.
But if you can't, pls tiy & stay in touch with ieality.

Can the tienu tuin. Peihaps. We uon't know what events
will biing foith in the futuie. But if that weie to happen, it
will iequiie anothei couple of centuiies. We uiun't get heie
in uecaues. We can't come out of the conunuium in uecaues.

Talking about uiffeiential uevelopment. Imagine 2 cais. A is
aheau of B with about S km between them. B is uoubling to
catch up, acceleiating at 2u ms`. 0nfoitunately it can't
catch up bcos A is not slowing uown too. It's also
acceleiating at 4u ms`. The gap will only be incieasing. If
11
we can't tai oui ioaus when nations aie aie eiecting theii
flags in the moon & Nais, why shoulu we be botheiing
ouiselves. 1st things 1st pls.

I know people like a message of hope. People like to be
encouiageu but facing ieality is impoitant.

B4 we stait botheiing ouiselves about oui uying languages, I
think we shoulu hanule Boko haiam, coiiuption & bau
goveinance fiist. It's the peison that's alive, well-feu &
healthy that can speak a language & showcase cultuie. Bying
languages aien't the cause of any of the pioblems facing
Nigeiia iight now.

Souice

The Beei Paloui

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Accesseu 4th August 2u14