YOU ARE A BUSH MAN!

‘You are a bush man’ said Mr Wálé to Adé. 

‘If taking mastery of one’s language and culture makes one a bush man, then I would like to become one. Rather than being a novice in my language and continously takes pride in speaking foreign languages’ replied Adé. 

This was the conversation I came across sometimes ago and I was captivated to join the argument. If I may ask, who is the true Bush Man in this argument? Is it a man who has no glimpse of his language and culture or he who is well educated about his language and culture? 

According to the popular axiom, ‘you can never be more catholic than a pope neither can you be more royal than a king’, most Africans have embraced foreign languages at the detriment of their indigenous languages. I, as language expert loves languages irrespective of being native or foreign but you can never explore another man’s language effectively, if you have no glimpse of your own. 

As a Yorùbá proverb says: ‘ọmọ tó bá ìpèlé ìyá rẹ̀ nílé kò ní ṣi aṣọ dá’ (A child that met his/her mother’s cloth at home will never sew wrongly). It’s a good thing to be a polyglot, to have mastery of other languages but the journey must start from home. A Yorùbá proverb that says:’ Ilé la ti ń kẹ́ṣọ̀ọ́ ròde’ (Charity begins at home) buttresses this point. 

Do not throw away your identity in order to embrace another man’s identity and call it yours. A time will come and the time is NOW! When you will be reminded that you are not as royal as a king. The shameful effects of this will be a lost of identity as you will no longer have a language to communicate with those you are supposed to be identified with. 

Many of us don’t know that it takes an insult from an English man to birth Yorùbá studies in Nigerian institutions. Between late 50s and early 60s, an astute scholar, who is a native speaker of Yorùbá language was at the verge of bagging his PhD in English when he was insulted by an English man during a table tennis match for not studying his mother tongue. The Yorùbá man was embarrassed which in turn led to the genesis of Yorùbá studies in Nigeria tertiary institutions. It is high time we appreciated our mother language. Tẹni n tẹni, tàkísà ni tààtàn.

We at Yorùbá di Wúrà Educational Services are professionals in making you reconnect to your root. We have a team of experts who have first class experience in imparting the knowledge of Yorùbá language and culture. Enrol yourself or your kid(s) into our online school and experience the best moment ever. Bye!