‘WE MUST PLACE VALUE ON THE YORUBA CULTURE’ -America based Lecturer, Moses Mabayoje
Moses Mabayoje, a Nigerian from Ibadan, Oyo State, is a teacher of Yoruba Language in one of the universities in America. He studied at University of Ibadan to Master’s level and was pursuing his Phd before he left for America. In this Interview with AKIN SOKOYA, Mabayoje speaks on his passion for the Yoruba tradition, his family and many more. Excerpt.
Please, introduce yourself.
My name is Moses Mabayoje. I’m from Ibadan, Oyo State in Nigeria but I live in the United States of America. I am a teacher of Yoruba Language in one of the Universities in America. I’m teaching at Rodgas University; a State University of New Jersey. I’m also into study abroad programmes. I bring American Students once to learn the Yoruba language or who want to perfect their knowledge of the Yoruba language in Nigeria precisely to The University of Ibadan where we started the Yoruba language centre in 2010 with five students who have been studying Yoruba at the University of Winscon Madisson in America. They’ve been in Yoruba Class for about three years but they came for what we called immersion; to know more about the language and the culture of Yoruba and they were in Nigeria for nine months. And after that, they became better speakers of the language and they appreciate the Yoruba language more. I studied at University of Ibadan to master’s level I was pursuing my Phd before I left for America.
To what extent has the students been cooperating in learning in a simple way?
They are very serious and are putting all efforts and attention. We have a three months programme called African Language Initiative. The two months programme is called Yoruba Good Study Abroad. The one year programme is called Yoruba Language Flagship. We bring them to Nigeria and pair them with Yoruba host parents. The students will mix-up with them. At times, they would even be bearing their names. At the end of the programme, we see a great improvement. Language is not learnt in the classroom. Though, we introduced it in the classroom but we learn it in the society.
In spite of Yoruba language being taught in our schools in Nigeria from primary schools, yet the students don’t seem to understand it deeply, what do you think is wrong?
I was a teacher in Nigerian secondary schools for about 30 years and I’m an author. I have a book jointly written with some scholars for the students but our students have two major problems, one has been corrected.
What are the problems?
The problem is that when we separated the language with literature. What we are teaching in the language is more of applied linguistics. If you know about a language, you can explain the structure of the language, you can pick some words in the language and write up but that doesn’t mean you can speak it. That is what has been happening since 1984. Now we’ve brought the rhythm and the literature back into it and also the culture. That would help the students to learn the speaking right, and also write better than when it’s only language. That is why I say one of the problems is been solved. The second problem is that looking at English as a language that you must learn, speak at the detriment of your own language. In Nigeria, there are many families that their children don’t speak Yoruba language. The family came to America and we are living in the same house, it was my children who have being living in America who started teaching those children Yoruba, whereas they first came fresh from Nigeria. As parents we have to wake up. English is called a feeler language: Many nations are struggling not allow English to tell their own language but Yorubas are not conscious of that. You can see few of filmmakers are insisting on the language, but many of them don’t care we have to talk to this class of people too. We have to tell them the danger of what they are doing. You can do your Film in Yoruba language and subtitle in English or make it in English and subtitle in Yoruba. You don’t mix. Though you can switch from one language to another but it should not be too much. We are losing many other things but we must not lose our language, so our government has to wake up. In many Universities that offer Yoruba as a course, you hardly see students coming to study it. The students who are studying Russia, French are more than those studying Yoruba, why? If we abandon our heritage, it’s like we are uprooting ourselves from our source. Look at Japan, China, Korea and even the Arabs; they hold their language in esteem. If you are good in your languages you will be better in English, but if you are not good in your language, you will even speak quack English. In Nigeria, many of us speak bad English, imagine a parent who does not have a secondary education but wants to speak English to his/her kids.
What advice would you give to our filmmakers who muddle up English language with Yoruba?
It’s because the society they are producing for is an hybrid, they mix languages and they want to give them what they want. Few of the filmmakers are insisting on the language but many of them don’t care, but we have to wake them up and tell them the danger of what they are doing. You can subtitle but it should not be too much. When it is too much you are killing your language.
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