Make Yoruba Language mandatory for varsity admission in states, Gani Adams tells S’west govs

THE Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has urged the six governors in the South- West geo- political zone to ensure Yoruba Language becomes a compulsory requirement for admission into state- owned tertiary institutions to stop the language and culture from going into extinction.

Adams gave this advice while speaking as Chairman of the first edition of the Omituntun Pacesetters Cultural Tourism Festival, tagged: “Asa Wa... Ipile Wa,” organised by the Oyo State Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, which took place at the Cultural Centre, Ibadan. He emphasised that Yoruba Language, as important as English Language, should be made a condition for admission and a must for students during the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations.

He noted that culture had to do with the clothes that people of a particular tribe wear, the language they speak, and so many things that are peculiar to a particular ethnic tribe, including the food they eat, which differentiates them from others, adding that this forms the heritage of the people and their identity.

“Like we have English and Mathematics, Yoruba Language should be taught as a priority before one can gain admission to any university owned by state governments. By then, it will ginger our generation and the pupils to learn Yoruba right from primary school level up to secondary school so that they can have admission to state universities. It is the key. It has to be inserted in the curriculum. Our curriculum must reflect Yoruba Language. The teachers and lecturers teaching Yoruba must take the subject seriously.”