KO OMA RE ORO IDILE GHAN (TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE FAMILIAL CULT)

 

BEING THE SPEECH DELIVERED BY AMB. (SIR) S. OLA AJIMISAN ON OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE DICTIONARY OF ILAJE DIALECT.

The Chairman of the occasion, the special guest of honour, the spiritual father of the day, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is with great happiness that I welcome you all to this epochal event. This event and the invitation to it is an invitation to support this innovation and join me in preserving the linguistic, cultural identity and heritage of Ilajeland. Therefore, today's book launch is not my making but at the behest of our ancestors who has ordained me to fulfill the maxim "ji urun Eghare ma gbe, ji urun Iyofa maa ra". Today is not a day of too much verbosity but a day of convocation of brethren to a thought-provoking congress. Before I proceed to address other points, let me leave us with the question "if our ancestors should ask us about what we have done with the land, heritage and the cultural identity bequeathed to us, can we find good answers that will make them happy?" This question, if subjected to individual scrutiny, will elicit individual answers that will either justify or condemn most of us. Some of us had become modern slaves to westernisation by insisting that their children and wards communicate in colonial language. That is enslavement of one's mind even on one's homesoil. The message of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o to such kindred spirits is that they should decolonise their minds from the manacles of neo-imperialism or what Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti called colonial mentality in his coinage or neologism "colo-mentality". I have not come to cast aspersion on anyone. I have only come to remind us in the words of a common folksong "bi wo se o, bi wee se rire, wo ra ba nibe!"

It was the late Kenyan author, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o that once championed the advocacy for the writing of African Literature in the indigenous languages of Africa. Then, came the question how many native speakers speak these indigenous languages? What Ngugi had in mind was the undying penchant to save indigenous languages from dying out or going into extinction sequel to linguistic /cultural imperialism. While most of us pay attention to the question of wider reach or global readership as the main reason for writing Literature in colonial languages, we have also taken for granted, the sad reality that the popularity of a language or dialect depends on what it is used for and the population of people who use it to do whatever they do. Today, among the indigenous languages of Africa, Yoruba Language and all that we do with it are more popular than whatever the Francophone people do with French or Italian. Nollywood industry is the most popular among video industries and it is Yoruba Language and culture that conferred Nollywood the feat. The same goes for music industry, all because most of the messages are codified in Yoruba or through co-mixing and code-switching. I am an unrepentant member or disciple of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's School of Thought especially in the area of cultural narcissism and preservation of the indigenous languages for authorship and quotidian phatic communion. Joining in the campaign against linguistic imperialism is a redemptive cause and mission. It is ennobling to be able to communicate in one's indigenous language. That is the soul and sole of our existence without which we are but wormy simps aping the imposed ways of the West who kill or demonise OTHERS for theirs to thrive. So, if your competence in the language of your colonisers makes you destroy or forget your indigenous language or identity, you have failed yourself, your ancestors and your future generations. The reality is that you are a slave to your colonisers even after independence. If you can communicate in the colonial language and can do so in your language, you have been empowered to rule your world.

 "Ki wo ro to ubo Dictionary of Ilaje Dialect?" That was a major question that someone asked me. The person went further to ask "how realisable do you think this dream will be?" I responded boldly according to the saying of my maternal grandfather, Pa Johnson Arowosola Poroye who taught me most of the things that I now do, even from infancy. The sagely submission was that "for the fact that you can think about it, it means that it is doable". What is that innovation that Edumare or spirits of our ancestors had made you think about but you discarded it all because your kinsfolks mocked you? That innovation may be what will re-write the history of the family or change the fate of Ilajeland for good. Return to it and pursue it vigorously and with tenacity of purpose. The world to come will be under the control of individuals who can rule it with brilliant and innovative ideas, not those who pray instead of thinking or do the same thing, the same way, expecting a change. The Dictionary of Ilaje Dialect is a divine charge that has come to reality because I had refused to allow distractions and its apologists to defecate on my dream. Many anachronistic lexical items in our Dialect are fast going into extinction. Is anyone thinking or doing anything about it? Ji ka ro gbangan-un bi agogo Baba Lene ni okan wa!" One day, I spoke to my son, Olamilekan in Ilaje saying "lo ino kurudu, ji re la mu galahe wa ghun mi". He went and soon returned to ask "Dad, what are kurudu and galahe?" I told him. He was happy to have learnt something new. His older sister returned from school and he asked her, "Sister Damola, what is kurudu in Ilaje Dialect?" She looked blank and without clue. Her younger brother told her the answer and they were both happy. That's the spirit! But my major problem is "how do we teach these GenZ children to whom nothing matters, that you are not a bush man by being vast in your indigenous culture and dialect? During the Anglican Synod at St David's Church, Ogogoro themed "faith of our fathers, a living faith, the major hymn that encapsulated the theme was "faith of our fathers still living". Let me ask, have our churches not been teaching us to depart from the faith of our fathers? How about the intellectuals like myself? How about our monarchs? I have done my bit to ensure that our dialect and cultural heritage do not slide into perpetual oblivion and extinction. Ask yourself if your children's friends ask your children, "what were the contributions of your ancestors to the development of Ilajeland?", can they proudly say anything? Thanks for your attention! May Edumare honour and bless you all.