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| (L-R) Mama Iyabo Aboaba, COO, Lork Enterprise LLP; Otunba Lekan Ajirotutu, Ace Yoruba Broadcaster; Olutayo Irantiola, Atokun, Yoruba Lakotun; Alagba Sunday Folorunsho Adeniyi, Yoruba Writer and Israel Bolaji, Public Relations Specialist at the April edition of Yoruba Lakotun held at Ethnic Heritage Centre, Ikoyi Lagos |
Yorubas have been urged to stop
committing syntactic errors in Yoruba language most especially with proverbs
and other clichés. This was unveiled at the last edition of Yoruba Lakotun by the
Guest writer, Mr. Sunday Folorunso Adeniyi, at Ethnic Heritage Centre, Ikoyi,
Lagos over the weekend.
According to
Adeniyi, the author of Esin Obinrin, Owu
Iya gbon and other books, ‘Yoruba
sayings have been bastardized by many people and this alteration affect the
meaning of either the proverb or the cliché. Infact, many times, the meaning is
lost because of the inappropriate word used. These sayings have become engrained
in our daily lives that people do not know the actual saying anymore.’
He explained that
‘some of these proverbs that have
historical background while others are phonological. The infiltration of
foreign languages into Yoruba culture is also one of the factors responsible
for this syntactic errors. Yoruba writers are charged to be versed in the
culture and language in order to correct these syntactic errors for posterity.’
Another
Special Guest at the edition, Otunba Lekan Ajirotutu, a Yoruba broadcaster and
lecturer, said, ‘there are a lot of
people who do not understand Yoruba language and culture. This has affect the
quality of broadcast in the language and it has also impacted negatively on the
movie industry also. He admonished users of the language to read and write
widely in Yoruba language so that the masses can be well educated in the language.’
In his
comment, Israel Bolaji, a Lagos-Based Public Relations Professional, added that
the movie industry need to portray the culture in positive life so as not to
scare people off the culture. He said, ‘the
didactic lessons of the culture should be portrayed more to the outside world
than the inimical acts. The world is desirous of seeing noble contents from the
Yorubas and we must produce great contents that will attract patronage by those
in the diaspora.’
The event drew
cultural enthusiasts from corporate and social Nigeria in attendance.