Selected Members of the Yoruba Language Teachers Association in Secondary schools, Egbe Akomolede, have begun work on the modalities to employ for the coming Yoruba Language Millionaire contest. The programme being organised by the Yoruba World Centre, in collaboration with Oodua Investment Company Limited and the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission shall be launched in the month of May.
The President of Akomolede, Aare Omowumi Faleye, made this known during another meeting of the executives of the association with the leadership of the Yoruba World Centre on the successful implementation of the project. The meeting was attended by all the chairmen of the group in Southwest, Kogi and Kwara States. There it was concluded that identified materials to be used and modalities to follow be worked on by selected members, and this began immediately.
It would be recalled that early last month, stakeholders which included Commissioners of Education or their representatives in the Yoruba speaking states, Yoruba Studies Association (YSAN), Colleges of Education Lecturers’ Association, Publishers and Artists met to endorse the Yoruba Language Millionaire Contest which is designed to rescue the youth from foreign language and culture.
There it was reiterated that about five million children are in secondary schools across south-west, Kwara and Kogi states, with yearly enrolment of over one million. More than 95 percent of these students are Yoruba by birth and the Yoruba race shall become one of the luckiest peoples of the world if it can reclaim these vibrant adolescents lost to foreign way of life. For it simply means our language and culture shall be preserved and protected, and the race shall be saved forever. And it shall be a tool for, employment, empowerment, industry and youths’ development; and most importantly, national understanding and unity.
And also, that it is our duty now to entice the children to become interested in the learning of the history, language and culture of Yoruba, through reading, writing and speaking, encapsulated in a competition among the students of secondary schools in all Yoruba speaking states. Once we have these students competing annually, in about ten years of the programme, the Yoruba will have at least 10 million of its youths who will be able to read, write and speak the language excellently. The effect of this will be rebounding.
This programme shall be launched this May by the Oyo State Governor, Engineer Oluseyi Makinde.
