Vernacular heritage: Reclaiming our lost identity

By Femi Amosun

It wasn’t by some magical predispositions or portentous pronouncement that l’m a Nigerian, so whenever l have the opportunity l do not shy away from proclaiming my Yoruba heritage. If you want to knock me for being a Nigerian, that’s your personal headache and self-inflicted pain which may eventually erode your rational being If other citizens of this world can be very proud of their country, l cannot be different? The Europeans are proud of their respective language, culture and identify.

It’s astounding that the authoritarian regime of Major General Muhammad Buhari (Rtd), towards the tail end of it Administration life cycle, finally realized that the future of young Nigerians is more important than any expression of self-importance. So, for once in modern day Nigeria the local “Language” is seen as paramount to foreign English language that we were required to study and pass at the elementary stage of our educational journey yet the Oyinbos doesn’t care about your ability to speak their language with proficiency. You may think that your ability to speak English is excellent forgetting that your “Accent” is a prelude to acceptance, jobs, training, and progression. As a foreigner and migrant in Europe, l know what it feels like to be discriminated against.

For over One Thousand years, despicable atrocities were committed against the Black race including Slavery, ignorantly and ingenuously aided by our own race. On the eve of 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the FIFA President Gianni Infantino accused the West of “hypocrisy” for its criticism of Qatar’s human rights record. In an extraordinary monologue, he said: “l feel Arab, l feel African, l feel a migrant worker”. Furthermore, he explicitly stated “For what we the Europeans have being doing in the last 3,000 years around the World, l think we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years”. This is not a Conspiracy theory but a fact of historical proportion.

We know now that the Europeans did not come to develop Africa, the Europeans came to Africa solely to steal, loot and for Slave labour. The Slave merchants invaded our communities and localities, infiltrated our Culture, colonized and enslaved us with their Language to their strategic advantage and benefits. You only need to live abroad before you can understand the magnitude and the strategic implications of substituting our Language for foreign language. You’ll quickly learn that with your so-called spoken “Queen English” or “King English” you’re just a mere immigrant. On the flip side, we enthusiastically welcome these Oyinbos to our Country and treat them as “Special gods” while they clandestinely maintain, and manage, the Colonial agenda and legacies. We can draw a parallel with Social media. The Social media structure is vehemently based on fooling “not-so-clever minds to believe they’re more important than others hence you can display, showcase your whole life story to the World.

As many Nigerians of my generation may recollect, we also learnt in History about the French policy of “Assimilation” in colonized African territories whereby they forced local citizens to speak, act and adopt French ways termed “Civilization”. Despite the fact that Africans in France are being disproportionately treated, our fellow brethren still behave like French men and women and exhibits a shallow sense of “Superiority”. Back in secondary school days, we read both Yoruba and English literatures of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chinue Achebe, and many notable Yoruba literatures like Ogboju Ode, Kako Onikuko Ekun etc., which accord to the liberal or cerebral thinking of real Africans. So in the 21st Century, one would have thought that our race (particularly the politicians) would’ve been wiser with inherent ability to assess the consequences (or ripple effect) of their actions or inactions. But today we are being ridiculed across the globe whereby Africans are subjected to measured racism yet Africans would rather pull down their fellow brothers and sisters and then pretend all is well and bursting. It wasn’t by some magical predispositions or portentous pronouncement that l’m a Nigerian, so whenever l have the opportunity l do not shy away from proclaiming my Yoruba heritage. If you want to knock me for being a Nigerian, that’s your personal headache and self-inflicted pain which may eventually erode your rational being If other citizens of this world can be very proud of their country, l cannot be different? The Europeans are proud of their respective language, culture and identify. I see no reason why l should not cherish my language, culture and identify on equal terms. After over sixty years of Independence, an overwhelming majority of Nigerians are yet to discard their “Colonial mentality”. l cannot over-emphasis the consequential effects of such acute mentality on our national progression. One of the most profound outcomes of COVID-19 Pandemic is the explicit steps taken by many countries around the globe to reclaim their national pride, integrity, and effectively prevent foreign encroachment through induced influence and mental enslavement. Once we can overcome our overwhelming level of ignorance and naivety, we should begin to enlighten ourselves in order to make informed decisions about our future.

In conclusion, let me elucidate that speaking foreign language(s), especially in our Country, is nothing to brag about but rather a deliberate raid on the very foundation of our existence i.e.; our Language and Cultural identity. As a people of cultural pride with dignified values, we need to liberate ourselves and break free from foreign colonial mentality. Natural language is central to National orientation, attitude and patriotism. For the sake of nationhood, we cannot continue to allow the historical legacy of Colonialism to impair our development, both personally and nationally.

Femi Amosun is a Public Policy Analyst.