YouTube - John Dada on the importance of using local languages April 3, 2012
In this conversation John is talking about the importance of local languages is North Central Nigeria. The main language there is Hausa (and the language of education and administration is English) but for most rural people in that part of Nigeria their language of preference is their own, more local, language - some of these languages are only spoken by several thousand people.
John refers to his friend Tunde (also a friend of mine) who is in the conversation and is from the South West, where the main language is Yoruba. Tunde also has a deep interest in local languages. He has done much to raise the reputation of Yoruba. This includes developing a keyboard to make word-processing in Yoruba as quick as word processing in English, and encouraging the use of Yoruba for dissertations at Ibadan University. He also plays the talking drum, and is an electronics engineer - two complementary interests fuelling another of his concerns the development of speech synthesis in Yoruba.
Local languages suffer a low-status problem, because of the legacy of colonialism. I was shocked once in Ago-Are when I was at a meeting and a friend was interpreting for me. One of the local men was speaking to me in a way that seemed agressive and challenging. My friend explained that the man wanted to know if I thought he was ignorant because he was speaking to me in Yoruba. I was completely taken aback by the question. Of course I didn't. How ... why .. would he think that? In my mind I was just grateful to have someone to interpret for us. It hadn't struck me that either of us would be thinking the other was ignorant for needing the interpreter - but of course in Nigeria most people do speak at least two or three languages and often more. In fact many of my friends only speak English when I am around out of consideration for me, not because it is their language of choice (so, as a monoglot, I am aware of my linguistic ignorance) .
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The video was made by the Rosetta Foundation You can donate to their work here - http://www.therosettafoundation.org/index.php/en/donate