An appeal has been sent to government at all levels to make learning Yoruba Language compulsory for primary and secondary school students as it will go a long way to preserve Yoruba culture and tradition while nipping demonization of Yoruba norms in the bud.
The co-founders of Atelewo, a Yoruba Cultural Initiative, Ibrahim Oredola and Razak Malik who stated this during a press conference to mark the fifth anniversary of the cultural advocacy group, charged government to initiate and implement policies that will promote Yoruba language.
They maintained that promotion of Yoruba Language will also help government in the area of job creation through importation of goods, adding that creation of competitions in Yoruba Language will also encourage younger generations to pick interest in speaking their mother tongue.
The duo of Yoruba Language enthusiasts promised to go all out, sponsor bills and lobby lawmakers to actualize their dreams, adding that Yoruba language and culture is an evolving tradition which will never go into extinction regardless of cultural imperialism, neocolonialism and other social challenges that render Yoruba one of the world’s endangered languages.
Delivering their speech during the press conference which kickstarted the activities marking the fifth anniversary of Àtẹlẹwọ́, Oredola and Malik listed some of their numbers achievements in the last five years. Their words:
“In 2018, we published a Yorùbá Literary anthology titled “ÀTẸ́LẸWỌ́ PÉLÉBÉ” forwarded and introduced by Prof. Moyo Okediji and Mr. Kola Tubosun respectively. The anthology had over 40 contributors within and outside Nigeria from places like Saudi Arabia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
“In 2018, we organised our first Yoruba Literary and Cultural Conference at the University of Ibadan where we recorded the attendance from within and outside Nigeria.
“In 2018, ÀTẸ́LẸWỌ́ launched the very first online Yoruba literary magazine located at www.atelewo.org.
“In 2019, we launched Atelewo Bookshop to make access to Yorùbá literature easier for the diaspora Nigerians.
“In 2019, we worked with The Artivists NG, a comic brand, on a comic project around the Yorùbá Alphabets.
“In 2019, we started the Jomitoro monthly conversation series where young people come together to analyse trending issues from the lens of rich Yorùbá traditions and practices. We take advantage of this platform to educate people about the history and practices of the Yorùbá people as a way of engaging the younger generation about their cultural heritage.
“In 2020, with the coming of the pandemic, we started a Daily Yorùbá Book Reading on Zoom online to continue to reach people virtually. It later metamorphosed into a weekend Yoruba book reading programme.
“In 2020, we launched Atelewo Prize for Yoruba Literature as an annual competition open to previously unpublished writers of the Yoruba language. The Prize is instituted to address some of the problems–committed publishers, distribution, cultivating invested readerships, etc.–that creative writing in Yorùbáfaces.
“In 2020, we launched Ògbóntarìgì, an annual project to honour old and living Yorùbá Authors with Awards and Mini-Documentaries. The first beneficiary of this project was Láwuyì Ògúnníran, famous author of Eégún Aláré.
“In October 2021, we launched our Yorùbá Digital Bookshop in line with our mission of making Yorùbá books accesible and inspire newer works.
“In 2021, we organised the first Yorùbá book auction on Twitter as a way to call people’s attention to the issues around Yorùbá books publishing.
“In 2021, we partnered The Yorùbá Wikimedians User Group of Wikipedia Nigeria to organise a 2-day intensive training on Wikidata and Yorùbá Wikipedia editing for over 50 young Yorùbá language experts, enthusiasts and scholars at the University of Ibadan.
“In 2022, we launched #Osumare, an NFT project designed to promote NFT awareness amongst Yorùbá people and also to promote Yorùbá culture through NFT arts.”
In furtherance of their efforts to rejuvenate Yorùbá Language and culture, the Àtẹlẹwọ́ group birthed another inspiring project and nurtured it to fruition.
“In line with our goals and objectives, ÀTẸLẸWỌ́́ launched the annual “ÀTẸLẸWỌ́́ PRIZE FOR YORÙBÁ LITERATURE” in 2020. The competition is open to previously unpublished writers working in Yorùba ́language. The ÀTEĹẸẈ́Ó PRIZẸ FOR YORÙBÁ LITERATURE is instituted to address some of the problems–committed publishers, distribution, cultivating invested readerships, etc.–that creative writing in Yorùbá faces. The ÀTEĹẸẈ́Ó PRIZẸ FOR YORÙBÁ LITERATURE intends to rejuvenate the more than the century-old, vibrant, universally praised, and unquestionably rich Yorùbá literary culture.
“For the first edition, entries were opened for writers to submit to poetry, prose and drama categories. After the keenly contested competition, we had a total of five winners. Mustapha Sherif emerged as the overall winner for his manuscript “Orin Ewì Akọdan”. Other winners are Ṣeun Adéjàre (T’ẹníkú Ló gbé), Amos Ọlátúnjí Pópóọlá (Akínkanjú Ọdẹ Nínú Igbó Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn), Sodiq Lawal (Koówè Ń kéé), Agboọlá Àyándìran (Ó Já Sọ́pẹ́). The overall winner received a cash prize of 50,000 Naira while the rest of the winners received plaques and book prizes.
“For the second edition, we added a new category called “Translation” for entries that translated works in other languages to the Yorùbá language. And at the end of the process, we equally had five winners. Waliyullah Tunde Abimbola emerged as the overall winner for his manuscript, Oko Ẹranko, a Yorùbá translation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. Other winners are Kafilah Ayọ̀bámi Fashola (Àbẹ̀ní), Bákárè Wahab Táíwò (Atewolara Akewi-Akowe), Anífowóṣe Zainab Olúwafúnmilọ́lá (Igbeyin Owuro) and Abdulkareem Jeleel Ọlasunkanmi (Ewì Kòbọmọjẹ́). The overall winner received a cash prize of 100,000 Naira while the rest of the winners received a plaque and 50,000 Naira each.
“Today, we are happy to announce the launch of the 3rd edition. And we’re calling on previously unpublished writers working in the Yorùbá language to put in their works. We’ll be accepting submissions from the 1st of June to the 30th of October. The judging process will commence on the 1st of November to the 30th of January while the award ceremony will happen in Ibadan on the 21st of February, 2023 in commemoration of International Mother Language Day. With the support of our stakeholders, we are also happy to announce that the prize has increased and the overall winner will be going home with 250,000 Naira and his book will be published in hard copies, while three other winners will go home with 100,000 Naira each. More information can be found at www.atelewo.org/idije-iwe.”
Projecting into the future, the Yorùbá Language advocacy group promised to go forward and never look back. Oredola and Malik revealed plan to build state-of-the-art Cultural Innovation Hub.
“For the next five years, in addition to making our existing works sustainable, we are also looking at building a state of the art Cultural Innovation hub dedicated to advancing the course of African cultures while leveraging innovation and technology. The Cultural Innovation Hub will be a place for young people to collaborate physically and virtually to develop the next startup, idea, project and initiative that promotes African cultures and languages. At ATELEWO, we believe that the future of the world is both Tech and Youth, and if we want to preserve and promote African culture and languages, we need to create the right environments for young people to develop assets so they can take up the agency for the responsibilities around building for culture.”
The group also seeks support of government at all levels and well-meaning individuals across the globe for the advancement of innovative ideas and efforts to preserve Yorùbá Language, culture and traditions.
“As an organisation, we have always thrived on public support and we are only able to get here because of the support we’ve been receiving. We are hereby calling on the public for support and partnership so we can continue to do the works we are doing for the promotion of language and culture. We can be reached at egbeatelewo@gmail.com or 07061282516.”