A Professor of Yoruba Language and Dialectology, Temitope Olumuyiwa, has raised alarm that the Yoruba language is gradually becoming endangered due to government’s failure to fully implement the National Policy on Education, as well as the negative attitudes of Yoruba people themselves.
Delivering the 47th Inaugural Lecture of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, Prof. Olumuyiwa, in a paper entitled “Changing the Change: Yoruba Language and Dialectology in a Changing Society”, described the trend as worrisome, warning that if urgent steps are not taken, non-Yoruba people might eventually dominate the teaching of the language.
He noted the paradox that, while many Yoruba families stigmatise the use of their mother tongue, non-Yoruba and even foreigners are increasingly learning and embracing the language and culture.
According to him, major obstacles include the non-implementation of key provisions of the National Policy on Education, which recommends mother tongue instruction in early childhood and primary school, and the derogatory labelling of Yoruba as “vernacular.” He further identified poor enrolment in Yoruba courses in higher institutions, lack of qualified teachers, and the waning interest of publishers in Yoruba books as factors driving the decline.
“It is unfortunate that younger generations are drifting away from the Yoruba language in preference for foreign tongues,” he lamented. “Parents abhor speaking their dialects and discourage their children from doing so, not realising that their culture is gradually going into extinction.”
The don also decried the falling standard of Yoruba orthography, citing wrong spellings on billboards, films, and public documents. He attributed this to unqualified teachers who lack proper knowledge of Yoruba writing conventions.
Prof. Olumuyiwa urged parents to take responsibility by speaking and teaching Yoruba to their children. “Every Yoruba parent must cultivate the habit of teaching and speaking the language, while also developing a positive attitude towards its study,” he said.
Highlighting the language’s international recognition, he pointed to the establishment of BBC Yoruba, the inclusion of Yoruba among languages required by London’s Metropolitan Police, and its translation of the Arafat sermon in Saudi Arabia.
Chairman of the occasion and Vice Chancellor of AAUA, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, described inaugural lectures as platforms for academics to share years of research, commending Prof. Olumuyiwa for his contributions to knowledge and pedagogy.
