Babs_O:

No state is as welcoming as Lagos.

Lagos is home to a lot of manufacturing and continues to be a preferred location for new businesses because it welcomes all. It even welcomed returned slaves in the past without discrimination and they are fully integrated into the society !

It is even poised for greater things, the LEKKI Free Zone is coming up, very soon it will also be an Oil Producing State from Offshore Oil fields.

And all who chose to be associated with Lagos are welcome to join hands in making it a true center of EXCELLENCE.

Other states will soon start getting less hostile from the good example of peace loving Lagosians.

Sooner or later all Nigerian states will stop discriminating between indigenes and non-idengenes and rather be interested in establishing welcoming cities where the rule of law with fairness to everyone reigns.

To all saying negative things, Rome was not built in a day. The Government is looking into making the city a MEGA CITY and in future will not have room for the filty people who litter and pollute the whole state. Incinerators and Land fills will be used to manage the waste.

If speaking Yoruba in the House will make Lagos get to this next level and become a West African pride so be it! (This will definitely make some people jealous and this can be used positively by getting other states to start competing in attracting businesses and make better use of the big banks / abundant human and material resources)

everything but your last paragraph makes sense. I don't know why you had to include that - it doesnt rhyme with the rest of your post.

@ nwando,
Nwanna dalu negozi fa ka obodo fa di. OBODO NTIRI.
LET THEM BE PROUD OF IT.

oziomatv:

@ nwando,
Nwanna dalu negozi fa ka obodo fa di. OBODO NTIRI.
LET THEM BE PROUD OF IT.

Nwando bu nwanne gi
Nigeria a maka

@ richyblack,thanks for the compliments.
maybe I'll be required to count to twenty in Yoruba the next time I land at Murtala Mohammed.

not only speaking yoruba in the house but who ever is landing in moluwa park called murtala muhamed airport should speak equally yoruba to the lazy yorubas in the immigration hall before they can let you enter.

nwando:

@ richyblack,thanks for the compliments.
maybe I'll be required to count to twenty in Yoruba the next time I land at Murtala Muhammad.

@nwando,

Division across ethnic and religious lines is a big problem in Nigeria. I only hope the younger generation will stem the tide of such division.

I aint posted on this site for a mean 'minute' - but I couldnt stay silent on this one.

Its kinda sad. This is the younger generation on display here and the ideologies we are seeing in the form of words and rhetoric clouds the eyes.

So much bigotry, these are strange times.

Instead of the political class uninting the polity, they divide, conquer - all the while smiling to the bank. Its just too smart, Brilliant almost!

Indifferent

I'm so shocked at the level of Hate being expressed here,its just gives a foretaste of what is to come,can you imagine such comments like 'The Yoruba managers in Niger Delta', 'Awo betrayed Ojukwu'. . . . all the sames lies & statements the older generation have passed down to us.

Debosky & nwandu have made the most reasonable statemnets , I needn't add anything again.

Pls lets stop hating,no tribe is better than the other,

illusion2:

Please lets stop hating,no tribe is better than the other,

Yes i know no tribe is better than other, but Yoruba tribe and Fulani/Hausa brought bad luck to other tribes in Nigeria

willy*2:

Yes i know no tribe is better than other, but Yoruba tribe and Fulani/Hausa brought bad luck to other tribes in Nigeria

Here we go again . . . .

How ironic that the person that sent a letter to the Lagos house of assembly is an igbo woman

The use of the language \has been a recurring issue since last month when Dr. Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche of the Linguistics Department of the University of Lagos sent a letter requesting its adoption by the House.

source : The nation of today 12/12/07

Smart Lady. Posterity will reward her. English is spoken throughout UK without hassle. Someday Yoruba may be a West African Pride. In fact I will support any West African Language that rises to be the pride of West Africa. Something we can richly be proud of in West Africa in the years to come.

Especially when backed by an excellent welcoming home city for all pure Africans without discrimination. A place like Lagos. Or Accra, Calabar or ??. A place where you can mingle, join in speaking the Language and feel at home.

It's official

Lagos Assembly adopts Yoruba as official language
By Deji Elumoye, 12.12.2007

Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday approved the use of Yoruba as the official language on the floor of the Assembly This was sequel to a motion moved by the Assembly's majority leader, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo, in respect to a letter written to the Assembly by Mrs.

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Chinyere Anichebe, a professor of linguistics at the U niversityof Lagos (UNILAG). According to the letter discussed on the floor of the Assembly two weeks ago, Anichebe had argued that failure to use indigenous languages had been responsible for the grassroots not following and appreciating how they are governed.

The Assembly at yesterday's sitting therefore resolved that Yoruba, as well as English can be interchangeably used by any member to contribute to debate on the floor of the Assembly.

Addressing newsmen on the issue, Mrs Anichebe said the campaign for the use of Yoruba as the Assembly'sofficial language had become necessary because, according to her, children have lost their ability to speak their mother tongues because they were not exposed to them. She said a group of University lecturers have taken it upon themselves to impress on state Assemblies to use the indigenous languages as medium of transaction.

She explained that emphasis on state assemblies is because they represent the grassroots and should therefore carry them along in their deliberations sothat people would appreciate and understand how th eyare governed and decisions taken on their behalf. Meanwhile, the Assembly also yesterday lifted the suspension it placed on Mr. Muyiwa Adedeji, the executive secretary of Kosofe local government council last month. Adedeji was suspended on the allegation that he spent N32 million without due process and for not backing his expenditure with relevant receipts to the House when asked to do so.”

The suspension was lifted following a letter from the state auditor general that the said amount w as actually spent on intended projects but that his fault was his failure to get clearance before embarking on the expenditure.

@ayanfe

Ose fun ohun to fi won wa.

Ope pupo lowo Ojogbon Chinyere Anichebe to mu imoran yii wa. Ero okan mi ni pe, awon ile asofin toku ni Noigeria a gbiyoju lati se ohun ka na

Mo si ti ni ero pe leyin Osu mefa awon ile-asofin ni ipinle Eko a tu eto yii yewo fun ilo siwaju

---english--

Thanks for the update.

Kudos to Prof Chinyere Anichebe for bringing this up. I expect other state assembly to consult her and start similar process.

Also expect there would be review mechanism after 6months to see what other improvement they can bring to this initiative.

wonders shall never end, dey should start thinkin of havin a yoruba constitution as well

people r so myopic about da consequences of their actions,

one day dey'll wake up & construe da contitution to mean their numerous yoruba proverbs     

That Dr. Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche of the Linguistics Department of the University of Lagos dey look for contract, It is not right for lagos to use Yoruba, too many people of different background live in lagos, I am yoruba, Lagos is the "Multicultural city" of Nigeria. And they should keep it so,

I cannot believe for the life of me that some so called serious minded people are arguing about this!

Don't you all see that each state may choose to conduct it's HoA business in the it's native language?

Why is it a bad that we embrace our own mother tongue like we so readily embrace English.

I am a Nigerian, tribe irrespective, I am quite happy about this, it'll improve my own comprehension of the language and ensure that members can express themselves fully.

It's so typical of us Nigerian, so quick to embrace and praise that which is alien to us, our languages, cultures and religion is not good enough, we gotta keep aping the Europeans. I wonder when folks will get rid of their mental shackles.

I know many non Yorubas who were born in Lagos and speak the language fluently. If you all don't know, it was an Igbo lady who wrote the assembly and asked them to consider making the Yoruba its business language.

I think a lot of folks are getting irrational because of their own inherent tribalism.

I love the yoruba language. I am yoruba but you see the world is now a global villages. We need to compete with other countries, And we need to have a place where the international community can meet and feel at home, And no other place in Nigeria can do it like Lagos, not even abuja, because abuja does not have the natural facilities to compete with other places in the world because of its location far away from sea.

Lagos can be the home to many world culture, you would drive away business which is spoken more in english all over the world. And Nigeria is already behind, So lagos cant or should not use Yoruba,

The Lagos idea is to have a cities where everybody feels at home . You dont get that, where all the law makers are Yorubas.

I love the yoruba language. I am yoruba but you see the world is now a global villages. We need to compete with other countries,  And we need to have a place where the international community can meet and feel at home,  And no other place in Nigeria can do it like Lagos, not even abuja,  because abuja does not have the natural facilities to compete with other places in the world because of its location far away from sea.  

Lagos can be the home to many world culture,  you would drive away business which is spoken more in english all over the world. And Nigeria is already behind,  So lagos can't or should not use Yoruba, 

The Lagos  idea is to have a cities where everybody feels at home . You don't get that, where all the law makers are Yorubas.

Look even moving the capital from lagos to abuja was a bad mistake. It has destroy the Nigeria economy. Nigeria have not recovered since then,  and may not recovered.  I , like many have suggested " Olokola " brand name the New London to replace Lagos very soon.  Olokola by the time its finish would be a well plan city just less than an hour drive from lagos , with a seaport and a free export zone,   

I am doing some person work on it now. but before Olokola the New London take shape let do with lagos for now.

Lagos can be the home to many world culture, you would drive away business which is spoken more in english all over the world. And Nigeria is already behind, So lagos can't or should not use Yoruba,

absolutely unfounded!

Japan speaks Japanese, you have to learn it to do Business with them. They have biggest economy in ASIA.

German speaks german, you have to learn it to do Business with them. They have biggest economy in Europe.

I've been following this discussion for some time now, and I observed that a lot of people (non-Yorubas especially) are getting unnecessarily sentimental and irrational over this issue.

If I'm not mistaken, the bill says Yoruba is to be spoken in the House of Assembly, not that they are making Yoruba the official language of the state (that's impossible anyway).  So what's all these talk about driving businesses away, and making non-Yorubas feel unaccepted?   It is a well-known fact that Yoruba is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Lagos.  Infact, you'd be surprised at the hundreds of thousands of non-Yorubas that speak the language so FLUENTLY and the other millions that UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY, so I fail to see the problem or tribalism or whatnot here.

Alas!  After all the name-calling and insults to the Yorubas, it turns out that AN IGBO WOMAN was the one that brought up the idea afterall.

It does not matter what the bill says. What is not right , is not right. You cant make Yoruba the official language. In tokyo stock exchange go and find out what languages they use apart from japan

In tokyo stock exchange go and find out what languages they use apart from japan

are you serious at all?

mind you they speak Japanese there!

http://www.tse.or.jp/index.html

this is not about Lagos Stock exchange.

It is about Lagos Assembly. what language do they speak in Japan Assembly?

half of the lagos assembly can not write Yoruba, So why force them to speak it. How many educated Yoruba can write yoruba. look What if an hausa wins an election and he can not speak Yoruba, will you force him to . If you want to force people to learn yoruba it is not at the house of assembly but in our school system.

@nigeriaone,

No one is being forced to speak Yoruba, deliberations will be made in both Yoruba and English language - whichever one anyone feels comfortable with - just that Yoruba will be the official language of the House of Assembly.

@Ow11,
Are you making a U-Turn.

This idea sucks badly, It will only lead to animosity.
Furthermore the Yoruba language has its own dialects initself, We claim official English status, let us embrace that fully!

Furthermore the Yoruba language has its own dialects initself, We claim official English status, let us embrace that fully!

and english does not have it dialect? american english, queens english, scottish english, kent english.

your claim to english is nothing but colonial handover. It does not represent us.

On this issue, I think Nigerians should start to appreciate things that are ours. When the issue of sharia law came,was it not decided by each state who adopted and who did not, depending on what the people there(indigence) want?? If Lagos state wants to adopt that, If thats what they really want, then its good, for them. It promotes our language you know!!!

This issue need not discussed
Let us get other things done

States should agree on what they want

There's so much gabbage/refuse in Lagos & the entire city lacks any clear direction or semblance of order,i'll appreciate if our honourable State assembly could focus on this issues.
Thank you.