General Olusegun Obasanjo speaks fluent Yoruba. Yes, he does. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is a wordsmith in English language but he also speaks and writes impeccable Yoruba. Otunba Subonmi Balogun, Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola, are some of the wealthiest Nigerians of Yoruba extraction and they all speak Yoruba fluently. All of them can speak Yoruba for 5 minutes without injecting a single English word. Their children too, all speak Yoruba fluently.

It is rare to find any Igboman or woman who can speak Igbo fluently for 2 minutes without injecting English words. Even the most educated Yorubas schooled in Cambridge, or Oxford or Durham or Yale or Harvard or Princeton or in all these great institutions combined speak fluent Yoruba. They are assured, rooted, and unapologetic about who they are and of their place in the panoply of nations.

Fast forward now to the Igboid peoples and their relationship with Igbo language. A disaster unfolds. Rare is the Igbo who can converse in private or address a gathering of 2 or more in Igbo for 2 minutes without injecting one or more English words. More than 3/4 of the children of Igbo elite cannot stand before a crowd of 2 in their villages and address the crowd in Igbo language for 2 minutes.

The shamelessness, even pride, with which some Igbo parents in Aba, Enugu, Umuahia, Owerri, et cetera announce to their peers that their children raised in Igboland “anaghi anu Igbo” confirms to me that the Igbo are in a state of crises. In many Igbo homes, it is forbidden to speak Igbo!

The language of the Igbo, asusu Igbo, an onomatopoeiac and yet mellifluous language of the wise and sagacious, is in the death throes. No major ethnic group anywhere in the world faces the same lingual crises as the Igbo. The data and social phenomena are damning and ominous. The mother tongue is learnt at home, that is why it is called the mother tongue.

Consider these facts: in 50 years, Igbo language, will be almost extinct; never to be spoken or heard in large numbers anywhere in the world. UNESCO warns that unless urgent and realistic efforts are made today, within the next 2 generations, asusu Igbo ga abu ihe nwuru anwu.

Among the Igboid peoples aged 15 and below less than 12% can speak Igbo. Among those aged 25 and 16, less than 20% can converse in Igbo. The disaster cuts across economic and class barriers. Neither the children of the wretched poor in the cities nor the scions of the filthy rich have been spared.

A child learns his/her native language at home. In many Igbo homes, the language of communication is a mutilated version of English language. “Oya, junior, go and chop your breakfast” is neither English nor Igbo. Mass self deportation, a degraded and debased culture, palpable sense of inferiority, and a bizarre belief that the foreign is better have all conspired to ensure that Igbo language is on the path towards extinction. This is a self-inflicted tragedy.

Okay, let me come and be going.

But first, it must be understood that the survival of a people is inextricably tied to the health of its language. The human brain thinks in language patterns. The end product of a people’s civilization is carried in its language. When the language dies, the civilization atrophies and is only fit for the museum.

Second, language matters a lot. There is no separatist movement which can survive sans its language. Not one. With the imminent extinction of Igbo language, thousands of human experience, cultures, and understandings of the workings of the universe are imperiled.

Third, as the ultimate carrier, transmitter, and repository of a people’s culture, the death of a language is an unmitigated disaster. And to those who believe that they can be...

http://ikengachronicles.com/reggae-in-my-blues-wait-let-me-come-and-be-going-ndigbo-na-asusu-igbo/

.

Stop making reference to the Yorubas. The examples you cited have their equivalents in the east.
The youths from both sides infuse both English and their languages while speaking.
That's by the way,, but your message is clear.
Personally, I emphasize it as much as I can.
Dalu

chizgold80:
General Olusegun Obasanjo speaks fluent Yoruba. Yes, he does. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is a wordsmith in English language but he also speaks and writes impeccable Yoruba. Otunba Subonmi Balogun, Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola, are some of the wealthiest Nigerians of Yoruba extraction and they all speak Yoruba fluently. All of them can speak Yoruba for 5 minutes without injecting a single English word. Their children too, all speak Yoruba fluently.

It is rare to find any Igboman or woman who can speak Igbo fluently for 2 minutes without injecting English words. Even the most educated Yorubas schooled in Cambridge, or Oxford or Durham or Yale or Harvard or Princeton or in all these great institutions combined speak fluent Yoruba. They are assured, rooted, and unapologetic about who they are and of their place in the panoply of nations.

Fast forward now to the Igboid peoples and their relationship with Igbo language. A disaster unfolds. Rare is the Igbo who can converse in private or address a gathering of 2 or more in Igbo for 2 minutes without injecting one or more English words. More than 3/4 of the children of Igbo elite cannot stand before a crowd of 2 in their villages and address the crowd in Igbo language for 2 minutes.

The shamelessness, even pride, with which some Igbo parents in Aba, Enugu, Umuahia, Owerri, et cetera announce to their peers that their children raised in Igboland “anaghi anu Igbo” confirms to me that the Igbo are in a state of crises. In many Igbo homes, it is forbidden to speak Igbo!

The language of the Igbo, asusu Igbo, an onomatopoeiac and yet mellifluous language of the wise and sagacious, is in the death throes. No major ethnic group anywhere in the world faces the same lingual crises as the Igbo. The data and social phenomena are damning and ominous. The mother tongue is learnt at home, that is why it is called the mother tongue.

Consider these facts: in 50 years, Igbo language, will be almost extinct; never to be spoken or heard in large numbers anywhere in the world. UNESCO warns that unless urgent and realistic efforts are made today, within the next 2 generations, asusu Igbo ga abu ihe nwuru anwu.

Among the Igboid peoples aged 15 and below less than 12% can speak Igbo. Among those aged 25 and 16, less than 20% can converse in Igbo. The disaster cuts across economic and class barriers. Neither the children of the wretched poor in the cities nor the scions of the filthy rich have been spared.

A child learns his/her native language at home. In many Igbo homes, the language of communication is a mutilated version of English language. “Oya, junior, go and chop your breakfast” is neither English nor Igbo. Mass self deportation, a degraded and debased culture, palpable sense of inferiority, and a bizarre belief that the foreign is better have all conspired to ensure that Igbo language is on the path towards extinction. This is a self-inflicted tragedy.

Okay, let me come and be going.

But first, it must be understood that the survival of a people is inextricably tied to the health of its language. The human brain thinks in language patterns. The end product of a people’s civilization is carried in its language. When the language dies, the civilization atrophies and is only fit for the museum.

Second, language matters a lot. There is no separatist movement which can survive sans its language. Not one. With the imminent extinction of Igbo language, thousands of human experience, cultures, and understandings of the workings of the universe are imperiled.

Third, as the ultimate carrier, transmitter, and repository of a people’s culture, the death of a language is an unmitigated disaster. And to those who believe that they can be...

http://ikengachronicles.com/reggae-in-my-blues-wait-let-me-come-and-be-going-ndigbo-na-asusu-igbo/

This injection of at least one English word in almost every sentence spoken in Igbo by some Igbos can be highly embarrassing, especially when it is by someone speaking to a crowd of Igbos. The major culprits are Igbos raised in urban areas. It is still better than those Igbos born or raised outside Igbo land in places like Lagos who cannot even say a word correct in Igbo.


Thankfully, I think this trend of putting English in Igbo might be reversing its self. There are many Igbos who now consciously try not to put any English while speaking Igbo

You are guilty as well.

The igbo language is dieing that is why you wrote this article in English, abi?

Thanks anyways, at lest I understood what you have to say.