Fayemi Fatunde Fakayode, President of the International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR), has urged the governors of Nigeria’s Southwest region to initiate the process of changing the language of all textbooks used in primary and secondary schools to Yoruba. Fakayode made this appeal during a lecture titled “Yoruba Language and Culture, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” at the Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, as part of the 2024 Annual Cultural Festival organized by Egbe Akomolede ati Asa Yoruba, Nigeria, Ekun Ife (Association of Teachers of Yoruba Language and Culture, Nigeria, Ife Zone).
He emphasized the need to stop referring to the Yoruba language as vernacular and to make it the primary mode of communication at home, work, and school. Citing research, Fakayode argued that students taught in their mother tongue perform better academically than those taught in a foreign language. He also highlighted the global recognition of the Yoruba language due to the widespread acceptance of the Ifa Religion, predicting its continued growth and eventual dominance over other languages.
Fakayode drew an analogy between Yoruba culture and a computer system, describing the Yoruba language and other cultural components as the hardware and the Yoruba Religion as the software necessary for their function. He noted that just as Arabic is essential for understanding the Quran, Yoruba is crucial for practicing the Ifa Religion, making it an international language.
