Yoruba leader cautions against language erosion in Benue

A former president of Yoruba community in Benue State, Asiwaju Isaac Akinkunmi, has warned that Nigeria’s indigenous languages, including Tiv, are facing gradual extinction due to parents’ failure to teach their children their mother tongues.  Akinkunmi issued the warning when an association of Tiv women paid him a solidarity visit following the recent chieftaincy title […]

A former president of Yoruba community in Benue State, Asiwaju Isaac Akinkunmi, has warned that Nigeria’s indigenous languages, including Tiv, are facing gradual extinction due to parents’ failure to teach their children their mother tongues. 

Akinkunmi issued the warning when an association of Tiv women paid him a solidarity visit following the recent chieftaincy title conferred on him by the Paramount Ruler of the Tiv nation, the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ayatse, in recognition of his contributions to the state’s economic development.

“Our children should learn to speak their mother tongue. If they do not, our languages will die in the years to come. When that happens, generations after us will blame us for failing to pass on what should have been inherited,” he said.

He said his long residence among the Tiv people shaped his respect for indigenous culture, noting that he and his wife deliberately gave their last child a Tiv name, Erdoo, over 25 years ago.