THE DEATH OF AFRICAN CULTURE AND LANGUAGES

I'm sitting in church trying to pay attention to the message and not be offended by the man having a simultaneous discussion with his very cute daughter behind me. Then she says "ekaaro o"(which means good morning in Yoruba) her accent very clean and distinct. I was quite impressed. However; her father wasn't, rather, he sounded angry. He blurted out "what's that trash?" the little girl did not answer. I'm sure she was as stunned by his tone as I was. He ventured again this time softer " what does that mean?" she finally answered "E mean I am the house". The man continued "Don't be saying that again. Where did you hear it from?" now that's the part that really caught me. I happen to know this man and his lovely wife: beautiful young couple whom I've always thought were very noisy as they always seem to preach along with the pastor or dissect what he's saying at the same time not caring that they might be distracting others. Suffice to say I was disappointed by his words. I have always appreciated the way the Yoruba people seem to speak their language to everyone whether you understand or not. I always felt my people could borrow a leaf from them about the love of your own language. English is and will always be a second language to us whether we like it or not. But here was this man rather than encourage his daughter to learn her first language was chastising her for picking up a word like it was a bad habit. It made me wonder. Did it then mean that even at home they do not speak their own language? He did ask her where she had heard it from. If as parents and elders we do not have regard for our language and culture and we don't make an effort to pass down our culture no matter how flawed we think they are, then they will die. The reason foreign cultures and languages seem so appealing is because their people made conscious effort to promote them by foisting them forcefully on conquered people. But the conquerors have returned to their land and we have a rich, colourful, vibrant and attractive culture. What is our excuse now?