My present read is Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s ‘Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature.’

It is a rich and researched exposé on language as a tool of colonising the mind of the colonised.

I have been curious and concerned since I was initiated into this line of thought by Mr. Olakunle Soriyan over a decade ago.

I have also read scholars like Franz Fanon’s position on language as the soul and expression of people’s identify and culture.

Now, to my point exactly; it is my second missionary journey being interviewed by BBC Yoruba and I so much love it, but today was different for me.

I know I speak and write English better and more than my native Yoruba dialect but today, I found myself for the first time being ashamed of the same.

Yes, I granted the interview in the Yoruba language and gave it my best shot. I also believe I communicated my views clearly and I have since read the published article, which link I share here https://www.bbc.com/yoruba/afrika-53753198

My point here is that it was with much struggle and sweat, not because of the topic of discussion, which is my forte, but because of the language of expression. To now think that the language I struggle with is that of my birth makes it most pathetic. I do not think there is any continent outside Africa that is dealing with the incaculable but totally neglected impact of language displacement.

At the completion of the interview, I felt drained and sad that I am living out the dream of the colonialist, which was to conquer my mind by weaning me of my mother tongue and the culture and the identity it communicates and I found myself reporting same to my wife later yesterday.

My first contact with the Children’s Church of my local assembly, was to teach the students in Yoruba and I did that for some years. So I am not writing about total loss of touch in terms of being able to communicate in the language. My real concern is that I have been disabled from being able to communicate the best of my thoughts and genius in my mother tongue and unfortunately it seems to be a lifetime damage.

Where do we go from here?

I will take this conversation further in the Taiwo AKINLAMI Facebook Group on Sunday.

Do have an INSPIRED day

Taiwo AKINLAMI
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