Reggae in my Blues? Wait, Let me Come and be Going: Ndigbo na Asusu Igbo
Posted by Factnews | 7 years ago | 2,511 times
Ikechi Mgbeoji
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, some of the wealthiest Nigerians of Yoruba extraction speak fluent Yoruba. All of them can speak Yoruba for 5 minutes without injecting a single English word. It is rare to find any Igboman or woman who can speak fluent Igbos for 2 minutes without injecting English words.
Even the most educated Yorubas whoc schooled in Cambridge, or Oxford or Durham or Yale or Harvard or Princeton or even 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 and their relationship. A disaster unfolds. Rare is the Igboid 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.
The language of the Igboid, 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 Igboid. The data and social phenomena are damning and ominous.
Consider these facts: in 50 years, Igbo language, will be almost extting. 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 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 the 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 Igboid homes, the language of communication is a mutilated version of Englisn 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 Igbo whilst burying asusu ndigbo, they are mistaken. Language is the ultimate marker of a people. There are certain phrases and figures of speech peculiar to a people. Some of them cannot be translated. O di egwu! Try translating that to English. For obvious reasons, I have resisted the temptation to pen this 6th iteration in my series of essays in Igbo language. Next, I shall yield to that temptation.
Ndeewo nu. ONYE NWERE NTI, YA NURU.
-Ikechi Mgbeoji
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