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Ecstasy, as Fulani monarch unveils Fulfulde books in Lagos

…To save the language from extinction

Razaq Bamidele

It was ecstasy galore, on Sunday, November 8, when His Highness Dr. Mohammed Abubakar Bambado II, the Sarkin Fulani of Lagos and Chairman, Association of Fulani Chiefs, South West, unveiled several books on Fulfulde, saying, “the effort is aimed at saving the language from going into extinction.”

The concerned monarch, at a function attended by all the leaders of the ethnic nationality across the southern geo-political zone of the country and beyond, called for the preservation of the language spoken by the Fulani in order not to go extinct.

He said that Fulfulde is a language spoken by the Fulani who are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely spread across the region to the far reaches of Central Africa and regions near the Red Sea Coast.

His words, “Though, we may not have the accurate figure on the number of people that speak Fulfulde regularly as first language  or official language, we should not be surprised however that, like other languages, Fulfulde too is also endangered and under real threat.

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“This is not a cheering news. A language is at risk of being lost when it is no longer taught to younger generations, while fluent speakers of the language (usually the elderly) die.

“In Canada for instance, the French speaking province of Quebec, provincial regulations stipulate that any sign containing English posted by a business outfit must also post the same text in French in letters at least twice the size of the English text.

“Even more drastic measures to promote the French language have been considered, such as obliging immigrants to receive their college educations in French, and requirements that large-sized businesses conduct all their transactions in French.

“Today’s historic event is a bold step as we present to the public the outcome of research works that gave birth to this set of books in Fulfulde language.

“You might want to ask why are these books coming at this point in time. The answer is not farfetched: when we preserve our language, we have essentially capture in essence the history of our people.

“When the remaining fluent speakers of the language who are generally the older members of the community pass on, then such a language is no longer being taught to the children of the community, or at least to a large number of the children, such a language is at the risk of becoming extinct and may die out outright.”

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Against this backdrop, Bambado asserted that, it is also important to note that when language dies, the knowledge of and ability to understand the culture who spoke it is threatened because the teaching, customs, oral traditions and other inherited knowledge are no longer transmitted among native speakers.

The monarch therefore reasoned that, the way out is preservation, which can be achieved through written books made available to younger generations that could encourage them to learn, read and speak the language as they grow.

Concluding, the Serikin Fulani of Lagos State said, those taught would also in turn teach their children the language as well, reminding that, this cycle of learning not only keeps aglow the torch of knowledge about native literature and linguistics but also helps in lighting the way into the future.

 

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