A Call for the Preservation, Teaching, and Wider Use of the Yoruba Language in Schools Across Southwestern Nigeria

Yoruba is one of Nigeria's major indigenous languages and is deeply connected with the history, literature, oral traditions, philosophy, music, religion, arts, family structures, names, proverbs, traditional knowledge, and cultural identity of Yoruba-speaking communities.

Language is not merely a means of communication. It is also a means through which knowledge, history, values, literature, collective memory, and cultural expression are transmitted between generations.

When a language becomes increasingly absent from formal education, its vocabulary can become progressively disconnected from modern fields such as science, technology, medicine, law, economics, engineering, computing, and the social sciences.

The petition therefore seeks a deliberate educational policy that allows Yoruba to develop as a modern language of scholarship, rather than limiting it primarily to informal conversation, cultural activities, or a single school subject.

The requested reforms build upon principles already present in Nigeria's education policy.

Nigeria's National Policy on Education provides that:

• children should be taught in the mother tongue or language of the immediate community during the first four years of basic education; and
• every child is expected to learn one Nigerian language.

The Federal Ministry of Education has also identified objectives including the effective use of language in education, improved educational access and delivery, development of Nigerian-language educational and literary materials, and greater development and use of Nigerian languages.

The issue before government is therefore not whether Nigerian languages have educational value. Existing national policy already recognizes that principle. The issue is how to ensure that the principle is implemented consistently, adequately resourced, and developed to meet the needs of contemporary education.

Europe provides numerous examples of societies that have maintained their national and state languages while simultaneously participating extensively in English-language international education, commerce, science, technology, and communication.

The European Union currently has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

The European Union explicitly describes linguistic diversity as an essential part of Europe's cultural heritage and identifies multilingualism as one of its founding principles. The EU also identifies 26 state languages among its member states, in addition to more than 60 regional or minority languages. Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, and Finland have two state languages, while Belgium and Luxembourg have three.

The European Union itself encourages pupils to learn additional languages from an early age. According to EU data, 49% of upper-secondary pupils studied two or more foreign languages in the referenced 2023 data. European education policy also specifically supports the teaching of regional and minority languages in schools.

The lesson for Nigeria need not be that Nigeria should copy any particular European country. Rather, Europe demonstrates that international language competence and preservation of indigenous or national languages are not inherently incompatible objectives. Nigeria can similarly develop citizens who are excellent in English while remaining highly literate in Yoruba.

4.1 Cultural continuity

Yoruba carries generations of oral and written knowledge, including proverbs, poetry, literature, history, traditional names and naming practices, music, folklore, philosophy, traditional knowledge, family and community histories, and cultural practices. A language that is not adequately transmitted to younger generations through formal education faces increasing difficulty maintaining its vocabulary, literature, and relevance in modern life.

4.2 Educational development

A language becomes stronger when it is capable of expressing modern knowledge. Yoruba should therefore be developed and equipped with terminology and teaching resources for mathematics, science, medicine and health, agriculture, economics, civics, history, geography, technology, computing, environmental studies, and other contemporary disciplines. The objective should not be to remove English from education, but to make Yoruba capable of participating in the full educational life of its speakers.

4.3 Literacy

Students should have the opportunity to develop strong reading and writing skills in Yoruba in addition to English. This can create a population capable of moving between languages depending upon context, audience, and subject matter.

4.4 Cultural confidence

A modern educational system can teach students that proficiency in an international language and pride in an indigenous language are compatible. A child can learn English for international communication and Yoruba for cultural, community, intellectual, and personal expression.

4.5 Development of educational materials

Greater demand for Yoruba-language education would encourage the production of textbooks, children's books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, digital learning materials, educational television and radio, online courses, examination materials, scientific terminology, software interfaces, and Yoruba-language educational content.

We respectfully request that the Federal Government of Nigeria and the relevant state governments take the following actions.

5.1 Strengthen Yoruba-language teaching

Establish and maintain Yoruba-language instruction throughout primary and secondary education in Yoruba-speaking areas, with clear minimum standards for curriculum time and learning outcomes.

5.2 Increase the use of Yoruba beyond a single school subject

Develop opportunities for selected subjects and educational activities to be taught or supported bilingually in Yoruba and English, particularly at the foundational and primary levels.

5.3 Maintain English proficiency

Ensure that strengthening Yoruba does not diminish students' ability to learn, read, write, and communicate effectively in English. The proposed model is additive: Yoruba + English, rather than Yoruba instead of English.

5.4 Develop Yoruba terminology for modern disciplines

Establish or strengthen expert committees involving educators, linguists, scientists, technologists, writers, and subject specialists to develop standardized Yoruba terminology for modern academic fields.

5.5 Produce modern Yoruba textbooks

Support the creation, publication, translation, review, and distribution of high-quality Yoruba-language educational materials.

5.6 Train teachers

Increase the number of qualified teachers capable of teaching Yoruba and, where appropriate, teaching other subjects through Yoruba. Teacher-training institutions should be supported in developing specialized bilingual teaching programs.

5.7 Strengthen Yoruba examinations

Ensure that students have meaningful opportunities to demonstrate Yoruba literacy and academic competence through appropriately designed examinations and assessments.

5.8 Support digital Yoruba

Government and educational institutions should encourage the development of Yoruba educational content for websites, mobile applications, digital libraries, educational videos, artificial-intelligence and language technologies, electronic dictionaries, and other digital learning platforms.

5.9 Establish measurable targets

Government should establish measurable objectives for Yoruba-language education, publish progress reports, and periodically evaluate implementation.

5.10 Preserve Yoruba for future generations

Government should recognize Yoruba-language education as an investment in cultural heritage, literacy, education, and intergenerational transmission.

The petitioners propose consideration of a three-stage model.

Stage One — Foundational Education

In the early years of education, children should receive substantial foundational instruction in Yoruba alongside English, particularly in communities where Yoruba is the predominant indigenous language. The emphasis should include reading, writing, vocabulary, oral communication, literature, numeracy, cultural knowledge, and age-appropriate general knowledge.

Stage Two — Bilingual Development

As students progress, schools should gradually expand the use of both Yoruba and English. Students could encounter selected learning materials and instructional resources in both languages.

Stage Three — Advanced Academic and Professional Yoruba

At secondary and tertiary levels, institutions should progressively develop Yoruba terminology and materials capable of supporting serious study of modern disciplines. The long-term goal should be for Yoruba to function not merely as a cultural subject, but as a language capable of participating in modern intellectual and professional life.

For clarity, this petition does not request:

• the abolition of English;
• the exclusion of students who are not Yoruba speakers;
• the replacement of English as a major international language;
• discrimination against other Nigerian languages;
• the removal of internationally useful languages from the curriculum; or
• the abandonment of Nigeria's multilingual character.

Instead, the petition requests an educational system in which Yoruba can coexist with English and other languages.

The petitioners believe that language preservation should not depend solely on families speaking a language at home. Schools are among the most powerful institutions through which societies transmit knowledge from one generation to another.

If Yoruba is to remain a living language capable of serving future generations, it should remain present in classrooms, books, examinations, universities, technology, media, and public intellectual life.

Let our children master the world without losing the language that connects them to their heritage.

English can open international doors. Yoruba can preserve and develop a connection to the history, culture, knowledge, and identity of Yoruba-speaking communities. There is no necessary contradiction between the two.

We, the petitioners, recognize that preserving a language is not solely the responsibility of government. Families, schools, universities, traditional institutions, writers, publishers, businesses, technology companies, religious institutions, community organizations, and individual citizens all have roles to play.

We therefore encourage parents and communities to speak Yoruba with children, read Yoruba books, support Yoruba-language educational initiatives, and encourage young people to become confident users of both Yoruba and English.

Our objective is not to turn back the clock. Our objective is to ensure that Yoruba moves forward with us.

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