A former house of assembly aspirant in Abeokuta North Local Government, Ogun State, Hon. Wale Bello on Thursday bagged a chieftaincy title as the promoter Yoruba language.

He recieved the chieftaincy title from the Yoruba language teachers under the umbrella of ‘Egbe Akomolede ati Asa ile Yoruba’ (Association of Teachers of Yoruba Language and Culture), Abeokuta block.

Chairperson of the division, Olayemi Bolanle Abiodun said this while coffering the chieftaincy title  on Bello described him as a man of humility.

The ceremony which took at his school premises had in presence of the students of the school. 

Olayemi explained that the association also considered Bello for the tittle because of his humility, diligence and love for the Yoruba culture.

She said “Why we chose him is because Olawale Bello is very humble, deligent and he is a promoter and lover of culture. There are some schools that don’t teach Yoruba but here they teach Yoruba language.

Speaking with newsmen at the aftermath of the conferment ceremony, Dr Bello stated that he received the title because of the impact of his school (Comprehensive Academy) in the promotion of Yoruba language.

Bello regretted that the Yoruba culture is being ratted as second language, even amongst the original speakers of the language.

His words “I pray that the Yoruba culture will not be tale of Nigeria; we own crude oil but we take it abroad to be refined and the whites will later sell it back to us at huge price. Imagine paying to get something that belongs to us. The same goes for our yoruba culture, we have American citizens who have come to learn our language, if care is not taken, time will come when we will have to be paying foreigners to teach us Yoruba language.

 “We may have to be employing them as Yoruba lecturers. Foreigners are coming to learning Yoruba language with joy. They already know how to chant Yoruba incantation. It’s getting to a level where we will be going to America to learn Yoruba language.

According to him, the way out is to make Yoruba language as a subject compulsory in schools in all the Yoruba speaking states.

“What I feel we should do is that; Yoruba language as a subject used to be a compulsory in schools in Yoruba speaking states but now it’s no longer compulsory and as a result, must students cannot even write their Yoruba names. Infact, how many parents want their children to speak Yoruba. Let the teachers too intensify their efforts. There are subjects that are best understood when taught in Yoruba language. If students are taught a subject in Yoruba, they will quickly assimilate." He concluded