Language Is Not Decoration

Yoruba Nationalism 101 - 1.5

By Aare Kurunmi Kakanfo

A people who lose their language their worldview. Language is not just for greetings or proverbs. It is the architecture of thought, the software of identity, the first school of every nation.

Here are 3 facts Yorùbá people must confront:

1. Within Yorùbá are codes for diplomacy, morality, science, and spirituality. From titles to tonalities, the language encodes a philosophy of balance, responsibility, and respect. When it fades, these values fade too.

2. Once a people start thinking only in another tongue, they start seeing the world only through another lens. This affects governance, education, and even economic behavior. They begin to consume more than they create and lose confidence in their own judgment.

3. We need public schools that teach in Yorùbá, serious funding for translation and publishing, and digital tools that make our language visible and useful. Sentiment is not strategy. National survival needs systems.

To speak Yorùbá clearly is to think Yorùbá, To feel Yorùbá and To plan Yorùbá.