Renowned author and former university lecturer, Prof. Akinwumi Isola, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that he decided to speak only Yoruba as a way of protecting the culture and language from dying
Where were you born and how did you spend your childhood?
I was born on the Christmas day of 1939 in our village, Labode, near Ibadan. I attended Labode Methodist School in the village but had to come to Ibadan to start Standard Three at Ibadan Methodist Primary School, Agodi. The building is still there till today on the way to the Nigeria Television Authority premises. I also attended Wesley College in Ibadan and later University College, Ibadan, now University of Ibadan where I studied French for four years.
Where did you work after you graduated from UI?
I started as a graduate assistant at the University of Lagos after my study, where Prof. Adeboye Babalola, the big Yoruba teacher who was the first African principal at the Igbobi College, Lagos, was also teaching.
Why did you move to the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University soon after UNILAG offered you the job?
I had to leave UNILAG in 1974 because I was given an appointment at the University of Ife. The major reason I was tempted to move to Ife was because all my friends like Prof. Wole Soyinka, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Biodun Jeifo and so on were working there. It was at the university that I spent the rest of my academic life. I worked there and became a professor. In 1991, I retired from there and moved back to my town in Ibadan. I started writing and making films in Yoruba with a very competent film maker, Tunde Kelani, since then.
Why choosing Yoruba as a medium of communication in your films?
Before then, people thought that Yoruba film was impossible. The first film we produced was Kosegbe, then Efunsetan Aniwura, O’leku and Madam Tinubu. Madam Tinubu is about the real Tinubu family of Lagos, which has its ancestral home in Abeokuta. It was during the production of this film that I met the former governor of Lagos State, Ahmed Tinubu. He agreed to sponsor some of my films. Lagosians love Yoruba language and they trooped to the cinemas to watch those films. Madam Tinubu was shown seven times in Lagos. Saworo Ide, Agogo Ewo and Campus Queen came after. My films are so loved by Yoruba people and it encouraged me to do more.
Which of your work gave you prominence?
My writing in Yoruba gave me more prominence than film making. But my enterprises in making Yoruba films won me the Nigerian National Order of Merit in 2000. I also won the Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letter.
You speak Yoruba in all functions you attend in Nigeria. What prompted the decision?
I made the decision to always speak Yoruba because of my experience when I represented Nigeria at UNESCO. The value of culture was discussed at the session. Prof. Michael Omolewa, formerly of UI was Nigeria’s permanent representative at UNESCO at the time, he recommended me to represent Nigeria at the session. I took Ifa (Yoruba divination system) to UNESCO because the organisation was honouring cultures all over the world. I told UNECSO that Africa had master pieces of cultural heritage that it would like to showcase to the whole world. An application form was sent to Abuja and I was contacted about the wishes of UNESCO concerning my proposal. There were many suggestions as to what we should take to UNESCO. Some said we should take masquerade there but we settled for Ifa, the divination system of the Yoruba. My good friend, Prof. Wande Abimbola, was working with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja. I told him about it and we worked together. He sponsored the making of a film which we packaged to showcase Ifa and sent it to UNESCO.
And what advantage did this bring to the culture?
Today, we have the Ifa Cultural Heritage Institute in Oyo, sponsored by UNESCO. It was the product of the presentation we made to the organisation. This year, we had a convocation lecture at the institute and I was invited to give the lecture. I was delighted but I told them that I would have to give it in Yoruba. I am doing this because of the need to protect our culture and language from death. If we don’t promote it, speak it and use it regularly, it will die. God is wonderful. He created 7,000 major languages in the world, but some are dying for lack of usage. I gave the convocation lecture in Yoruba language and told them that every town in Yorubaland has an Ifa literary corpus called Odu that established it. Ibadan was established with Ose meji while Lagos was established with Otua oriko. However, UNESCO in Paris has other projects that promote culture like Living Human Treasure. It was designed for people who are skilful and extremely knowledgeable in cultural works. Lamidi Fakeye the wood carver and Ogundare Foyanmu who is versed in hunters’ play, songs and chants won the first award in 2004. They are human treasures and were honoured for their cultural excellence. These are the gains of promoting our language and culture at UNESCO
Japan and China use their languages in all teachings and that is why they have rich knowledge of everything. They understand it better because it is their own language. If you go to their institutions to study, they will tell you to study their language first. If you are dealing with them in business or anything, they will speak their language. Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola came to UI to deliver a lecture sometimes ago. He said the China community wrote a proposal to Lagos government and when it got to him, he was shocked that it was written in Chinese language. He said the representatives told him that it is their tradition to do everything in their language. That tells you how much they cherish their language. I have addressed academic gatherings recently in Ekiti, Akure and Akungba in Yoruba language as a way of promoting the language. Our children watch cartoon which is good but the problem is that they were produced in English language. We must start making our own cartoons in Yoruba so that our children can learn through it. Even though we speak English to our children, they speak bad English and cannot understand their own language.
How difficult was it for you to convince your parents to go to school at an age where parents valued the help of their children on the farm?
I was fortunate in those days because my father had already converted to Christianity. That was about a century ago. He was a founding member of Methodist Church in Labode and the first Baba Ijo at the church.
Who were your friends in those days?
When I was in primary school, I had a friend called Onaolapo Akinyemi, he was the most brilliant in my class. There was also Onaolapo Akano, a tough boy and our class captain. There was Hannah Iguebor too, they are all alive.
Can you still remember your teachers in the school?
There was a man called Fagbemi. He was a good teacher loved by pupils. The last time I saw him was some years ago at Bodija area of Ibadan. He taught me in Standard Six. A man called Lukula was my head master in the school. While I was in the university, some of my lecturers were Prof. Ayo Bamgbose of the Department of Linguistic and Ayo Banjo. They are very wonderful lecturers.
Would you say that the four years you spent to study French was a waste having decided to speak only Yoruba?
French language is a universal means of communication and it is always an advantage to have knowledge of it. Although I decided to speak only Yoruba, I am aware of the limitation. I can only speak it where people will understand it, especially in the South West of Nigeria. At UNESCO, I spoke French instead of English language because Yoruba is not included in the six approved languages. No knowledge is a waste. I have friends in the west coast of Africa and most of them speak French language. I visit the Republic of Benin regularly because I have friends there and we relate in French language. My knowledge of French language gave me advantage over other applicants when I applied to work as graduate assistant at UNILAG. It boosted my curriculum vitae because part of the requirement was knowledge of a foreign language apart from English.
When did you write Efunsetan Aniwura and what inspired you?
I wrote the book around 1960, at a time when I was still young with little education and it was inspired by a book about Ibadan which I read. It was written by Isaac Akinyele, a former Olubadan of Ibadanland. Part of the book was a brief story of a woman called Efunsetan Aniwura, she was Iyalode of Ibadan and a very powerful and wealthy woman. The whole story about the woman was less than half a page but after taking permission from the writer and with my ingenuity, I expanded it to a book. There was a competition I won at Boys High School some years after I wrote the book. I was given prize money of £1.1 but when my friends heard about it, they came around and I used the money to entertain them. The Managing Director of Oxford University Press, T. T. Solaro, was at the venue and he told me that he would ensure that my book was printed in large quantity, which sold quickly. The late Isola Ogunsola adapted the book to a stage play and made so much name performing in many places around Nigeria. I later wrote Oleku and other books.
Recently, some people criticised your perception of Efunsetan in your book. They said you portrayed her in bad light just because she had a running battle with Are Latosa who ruled between1871 and 1885?
They are right in their criticism of the work. I was very young with little education when I wrote the book. If I were to write it today, it would be different. Efunsetan can be described as a woman fighting for the rights of women folk. She could be described as woman rights activist. She is not as tough as I portrayed her. I have met the head of her lineage and we have discussed about it. The new Efunsetan Aniwura film I produced was done with adjustment that portrayed the woman in her real self.
As a playwright, did you make money?
There is no money there. Stage plays hardly pays too because of poor ticket sales. We used to make money in film making but today, piracy has killed the industry. Pirates sell a film at N100 on the streets of Lagos, so how will the producer get his money back or make profit? That is why we are not having good films anymore. It costs more than N20m to make a good film but how much will the producers make with pirates everywhere?
I have just finished the production of a film called Ofin ga. It is not yet in the market. It has to do with people who die suddenly without a will. If such persons were wealthy with wife, children and other relatives, it becomes a problem sharing their property.
How will you describe the art of writing today?
Writing in English is lucrative today because there are various prizes that good authors can win and the international fame attached to it. But people do not read again. Our culture of reading is very bad now. We just hope that government can do something about it so that our reading culture can improve. We have to start doing things differently by writing in our own language.
How about your children?
They are here in Nigeria working in Lagos. I have a lawyer and a communicator as children.
Did you raise them with Yoruba language?
They understand the language very well because that was the language I used to raise them. I also created the fear of God in them.
Did they imbibe the culture and pass it on to their own children?
I have several grand children. When they were young, they visited me and spoke to me in English language. They called me grandpa. But I called them and made them understand that I am Baba Agba (old man) and that if they would not speak Yoruba to me, they should not visit me again. That was how I corrected them. Now, they love the language and speak it well. I am sure they will be happy now and I am proud that I forced it on them.
What role does mother tongue play in the development of native intelligence?
Every language is attached to a culture of those who speak it. If you don’t understand the language, you cannot know the culture. Culture is equally attached to intelligence, so it’s a sequence that must not break.
Saworo ide is a film that many people love because it shows how leaders can be power drunk and the likely consequence on the society and leaders involved. Is the film related to a particular time in Nigerian history?
The film is a product of deep thinking and good planning with Kelani. The public can make judgement about its relativity with Nigerian history at a particular time. The truth is there was power and what was done with it. I cannot tell people what to look out for in it. Lagos people loved the film and trooped to the cinema to watch it. Tinubu called Kelani after the production and gave him gift. With good thinking, Yoruba films can go places.
You said you just finished production of another film. At 73, when will you retire?
I don’t know. I am still strong so I still have a lot to offer the society.
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