Yoruba is a language spoken in West Africa,primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 44 million,plus about 2 million second-language speakers. As a pluricentric language,it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria,Benin,and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Côte d'Ivoire,Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. As of the 2006 census,it had a population of 777,667,making it the 7th largest city by population in Nigeria. Surrounding the historic central district with its traditional single-story red-mud houses with thatched straw roofs and numerous mosques,all protected by a mud wall,the modern city is an industrial,commercial,and educational centre.
Kwara State is a state in Western Nigeria,bordered to the east by Kogi State,to the north by Niger state,and to the south by Ekiti,Osun,and Oyo states,while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin Republic. Its capital is the city of Ilorin and the state has 16 local government areas.
In linguistics,upstep is a phonemic or phonetic upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language. It is best known in the tonal languages of Sub-Saharan Africa. Upstep is a much rarer phenomenon than its counterpart,downstep.
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English,which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin –an English-based creole –is spoken by 30 million people in Nigeria.
University of Ilorin,also known as Unilorin,is a federal government-owned university in Ilorin,Kwara State,Nigeria. It was established by a decree of the federal military government in August,1975. The establishment aimed to implement one of the educational directives of the Third National Development Plan,which was aimed at providing more opportunities for Nigerians aspiring to acquire university education and to generate high-level manpower,which is vital for the rapidly expanding economy. Compared to other higher institutions of learning in the country,the institution has one of the largest land areas,covering approximately 15,000 hectares of land. It is reported by Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) to be the most sought-after Nigerian university in 2021. And again in 2023,it was announced by the JAMB Head,Professor Ishaq Oloyede to be the sought-after University,for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME),making it for the 10th consecutive year.
The Volta–Niger family of languages,also known as West Benue–Congo or East Kwa,is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family,with perhaps 70 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria,Benin,Togo,and southeast Ghana:Yoruba,Igbo,Bini,and Gbe.
Akpes (Àbèsàbèsì) is an endangered language of Nigeria. It is spoken by approximately 7,000 speakers in the North of Ondo State. The language is surrounded by several other languages of the Akoko area,where Yoruba is the lingua franca. Yoruba replaces Akpes in more and more informal domains and thus forwards a gradual shift from Akpes towards Yoruba. Akpes is generally attributed to the Volta-Congo Branch of the Niger-Congo phylum.
Ulukwumi,also known as Olùkùmi,is a Yoruboid language spoken by the Olukumi people of Aniocha North LGA,Delta State,Nigeria.
Ishaq Olarewaju Oloyede FNAL is a Nigerian professor of Islamic Studies,and academic. He is a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin,Nigeria,and the current registrar and chief executive of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Mojeed Olujinmi Alabi is a Nigeria politician,lawyer,university teacher,and dual faculty Professor in the Department of Political Science and Professor in the Department of Public Law and International Law of the Osun State University,Nigeria. He holds bachelor,master and doctoral degrees in each of political science and law. He was a Member of the House of Representatives,June 2015 - June 2019,to represent Ede Federal constituency Ede North,Ede South,Egbedore and Ejigbo L.Gs on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is at present a Professor in the Department of Public and International Law and holds a concurrent chair as Professor of Political Science,both at the Osun State University,Nigeria. He is also the Provost of the College of Law
Abdul Ganiyu Ambali is a Nigerian academic,administrator and former vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin. Ambali was also former chairman of the Association of West African Universities (AWAU),and a recipient of one of Nigeria's highest honours,CON.
Akin Odebunmi is a Yoruba Nigerian Professor of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis in the Department of English,University of Ibadan. Born on December 21,1967,he is a widely traveled scholar in pragmatics and intercultural studies.
Tayo Lamidi is a Nigerian academic. He is the professor of Generative Syntax and Contact Linguistics at the Department of English,University of Ibadan. He is one of Nigeria's notable generative syntacticians.
Mufutau Oloyede Abdul-Rahmon is a Nigerian professor of Arabic and Islamic studies. He is from Ile-Ogbo,Aiyedire Local Government Area of Osun State,Nigeria.
Olakunbi Ojuolape Olasope is a Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She is an expert on Roman social history,Greek and Roman theatre,and Yoruba classical performance culture. Olasope is known in particular for her work on the reception of classical drama in West Africa,especially the work of the Nigerian dramatist Femi Osofisan.
LáwuyìÒgúnníran was a Nigerian playwright who authored several works in the Yoruba language. His play,Eégún Aláré,is a widely acclaimed work,and is a required text for Yorùbáliterature classes in many Nigerian secondary schools.
Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Nigerian professor of Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics. He is the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Pategi University,Patigi in Nigeria,a Fulbright scholar,former Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies of the University of Ilorin,an ex-member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association and a cultural ambassador to the US under the Institute of International Education (IIE),New York.
Jeleel Olasunkanmi Ojuade is Nigerian professor of dance studies,first Yoruba Professor of Dance in Nigeria and the Vice-Chancellor of the Crown-Hill University,Ilorin since January 2023.
Imelda Icheji Lawrence Udoh is a Professor of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages of the Faculty of Arts,University of Uyo,Nigeria. She serves as the President of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN). She is also a life member and Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. She is a DAAD alumnus and has served as Head of Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages from 2010 to 2014,as Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2010 to 2013,and Deputy Director,School of Continuing Education (2015–2016) of the University. She noted in her research that "Nigerian local languages seem to appear dying in particular areas,but still flourishing in others". Udoh advocated for the protection of these indigenous languages while delivering the 81st Inaugural Lecture of the University of Uyo. Udoh is also a Member of Council of the West African Linguistic Society. A festschrift was organized in her honour in 2019.
