BY CHIEF BOBSON GBINIJE
Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language, we have Jargons; instead of principles, slogans; and instead of genuine Ideas, bright ideas (Eric Bentley)
To lacerate the tentacles of communication blackout, developmental somnambulistic movements and cerebral Erebus every collectivity must have a language as a matrix and vehicle of communication. Hence, the essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) observed in his book Pygmalion that, “the English people have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like. It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other English man hate or despise him. This sordid scenario is being blatantly reenacted amongst the Okpe people in Okpe Kingdom of Delta State.
Existing statistical dermatological data shows that the Okpe people constitute the dialectical amalgam with the greatest numerical superiority amongst the Urhobo people of Delta State. They are believed to have migrated from the ancient Benin Kingdom down through Okpe-Olomu etc to their ancestral home of Orerokpe in 1170 AD. The Orodje of Okpe Kingdom is the monarchical Primus inter pares and the sacred traditional head of the Okpe people. They have four Ruling Houses (ADANE Okpe) from which the Orodje is selected, namely:- Orhue, Evwreke, Ororho and Esezi.
The Okpe people are a unique people with a distinct singular linguistic identity. Apart from the diasporic Okpe sons and daughters, they are spread into two local government areas-Sapele and Okpe Local Government Areas. Okpe Kingdom is littered with timber, rubber, oil, kaolin, minerals and cash crops in great commercial quantity. The Orodjeship is multidimensionally consolidated by the Odogun Okpe (Okpe Supreme Council) and the retinue of Chiefs (Okakuro-Ohovbore).
But it has been observed that the Okpe language which is the hallmark of Okpe civilization is now labyrinthined in the precipitous dungeon of Paleolithic extinction. The osmotic lethal pressure of the English language, refusal of the Okpe people to speak and learn the Okpe language, a dearth of books on Okpe language, official and educational gobbledygook and total disinterestedness and lameducking by the vast majority of the Okpe people has now precipitated the death-knell of the beautiful Okpe language.
A language is the system of communication in speech , symbols, sound, movements, computer and writing that is used by any group of people. Speech is the formation of sounds in meaningful sequence and it is concretized by the ability of the speaker to produce vocal units (phonemes) and use acquired language. The articulation of speech (correct phonation) in turn involves the co-ordination of complex neurological, anatomical and physiological apparatuses in the human body. Language distinguishes speech from mere utterances and the ability to give form to ideas, to share emotions and to express ones personality impacts to speech a dimension far beyond the mere vocalization of language.
Vocal production makes use of three systems; the phonetory system , including the larynx (voice-box) and its accompanying structures; the respiratory system, including the airways, muscles and nerves that support breathing, and the resonatory system, which is made up of the structures of the skull and the oral and nasal cavities and affects the acoustics of speech. The inability to use speech is known as ‘Aphasia and could be as a result of brain damage. But the inability to transform speech into language is known as Expressive Aphasia and the inability to express or comprehend language is known as Global Aphasia.
But, this is not what is wrong with the people of Okpe in their inability to speak the Okpe language. It is because there is wrong education, a hybrid of western bastardies, parental and institutional neglect of the Okpe language. Education in Okpe language will remove all the inhibitions that beset the use of the mother tongue and make it possible for an Okpe man to give free rein to his thoughts and express same in creative language, thus paving the way to meaningful education. It will free knowledge from the confines and preserves of microscopic elite that operate in foreign language to the disadvantage of the majority of Okpes.
A leading American psychologist, Jerome Brunner posited that man has the capability to receive and translate knowledge in a linguistic form. Language not only permits an enormous condensation of knowledge, but permits us to turn knowledge into hypothetical forms so that we may consider alternatives without having to act them in the form of trial and error. Every Okpe child has a right to be educated in Okpe language, it is a fundamental human right which is recognized in China, Japan, Slovakia, Russia and Spain etc.
The ability to speak and write Okpe language will give vent to spreading the language and rekindle a 21st renaissance in Okpe Kingdom and beyond. It will enhance a socio-economic, cultural and political resurgence in Okpe Kingdom. It will help spread and internationalize the Okpe civilization. Hence, the linguist Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) said the limits of my language means the limits of my world and the essayist Claude Strauss said in his book titled, The Savage World that, Language is a form of human reason and has its reasons which are unknown to man.
In the light of the above elucidatory adumbrations, it is now clear to all Okpes that there must be a revolution in the entrenchment, learning and teaching of Okpe language in Okpe Kingdom and beyond. We call for the compulsory teaching of Okpe language as an educational format from primary through secondary to tertiary levels in the Okpe nation and beyond. A situation where Okpe language is not taught in school in Okpe kingdom is unacceptable. We call on all Okpe parents to rekindle their interest and that of their children in Okpe language. We call on Okpe scholars to write books in Okpe language for this will help to stimulate interest.
The philological, orthographical, etymological and syntactical out lays of the Okpe language is very simple and easy. Those who see the language as deep and difficult (Okpe OKokodo) should do a rethink and go again to learn the language. We must commend the scholastic effort put in so far by Mr. A. E. Osubele in his Dictionary of Okpe Language and his drama piece ‘King Esezi I. We commend the effort of Dr. (Prince) I. S. Mebitaghan for his Book A Brief History of Okpe Kingdom. Professor Onigu Otite for his book The Urhobo People and the late Orodjo of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Orhoro I. for encouraging the speaking and writing of Okpe language. We must also commend the effort of Engr. B.O Ometan for his book t5itled “The life and Times of Chief George Brass Ometan etc.
We commend the present Orodje, HRM Orhue I for setting up a Cultural Committee, Think –Tank and group for the propagation, studying, speaking, writing and spreading of Okpe language and culture. He should launch a development fund for the establishment of an Okpe Museum, Library, Historical and Antiquities Hall, in Okpe kingdom. It is clear that principles are principles and they can only be transformed into pragmatic reality through the institutions of society and it’s peoples, otherwise they remain inert and useless. It is my firm conviction that in the Okpe language Revolution principles and practice will go hand in hand and it is the duty of all Okpes to bring this about.
Ekugbe Okpe! Orujiri Okpe Agbamine-Ororomu Okpe O miguonore, God Bless Okpe Kingdom. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ORDJE OF OKPE KINGDOM AS HE MARKS 8 YEARS ON THE THRONE and happy 8 YEARS ANNIVERSARY AND CELEBRATIONS (29th July, 2014) UMOGUN!!! WENE SUTOR.
CHIEF BOBSON GBINIJE
Mandate Against Poverty (MAP)
WARRI. 08023250378
