| Harrison Adeniyi | Lagos State University |
Harrison Rotimi ADENIYI, a Senior lecturer, teaches Yoruba and Linguistics at the Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria. He possess the B. A.; M A and Master of Philosophy in General Linguistics at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He also has a certificate of completion of study in African Languages from the National African Language Resource Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
He taught briefly at the universities of Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria before he finally settled down at the Department of African Languages, Literatures and Communication Arts, Lagos State University, Nigeria in January 1990.
His research interests involve phonology, morphology and their interface. Some of these include; Vowel Harmony in Ekiti Dialect; Phrasal Morphology: A Case of Yoruba Names; Ilo – Ede Ati Eda – Ede Yoruba: Apa Kiini and Apa Keji; Dialects and Languages of Lagos State; and Morphology as a style in the Yoruba Novels. He is a member of both local and international professional associations, including Linguistics Association of Nigeria; West African Language Congress; African Languages Association of Southern Africa; and the World Congress on African Linguistics among numerous others. He is also at present the General Secretary of the American Studies Association of Nigeria, Lagos State University Chapter. He has presented at numerous conferences, including 22nd West African Languages Congress, University of Ghana, Legon, August 2000; 32nd Annual Conference on African Linguistics, University of California in Berkeley, March 2001; 33rd Annual Conference on African Linguistics, March 2002, Ohio University Athens, OH; and 6th African Language Teachers Association of America, March 2002, Ohio University, Athens, OH. He was a 2003 Summer Institute fellow of the National African Language Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was a guest lecturer at the African Studies Institute at the University of Georgia, Athens, in January 2003 where he presented a paper titled Names as Representation of Yoruba World – View. He is a member of the team in this same Institute presently working on Yoruba Online Project.
At Lagos State University, he was a member of the University SENATE between 1996 to 1999; a member of the SENATE Committee on University Library; member, Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee; Chairman, University Media Relations Committee between 2000 and 2002, Secretary, Faculty of Arts Lectures Committee among others. He is a member of the Nigerian Red Cross Society and the Rotary Club of Ojo, Nigeria.
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The Impact of U.S. Funds on the Development of Yoruba Studies |
The teaching of and research into Yoruba studies have become very widespread in the United States of America. Today, there are over 25 universities that are directly teaching Yoruba in the US. This is apart from other universities and allied institutions that research into all aspects of Yoruba life. The aim of this paper is to examine, critically, efforts made by the US government in encouraging Yoruba studies in its tertiary institutions by supporting (financially) trips, dissertations, fellowships, and researches in various dimensions, associations and agencies connected with Yoruba Studies. This will allow us to see how these support have spurred Yoruba studies. The paper will, among other things, attempt the reasons why the US government is spending millions of dollars every year on a language that is not so much cherished by the Nigerian government that should be custodian of the language. Although, Yoruba studies may include, among others, language, history, archeology, sociology, religions, music, anthropology, economics, but because of want of time and space, we will limit the scope of this paper to the support given to Yoruba language and literature. We intend to derive our data from various organizations connected to Yoruba studies like the US Department of Education, institutions where Yoruba language is taught, Directors of Programs in African Languages that included Yoruba in their curriculum, etc. Although, this is not a comparative work, we will, however, draw out some lessons which the Nigerian government that have shown much apathy to Yoruba studies (and other Nigerian languages) can learn from the efforts being made by the US government. |