Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye and Dr. Eric Anchimbe on Nigerian Proverbs
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Abstract
- Abstract
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In this latest episode of Cluster Conversations, Associate Professor Dr. Eric Anchimbe sits down with Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Lagos and a 2025 fellow at the Bayreuth Academy. Together, they delve into the evolving world of Nigerian proverbs and explore how younger generations are remixing and reinterpreting these age-old sayings to reflect today’s social realities.
From the streets to social media, from tradition to satire, this conversation examines how language evolves with culture. Ademola-Adeoye unpacks the creative ways Gen Z is turning conventional wisdom on its head – sometimes humorously, sometimes critically – to challenge inherited norms and speak to current struggles. But why are today’s youth giving grandma’s proverbs a modern twist? What does it say about shifting values, hardship, and identity in contemporary Nigeria? And can a proverb still guide us if it’s been reimagined on Instagram?
Tune in for a lively and insightful exchange, including a few post-proverbials you won’t forget.
People & roles
Origins & context
- Title
- Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye and Dr. Eric Anchimbe on Nigerian Proverbs
- Language
- English
- Podcast series
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Cluster Conversations
- Date
- August 8, 2025
Rights & access
- Extent
- 39 minutes, 55 seconds
Identifiers & sources
Further details
- Episode number
- 32
Full text
- Transcript
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[music]
Speaker 1: Cluster Conversations, a podcast by Africa Multiple.
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to this episode of Cluster Conversations, a podcast of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence here at the University of Bayreuth. It's a pleasure to welcome you again. My name is Eric Anchiembe. I am a linguist in the Department of English Linguistics, Principal Investigator with the Africa Multiple Cluster, BIKSAS and the Institute of African Studies. In this edition of our podcast Cluster Conversations, I'm happy to welcome Dr. Femi Ademola Adeoye from the University of Lagos, one of our African cluster centers in Nigeria. Welcome, Dr. Ademola Adeoye.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Prof, for inviting me.
Speaker 1: It's a pleasure to have you here. Before we go on to talk about your project and the time you spent here as a fellow of the Bayreuth Academy on the cluster, I would like to say a few things about you, if you permit. Dr. Ademola Adeoye is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies at the University of Lagos. She is not new here in Bayreuth. She has been here quite a few times under the framework of the cluster, also the Institute of African Studies and also other research projects that she has been involved in here. She did her PhD in linguistics, especially African linguistics, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. And she has been into the academia for the past thirty years doing so many things ranging from teaching, mentoring graduate students and leading projects in the areas of syntax, phonetics, digital humanities, gender studies and very recently cultural linguistics which is the domain within which we have her current project here. Besides research, she has also held a lot of leadership roles. She has been Sub Dean in the Faculty of Arts. She has coordinated, she has been coordinator of the Postgraduate Research Programme in the same university and she has been involved in shaping policies at the University of Lagos Senate. On the global platform, she has also been very active collaborating with scholars across Africa, in Kenya for instance, in the US, in Canada and also in Germany where she is also a member of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence here at the University of Bayreuth. As far as publications are concerned, she has published very wide in many journals in syntax, which is her original research focus even though she has moved further from that in the latest research. She has presented in conferences all over the world. I can't start mentioning them now. And one of her very recent research foci is pre-bachelorization. That's not the topic of our talk today but at some point I hope we'll be able to talk on that with you. Okay, after that introduction, I want to ask you to get strapped in so that we can go on to talk with Femi on her current topic which is normative disruptions in the linguistic transition of some Nigerian proverbs. This is nothing like syntax, nothing like phonetics, nothing like digital humanities in the past that you've been involved with. If I may ask, what really inspired you to carry out this research on proverbs in Nigeria?
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Prof. And let me start by saying thank you to the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at Bayreuth for granting me this fellowship. And I want to say thanks, a big thanks to you for agreeing to be my fellow, sorry, my host.
Speaker 1: Well, I wasn't alone. I'm with Doris Loew. I forgot to mention that. Thanks Doris for hosting Femi too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So thank you to you and Doris Loew for agreeing to be my hosts and for ensuring that I've had a very productive and exciting time in Bayreuth. So well, you asked what inspired this research on Nigerian proverbs. Exactly. Yeah. So well, the study was born out of curiosity about whether proverbs, that is those wise old sayings we often quote still hold the same meaning today as they did in the past. You know, we tend to treat proverbs like sacred truths handed down by our ancestors but this research asks, are they really that fixed or are people, especially the younger generation changing them, remixing them and maybe...
Speaker 1: Even poking fun at them. So it's a deep dive into how our society evolves through language.
Speaker 2: Oh okay. So you, from that, so the focus is basically on the youths trying to re fix, remix and perhaps change age old proverbs, right?
Speaker 1: Yes. That's the idea.
Speaker 2: Okay. So normative disruptions, this sound sounds a bit intense. It's like there's some conscious and forceful disruption of an order that is existing. What what do you really mean by this?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does sound intense, right? But it's actually quite relatable. Normative disruptions just means when traditional values or norms, especially the ones packed into proverbs, are challenged, twisted or totally reinterpreted. Imagine taking an old Yoruba proverb and adding a funny modern twist to it that reflects today's economic struggle or street wisdom. That's disruption. It's like giving grandma's wisdom a Gen Z makeover.
Speaker 2: So this is a Gen Z problem, should I call it a problem? Should I say oh, it's a Gen Z way of putting their own Gen Z wisdom on the old proverbs of the old.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: But collecting such proverbs would be pretty difficult. I know if you want to collect proverbs, you normally go to old people in the villages, those who serve as archives and libraries of our languages. How did you go about collecting these ones?
Speaker 1: Great question. Well, I used a qualitative approach which basically means I focused on depth over numbers. I did textual analysis, digging through literature as well as the media, media meaning radio, social media, newspapers, et cetera, and everyday conversations to find proverbs in action. Then I interviewed a wide range of people, elders, young folks, men, women across different communities. And in total, I examined about sixty proverbs from Yoruba, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin. Half traditional, half contemporary. Then I broke them down to study what's changing, what's staying and why.
Speaker 2: Oh okay. So you collected proverbs in Yoruba. I know you speak Yoruba very as a native language, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin. Did you find any relations between these three where they're proverbs that existed in all three languages?
Speaker 1: Yeah, sometimes you have overlaps. Well, I can tell you like, I can say that there was a particular proverb in Yoruba, Afá njo no enbèri ìrùmọ́bọ̀. That is a Muslim cleric is getting, he's burning, he's on fire and you're asking what happened to his beard. There is a corollary in, I mean a similar one in Igbo. But in this case, the only difference is, if I may translate, it says the priest is on fire and you're asking about the priest's beard.
Speaker 2: Whether the beard got burnt.
Speaker 1: Whether the beard got burnt. I mean like, I mean, what kind of question is that? The person is on fire for crying out loud. All right. So I mean, why are you focusing on the irrelevant? What's the point? So but the only difference now is whereas in the Yoruba one, you have, they're talking about the Muslim cleric. In the Igbo one, it says the priest. And I think that difference has to do with the fact that in Yorubaland, we have a mix of Muslims as well as Christians and a lot of Yoruba people are actually Muslims. So it's not surprising that you would have a Yoruba proverb that would borrow something from, you know, an idea from the Islamic world. Whereas a lot of Igbo are Catholics. So you see where this...
Speaker 1: worldviews are being imposed in local proverbs.
Speaker 2: That's a very interesting perspective, especially given that both Igbo and Yoruba actually focus more on the beard of the cleric and the priest. Um, I don't remember seeing so many clerics and priests out there donning a long beard that would be the interest of someone who is on fire.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: Okay, from these two or this example across languages, maybe let's talk about um the changes that are taking place here uh and we're talking about Gen Z, the younger people. Are these just jokes or is there more to what they're doing with the proverbs?
Speaker 1: Oh, there is a lot more to it. Sure, some of these new proverbs are funny. Like the twist on 'A child who washes their hands will eat with elders'. That is Omotobamowo we. That's the Yoruba, I'm trying to tell you the Yoruba form. It says Omotosoba mowo we abagbadjeun. That is, 'A child who washes their hands will eat', you know, with the elders. Now, this proverb has been reconstituted by the addition of 'provided the elder has food to eat in these hard times.' Now, that's comic realism right there. But beyond the jokes, these changes reflect real shifts in values, culture and experience. People are using new proverbs to talk about poverty, hustle culture, even mistrust of elders or institutions. It's serious stuff wrapped in wit and wordplay.
Speaker 2: Oh okay. Um where, if I may ask, where did you get this proverb? Was it from a young person talking in a radio program, on YouTube, on Facebook, on uh I don't know X? Do you remember where you picked this?
Speaker 1: Interesting question. This particular proverb I think I got from um a skit maker on Instagram.
Speaker 2: Oh okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And you actually have a picture of this young man disguised, you know, as an old man, you know, washing his hands in a bowl of water. Just to depict what he was trying to say that oh, if a young chap knows how to wash his hands well, that chap will be able to eat with the elders. That's in the olden days. These days, even the elders don't have enough food to eat, let alone, you know, asking a young person to come and eat, you know, so.
Speaker 2: Okay. Well, this sounds like a joke, but this is actually a critique of the social system now. Absolutely. Um, the problem of poverty. Young people need food and the old people who were supposed to be the providers of this food don't even have food to eat themselves. That's the point. Good. Um, proverbs of course are just sayings. They don't do much. Why do you think this is really important at this time, especially given the hardship that this previous proverb makes reference to?
Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing. Proverbs aren't just sayings. They are carriers of culture, morality and ancestral knowledge. But when society changes, as it always does, our wisdom must evolve too. So this research is important because it challenges the idea that old proverbs are untouchable. It says, hey, maybe the old truths need rethinking. Maybe we need, maybe new voices, especially from the younger, urban or marginalised groups, are creating a new kind of wisdom that fits today's Nigeria. So it's just trying to challenge the old idea that proverbs are fixed and they've been handed down from generation to generation and nobody can touch it. But we see these youngsters trying to tweak these proverbs and then give them new meanings in order to be able to reflect their current realities.
Speaker 2: Okay. Uh Chinua Achebe, I remember his Igbo, he he has this very famous proverb in Things Fall Apart which says, 'Proverbs are the oil with which words are eaten.' Does it still hold true, true for these proverbs by the Gen Z?
Speaker 1: I believe so because, um, the idea that proverbs are the... oil with which words are eaten. It means that proverbs guide us. They, you know, they lead our discussions, especially amongst the Yoruba people who use proverbs a lot. I I don't think an elder can say anything without using, you know, a proverb.
Speaker 1: A related, a relevant proverb to support whatever he's trying to say. So when you want to drive home an important, you know, point, you look for a relevant proverb, you know, to drive home the point. So, in these days when a lot of the young people are getting carried away by the fake lives of people on the Instagram and all that, you see them coming, the young ones coming up, you know, with relevant, what's it called, proverbs, to show that don't follow what they're saying. You know, don't follow what's happening on the Instagram. Why don't you do your own thing? You know, live within your means. So you see proverbs like that, they come up with certain proverbs to, you know, they retweak even some old ones, you know, to show that, no, no, you don't have to do what everybody is doing, you know, just do your own thing and live within your means.
Speaker 2: Okay. I guess you have a huge bag of proverbs with you. We're going to dig into that sometimes. But if I get you properly, so these young people with their very, very catchy proverbs, they're actually helping conversation move forward. They're helping society make its point in the same way the old proverbs would do. So, but they are doing this by actually modifying the proverbs, some of them, into what you refer to as post-proverbials. How are these actually different from the traditional proverbs?
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for that question. Now, a post-proverbial is a creative rephrasing or reconstruction of a traditional proverb, often done humorously or critically to reflect new social realities. While traditional proverbs are fixed expressions with cultural weight, post-proverbials are flexible and often serve modern individualistic or satirical functions. So for example, 'Eni ti o ji si oko tu ko arai yoku logbo' – that's a Yoruba proverb, and it means, 'He who falls into a pit is a lesson to others.' This is a classic. But the reimagined version says, 'Eni to jin si oko tu o du elu fo,' that is, 'He who falls into a pit is just blind.' So it's blunt, it's logical, and it reflects a generation that doesn't romanticize suffering. You know, so unlike in the olden days, oh, if you fall, you are just, you know, teaching others not to fall, how not to fall, or so that you cannot, so that you don't fall again. The new generation says, it's because you're blind, you need to keep your eyes, in fact, they say, keep your eyes peeled. So they don't romanticize anything. They say it as it is.
Speaker 2: Okay. So, they won't forgive the first person who falls into the pit, but they blame that person for not seeing the pit in the first place. That makes sense, doesn't it? Given that today, as compared to thirty years ago, you can find anything you need almost instantly on the internet. You can make calls to ask people for information. This somehow makes sense, right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does.
Speaker 2: And the question next is, you say these post-proverbials are generally humorous. Would you consider this one humorous?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. Even though, of course, I mean, it may sound harsh, but it's actually humorous. Because it's like, it's in stark contrast to what the older generation is actually used to. They are more subtle at things like this, but these ones are not, they are not going to spare anybody. And like you rightly said, they have a lot of things at their disposal. So you don't have excuses. You don't have to make any excuses for not knowing what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 2: Okay. We've had two proverbs now. Are there any other ones that capture the heart of this study?
Speaker 1: Absolutely. One of my favorites is the Yoruba proverb, 'Bi e kumba pe da le kon aliyombo luro,' and this means, 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.'
Speaker 2: Oh, that is a bit familiar. Isn't that from the Bible?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It's from the Bible. So, but the reimagined version says, 'Bi e kumba pe da le e ba gboro tele asapu,' which means, 'Weeping may endure for a night, eba, which is the kind of food that we eat in Nigeria, the staple in Nigeria, eba must follow the weeping ASAP, that is promptly.'
Speaker 2: As soon as possible.
Speaker 1: As soon as possible, eba must follow.
Speaker 2: Meaning if you spend the whole night crying, you'll definitely be hungry by the morning.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely. So the original proverb is biblical.
Speaker 1: Like you rightly pointed out, and it's from Psalm thirty verse five, which says, 'weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.' Now, the comic reconstruction shows that biblical texts in Nigeria function like indigenous proverbs. And this reflects a hybrid proverb culture where sacred and traditional wisdom blend and are subject to humorous adaptation. So biblical proverbs like traditional ones undergo recomposition and recontextualization. So the phrase 'a bag bold doctor le asapu' parodies the cultural norm of serving food at funerals or mourning events. And it critiques prioritisation of hospitality and social obligations over emotional expression. So the reconstruction exposes Nigerian pragmatism—that is, grief is incomplete without feeding guests.
Speaker 2: Ah, I get it. Yeah. So somehow it is satire on mourning, which is always entangled with material expectations. Absolutely. I've attended a few Nigerian funerals and they're really, really exorbitant. In first, the extent to which the mourning takes place, and the extent to which the feeding afterwards takes place. But before we continue, why would this—why would you consider this a Yoruba proverb if it's actually just translated from a Bible verse?
Speaker 1: It's still—it's said in Yoruba. Okay. Um, and even though it's not traditional to us, but it tells you—I mean, it shows you how, you know, we tend to blend tradition and—you know—Christian religion. Because a lot of, like I said, many Yorubas are also, you know, Christians. And so you see the influence of both their traditional background, their Yoruba background, and their Christian background, you know, coming into play even when they're making these skits. So there's a kind of—it's—the lines are already blurred. So sometimes you forget that this is not even a traditional proverb, that this is a proverb from, you know, another religion or, you know, from Christianity or maybe a proverb from, you know, Islam or something like that. So there's a mixture, there's a potpourri of, you know, ideas, you know, from the different experiences of the people who are involved in making these skits.
Speaker 2: Ah, but if you look at it from another perspective, this reconstruction actually indigenizes it into the Yoruba custom and culture by adding that even after mourning through the night, there has to be food—we still have to eat in the morning—which is what happens at, um, the example with, with, um, funerals and burials where there is the sad part of mourning and then saying goodbye to a loved one, burying them, and then after that, we have to take care of ourselves by actually eating.
Speaker 1: Eating absolutely. But I must also point out that this kind of eating usually takes place when the person being buried is an elderly person. Oh. So we say okay—so if you say somebody has died at the age of ninety, oh, you say it's a glorious exit. Exactly. Yeah. So of course, it's something that calls for celebration—or they say it's celebration of life. So in fact, some of the posters, you know, of the departed person made for the departed person would have on top of it, um, 'glorious exit' or, um, um, what's it called—what's it called again? Um, I've forgotten the other one.
Speaker 2: Not gone too early.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not gone too early. The opposite is gone too early, but you know, 'glorious exit,' you know, and stuffs like that. So it's—it's something that calls for celebration. So naturally, even though you will still cry, you know, when the person is being laid into, you know, laid to rest, maybe the casket is being lowered, but after the low—after the crying, people expect to be fed. No matter how much you cry, you still have to eat afterwards anyway. So you see the—the pragmatism of the entire thing. And this particular reconstruction, you know, puts a kind of focus on that—that yes, we may mourn, but after the mourning, there must be eating and celebration.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Uh, I would like to find myself in the celebration part of this proverb. All right. Um, do these proverbs also serve uh some form of social commentary?
Speaker 1: Well...
Speaker 1: Of course they do serve as a form of social commentary. Now the proverb, that particular one uses humour. The one that I just talked about, Bia Kumba Podale et ba bodo tele asap. The proverb uses humour to critique and reframe social behaviours while linking sorrow with food and questioning the sincerity of grief. So it also suggests that communal eating becomes part of the emotional response to loss. You know, it's a kind of bonding, you know, for everyone when after you have done the burial, then we all come together and then we eat together. Now there is also cultural irony and materialism that is highlighted in that particular reconstruction. The comic twist reflects the dominance of material needs like food over spiritual messages and it highlights an ironic tension. Sacred messages are repurposed for humour and material commentary. And it suggests that economic realities and cultural humour influence how meaning is constructed today in Nigeria.
Speaker 2: Um, those were proverbs in Yoruba. We've also talked about one in Igbo. Pidgin is a very, very popular lingua franca in Nigeria. It cuts across ethnic boundaries, Yoruba, Igbo and so forth. I know you have some interesting proverbs in pidgin. Can you bring some to the front and let us hear what they say?
Speaker 1: Yeah, one that, a particular one that comes to mind is the one that says, who dey punch, no dey select toilet. Who dey punch, no dey select toilet. Which means, a person suffering from diarrhoea cannot afford to be picky about which toilets to use. So when someone is in a desperate or urgent situation, they have no luxury or choice or preference. That's the meaning, that's the interpretation. So this pidgin English proverb highlights how pressing circumstances strip people of pride, standards or selective behaviour. It can also be a humorous but sharp commentary on humility born out of necessity. This proverb uses graphic, relatable imagery to drive home its point. The humour is earthy and direct, using a biological metaphor that everyone understands to explain urgency and humility.
Speaker 2: Okay, this one is, everyone can relate to this because going around with a runny stomach is not very nice. It's not a pleasant thing. So you just want to get to the nearest toilet to relieve yourself. Is there any other one, especially one that has to do with food? We've talked about food already. Is there any one in pidgin that has to do with food? I remember one about garri and cassava.
Speaker 1: Ah, what was it about garri and cassava? End up being garri.
Speaker 2: Yes, how that...
Speaker 1: Hmm, if... Cassava today, become garri tomorrow. Yes, cassava, I mean, of course you know cassava is a type of tuber. So yes, you may be cassava today, but that same cassava can become garri tomorrow. In other words, there is no condition that is permanent. So you may be down today, but tomorrow you may have a change of fortune and then you become, you know, a better person. So I mean, that particular proverb can be interpreted both ways. I mean, as a positive thing or as a negative thing. Because again, like somebody, like a colleague that I was discussing about this particular proverb and he said, for instance, if a rich man is driving his beautiful car on the road and then splashes water on a pedestrian and he doesn't really give a hoot about what has happened. The pedestrian that has been offended can say to the rich man, cassava today, fibi garri tomorrow. In other words, there is no condition that is permanent. I may be the one, you know, on foot today, but tomorrow you never know, you might be the one in my position. So roles can easily change. And then, you know, we're also thinking about, you know, a similar proverb or something, a saying that remembers those, you know, you meet on your way.
Speaker 1: up, so that when you're on your way down, they will be nice to you. I mean, so you need to be careful how you treat people when you're on your way up, so that when you, if for any reason you have, you know, a change of fortune and you go down, you're going to meet those same people. But if you have treated them badly, then you are most likely going to also get a bad treatment. So that, I mean, those are, I mean like even though one is in English, the other one is in pidgin, but the idea is basically the same. The meaning and interpretations are actually similar.
Speaker 2: Okay, for our listeners who don't have the background in food in Nigeria and West Africa, cassava is actually the tuber that is grown and then harvested, peeled, ground and then left to ferment before it's fried to become garri. And garri could be cooked in the form of fufu, as we would say it, and then eweba as well, into eweba if you use the Yoruba term for it, and then it's eaten with a sauce. My question is, is it better to be garri or to be cassava, the tuber that is...
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Ah gosh. I don't know. At some point, you will be cassava. And at another point, you could be garri. That's the point because there's no condition that is permanent. There's nothing that is static in life. There's no, I mean, the only constant thing about life is change. So things change. So there's no permanent situation. I mean, yeah, that's how life is.
Speaker 2: Okay. You can see we've been laughing about these proverbs. They could be humorous, their reconstructions. And the question I ask is, is there still some moral or educative value behind them?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, yes. Even when these proverbs are comic, post-proverbials often critique irresponsible behavior and question fake lifestyles and highlight contradictions in society. I already said that before. And so, I'll give you an example. The Yoruba proverb that says kari kapo yi ye loon yeeni, that is walking in a group brings honor. This particular proverb values unity, solidarity and collaboration. And it implies that collective action enhances one's dignity and visibility. Now, the reconstructed version says kari kapo bi si lumandale, meaning walking in a group brings debt. It brings debt.
Speaker 2: How is that possible?
Speaker 1: Oh, because, I mean, when you're going together with everybody, I mean, you're just following the crowd. For instance, you want to go and buy something in a supermarket or in a shop. And you have limited resources. And you are saying, oh, let me bring along my friends because walking in multitude, you know, brings honor. Forgetting that you have limited resources. When you get to that, and the friends don't have money either. Now, when you get to that shop, what happens? Do you want to go into debt? Because you won't want to, but you don't obviously you won't want to spend money on yourself alone. Now, at that point, you might be tempted to now bring out, you know, a credit card and begin to spend money that you don't have. And so this kind of reconstructed, you know, version kind of pokes fun at blind collectivism. So it criticizes scenarios where people follow social norms or join groups without financial readiness and which results in personal debts. So it's a commentary on the pressure to conform to cultural expectations without evaluating personal capacity.
Speaker 2: I see. Yeah. Okay. It's like going blindly into a ditch. You don't have to blame the rest of the crowd, you blame yourself.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: According to your data, you collected a lot online on Instagram. Why do you think Yoruba is the main language of these reconstructed proverbs and these online skits, the ones on Instagram and so forth?
Speaker 1: Beautiful question. Now, Yoruba culture is proverb-rich. We use a lot of proverbs in Yoruba. And the language is metaphorical. It is rhythmic and expressive. It lends itself well to wordplay and layered humor, especially when mixed with English or Nigerian Pidgin English. And let's not forget, Lagos is city of over seventeen million people.
Speaker 1: It is not just Nigeria's commercial powerhouse. It is also the heart of the country's entertainment scene. And since it's right in the middle of Yoruba land, it's no surprise that Yoruba shows up as the main language, as the main language in a lot of the comedy skits. So it's natural, I mean. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Is it just, could it also be that the Yoruba Gen Z are more active online than perhaps others?
Speaker 1: I think a number of these skit makers are also Igbo.
Speaker 2: But they use Yoruba proverbs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they use or mixed with Nigerian Pidgin. Haven't you noticed also that a lot of singers, popular music, pop music, Afrobeat, a lot of them code switch between Pidgin English and Yoruba even when they're not Yorubas. For instance, Burna Boy, he's from Port Harcourt. That's from the southern south part of Nigeria.
Speaker 2: And what's the main language there?
Speaker 1: The main language is probably Ijaw or something like that, Ikwerre or whatever. Okay. It's definitely it's not Yoruba. But you see him sing a lot of, I mean, he uses a lot of Yoruba slang, you know, slang words, you know, Yoruba expressions in his songs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Having read a lot of Chinua Achebe, being from Cameroon myself, I thought Igbo had quite a lot of proverbs, but now with Yoruba having even more, that shows that African languages, Nigerian languages are really, really rich. Okay, if we come back to the topic of disruptions, what do you think are these disruptions by these young people a sign of cultural decay or just a form of natural transformation?
Speaker 1: Thank you. Now, they are signs of cultural transformation, not decay. Language and proverbs evolve with society. The creative reworking shows that the tradition is alive, not dead. So it's not something that, I mean, like the youths are not saying they want to jettison everything about the past. They're just asking for, you know, a reconstruction. They are asking that okay, this old proverbs be made to reflect their lives, you know, as these lives are right now.
Speaker 2: Okay. And this brings me to a very interesting point. Proverbs, as you said earlier, are generally linked with old people. Do you think the old people we have now, I am not talking on their behalf, do you think they are happy with the young people doing this to the proverbs, or are they jealous or are they completely angry with these young people for messing up, excuse me, the term, their proverbs?
Speaker 1: Well, some are shocked and scandalized. But some that are, you know, that are enlightened, especially the linguists, the, some linguists, not all linguists, some linguists, traditionalists who understand, you know, academics who are also like, who are versed in the knowledge of, you know, proverbs also understand the need for some of these proverbs to be reconstructed. So it's not that everybody is unhappy about it. A lot of the most of the time they find those reconstructed proverbs humorous. And they are also hoping sometimes that they will fizzle out because, you know, they hope that they can hold on to their old proverbs as they are. But the only constant thing, like I say, is, you know, about life is change. Things change. You know, so you'll find out that the proverbs that were in existence, you know, like maybe two or three hundred years ago, you know, were not, are not the same as, yeah, so are not the same as what we have today. Yeah. And I believe that in another twenty thirty years, you will still have further changes. So, I believe these transformations will continue and over time, even the skeptics will begin to accept them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you ask my opinion, I would say they shouldn't actually fizzle out, especially the very captivating ones like morning may endure through the night, but in the morning there is food after. Okay. I hope at some point you would interview the old people and ask their opinion about this, and you'll be able to report back to us. Thank you. We'll do that. I think we've covered quite a lot for today. I thank you very much Dr Ademola Adeyeye for taking time off these three months you've spent with us this summer semester twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: To talk to us about your project, your current research. I wish you the best in this project. Also thank Doris Low with whom we hosted you here in Beirut for all what we were able to achieve in this time.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: And ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of this episode. We invite you to listen to the next coming up soon. Goodbye.
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