The United Nations warns that indigenous African languages are facing the danger of disappearing in the near future. In response to this, Kazeem Bello-Osagie, a graduate of law from the University of Benin, has taken up the mantle of preserving and propagating the Edo language. Despite being born in England and unable to speak his mother tongue, he founded EdoPride, an Instagram-based social media platform that promotes the culture and rich traditions of the Edo people.
Bello-Osagie believes that knowing, believing, and accepting one’s true identity is a vital virtue that any society should gift its people. He argues that, despite his limitations, his love for the Edo people and culture inspired him to embark on a journey to awaken the hearts and minds of both young and old people of Edo origin.
“I was told growing up that I couldn’t make an impact on my people because I was born in England and couldn’t speak my language,” says Bello-Osagie. “But we must not let others limit what we can achieve.”
“It will interest you to know that a captured German scientist after the Second World War, known as Wernher von Braun, led NASA’s development of the Saturn V rocket that took Apollo 11 to the Moon. We must as Africans have a global view and understand that limiting our minds or great minds, will always be detrimental to our growth as a continent.
“We must realise that the language or languages of a culture or cultures are but a means of expression and one of the many proponents of any culture. Holistically, culture may be that almost palpable system of beliefs that we become the essence of and that invisible fabric that keeps us intricately and inextricably bound as a people, running through our veins whether by nature or nurture,” adds Bello-Osagie.
Bello-Osagie emphasizes the importance of having a global view and understanding that limiting our minds and great minds will always hold back African growth as a continent. He explains that the language or languages of a culture are just means of expression and only one aspect of culture. Culture, he says, is a system of beliefs and the intangible fabric that binds a people, running through their veins.
In conclusion, Bello-Osagie’s efforts to preserve the Edo language serve as a reminder of the importance of preserving our cultural heritage and the role we all have to play in ensuring its continuation.
