Ofe Nne Ka Uto ( A Mother's Soup is More Delicious): Our Mother-Tongue and Literary Tradition Must Not Die
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Date
2023-02-15
Authors
Ikwubuzo, I.R
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Publisher
University of Lagos Press and Bookshop Limited
Abstract
Any time I reflect on my career as a scholar in Igbo Studies, two memorable experiences pop up in my mind. First, one day while I was in Primary 3, my two elder cousins in Primary 5, who could not read their Igbo examination paper well, decided to fetch me after my examination. They treated me like the Cricket whom the Tortoise, in an Igbo folktale, hired, concealed in a bag, and took to his father-in-Iaw's funeral ceremony to render melodious tunes to entertain the people while he (the Tortoise), feigning to be the singer, took the credit. My elder cousins had me sit quietly beside them (in a combined class examination hall) to read Igbo language questions for them, and they were very confident in my iv 1 --- ------ ---- ability to deliver. But why they had such confidence, I didn't know. Second, while in high school, my classmates sitting behind me would always point in my direction whenever our Igbo teacher wanted someone to read Igbo texts in the class as if it were my exclusive duty to do so. I did not know whether it was by design or destiny that I ended up studying Igbo at the university because I never at any time contemplated doing so.
Description
Ikwubuzo, I.R.O. (2023). Ofe Nne Ka Uto ( A Mother's Soup is More Delicious): Our Mother-Tongue and Literary Tradition Must Not Die. An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at the University of Lagos, Akoka
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Citation
Ikwubuzo, I.R.O. (2023). Ofe Nne Ka Uto ( A Mother's Soup is More Delicious): Our Mother-Tongue and Literary Tradition Must Not Die. An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at the University of Lagos, 64.