Senator Ede Dafinone (Delta Central) has urged parents to teach their children the Urhobo language to prevent it from becoming extinct in the near future.
The lawmaker stated this at the grand finale of the Urhobo Language Competition, initiated by the late Senator Pius Ehwerido and sponsored by Senator Dafinone in collaboration with the Urhobo Studies Association, USA.
The event on Saturday at the 500 Capacity Hall at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State attracted Urhobos from the 24 kingdoms and from different strata of the society.
In the keen contest, Onoji Ogheneruona, a student of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, won Senator Pius Akpor Ehwerido Prize of N500,000.00.
The second and third of N300,000.00 and N200,000.00 were won by Miss Izobo Favour and Miss Urhobe Onome, respectively, while seven other contestants received consolation cash prizes of N100,000.00 each.
Dafinone represented by Chief Tuesday Onoge, the former first Deputy President-General of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, stressed why Urhobo nation should not allow its language to die out, adding that language is a people identity, and when lost, the people are lost.
According to him: “This Urhobo language competition is a remarkable initiative. Some of the world’s top scientists learned science in their native languages. For instance, the Japanese and Chinese studied science in their own languages, but in our part of the world, we were punished for speaking our mother tongue when the colonizers arrived,” he said.
He emphasised that teaching children in their native language aids better comprehension. “If you teach a child in a foreign language, you first have to teach them the language before you teach the subject. That becomes an obstacle to their learning.”
Dafinone expressed his satisfaction in the fact that the competition was not won by students studying Urhobo and Linguistic at Delta State University, Abraka, but by a student from the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun. “This will serve as a wake-up call for our children to learn Urhobo.”
Professor Roseline Aziza, Chairperson of the Urhobo Studies Association, USA, highlighted the importance of language to identity, stating, “Our languages are dying, and once a language dies, so does the identity of the people. Language sustains culture, teaching children about who they are, how they behave, and what they value.”
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Aziza stressed that Urhobo, like other minority languages, is at risk of extinction, adding that the competition was initiated by the late Senator Pius Ehwerido in 2012. However, after his death, the competition was neglected until Senator Dafinone revived it.
The competition consisted of three stages: an online registration followed by exams at centers including Urhobo College and Delta State University. Fifty students progressed to the second stage, which tested reading and writing comprehension. Ten finalists were selected from this pool.
Onoji Ogheneruona, the overall winner, expressed gratitude: “I didn’t prepare much for the competition, but when the call came, I decided to give it a try. I had won a previous Urhobo language competition sponsored by former Ughelli North Council Chairman, Hon. Godwin Adode, and I took this as another opportunity to do my best. I thank Senator Dafinone for this opportunity.”
