"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain
HOD
Professor Philip Ogundeji
Welcome Address from the Head of Department
Welcome to the page of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, the pioneer of tertiary studies in Linguistics and Yoruba in Nigeria. Our mission is to equip students with relevant knowledge and skills to enable them contribute meaningfully to the developmental objectives of Nigeria using language as a tool.
Ours is one more formidable selection of academics in the Faculty of Arts: six professors, five senior lecturers, three lecturer I, a lecture II and two assistant lecturers. We have vast experience, international exposure and a penchant for training faculty for other departments and universities in Nigeria and beyond
The secretariat of the Yoruba Studies Association of Nigeria (YSAN) is situated in the department and the benniel Odunjo Memorial Lecture is domiciled here too. The present chair, Prof. Ogundeji, doubles as president of YSAN and chairman Organising Committee of the Odunjo Memorial Lectures. We have recently hosted the 24th Conference of West African Linguistics Society (WALS). The current president of WALS, Ben Elugbe, is a serving professor in our department.
We render support to society by offering services in translation and other language related areas. Recently the Department under the leadership of Prof. Kolawole Owolabi collaborated with other scholars to produce a Yoruba translation of the 1999 Nigerian National Constitution. As a sequel to this, the use of Yoruba language for business in Houses of Assembly in Yoruba speaking states is becoming the norm. Indeed, we are committed to the total emancipation of African indigenous languages.
At the undergraduate level, we award bachelors’ degrees in Linguistics, Yoruba and Igbo. Combined honours degrees are also awarded to candidates who choose to combine Linguistics, Yoruba or Igbo with other courses in the Faculty of Arts. We train candidates for M.A., M.Phil and doctoral degrees at the graduate level. Our programmes enjoy the full accreditation of the National Universities Commmission.
Thank you for visiting our page.
P.A. Ogundeji,
Professor and Head of Department
