Scientist, linguist, and culture activist, Dr Tunde Adegbola, has lamented that the Yoruba language is now taught in English, expressed worry about how the Ifa practice is fading away, and expressed concern about how artificial intelligence (AI) is making people lazy.
The polymath made this known during a recent literary event in Ibadan tagged ‘The Polymath’s Journey: A Conversation on Humanity, Technology, and the Yoruba Worldview’, which was a prelude to the inaugural Ibadan Book and Arts Festival (IbaFest) scheduled for October 24–25, 2025.
In the course of the conversation, Adegbola reflected on his next phase in life, adding, “I pray that my health can bear my dreams. I still have aspirations about discovering some things in our language.”
Responding to a question about the Federal Government’s policy reversal on teaching primary pupils in indigenous languages, he said that Nigeria likes cutting corners, and that there is no record of any people who became great by adopting a foreign language.
He stated that the world has moved from the Industrial Age into the Information Age, asking, “If language played such a pivotal role in the Industrial Age, how much more in the Information Age?”
He further said, “I am a testimony of education in Yoruba. I was taught arithmetic in idi and eyo, not tens and units. Thereby applying mathematics to language. Sadly, even Yoruba history is now taught in English.”
On artificial intelligence, he cautioned students to use AI responsibly, stressing that AI tools are “meant to improve the efficiency of your work, not to amplify your laziness.”
Adegbola also stressed the role of education in societal transformation, lamenting that graduates these days can barely apply their knowledge to solve real-life problems.
He expressed concern over the obsession with publishing in foreign journals, calling it a distraction from developing local scholarship that addresses Nigeria’s realities.
On Ifa, he stated that practice is no more than Physics and Mathematics to him, explaining how their forebears engaged their worlds scientifically. He attributed the retreat into mysticism to the disruptions of slavery and colonialism. “We lost so much to slavery. We lost a lot to colonialism. Yet the volume of knowledge still surviving in orature shows how rich it originally was.”
The polymath, among other things, spoke about his teaching, music, scientific careers, and how they shaped his life and impacted people and society.
The director of IbaFest and founder of Noirledge Publishing, Servio Gbadamosi, said that the event was in partnership with NuStreams, adding, “The opportunity to hear Dr Adegbola speak about his journey is a gift.”
Gbadamosi urged Nigerians to grace the book and arts festival in Ibadan in October, adding that it will feature writers, artists, performers, and thinkers from across Nigeria and beyond.
“It will be a gathering to celebrate literature, art, and culture in Ibadan, a city with a proud intellectual and creative tradition,” he said.
