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Ayo Banjo Quotes
1934–2024
Ayo Banjo (2 May 1934 – 24 May 2024) was a Nigerian linguist, literary scholar, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, and recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM). He was widely regarded as one of Nigeria's foremost authorities on the English language.
Random Ayo Banjo quote
7 quotes
A very good work of art, for example, would differentiate characters by the way in which they speak.
To use a language as an official language, it has to be standardised.
It is not good to write a novel in which everybody speaks in the same way. It is also inappropriate when you write for children as if you are writing for adults.
I don't think the schools have been doing a good job teaching English. Many users of the language are very deficient, whether you look at the pronunciation, the vocabulary or its pragmatics.
No organisation can exist in a failed society, hence the need for instituting the Nigeria Prize for Science and Literature.
When you complain about the language in literary works, you are not just complaining about things like concord and spelling. The problem lies in the fact that you are using the language to create.
Now, with the explosion in public education, many people are taught English, but they are taught very badly. The English of the English teachers is not something to write home about and that is why the language is deteriorating in Nigeria.
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