Fake News! Yoruba Language not Generally Adopted In Brazil - Global Quest Magazine

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Sunday, November 14, 2021

Fake News! Yoruba Language not Generally Adopted In Brazil


Reacting to a trending news on  social media posts shared thousands of times claiming Yoruba is an official language in Brazil and will be taught in schools across the country. Many posts attaches confirmation of the former Brazilian minister of culture, Sergio Sa Leitao. But the truth of the matter is, Brazil has not adopt Yoruba as one of its official languages and also, the former culture minister did not make the statements attributed to him. 
Articles published on this news  was shared more than 3,000 times on Facebook, WhatsApp and telegram.

The articles which has been trending for the past two years  carries similar quotes allegedly from the former minister of culture, Sergio Sa Leitao, at a speech given at Sao Paolo University.

However, a spokesman for Brazil’s special secretary for culture has debunked the news,he said that the former minister had not made such a statement. “This news item is false,” said Fernando Busian.

Also, a 
spokesperson for Sao Paolo University said that Leitao did not give a speech at the university last year.

The culture ministry has since been closed by newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro.  

In September 2018, Yoruba was recognised as part of the cultural heritage of Rio de Janeiro, but not nationally. Portuguese and English are the only compulsory languages taught in Brazilian schools.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, millions of slaves were transported from West Africa, where the Yoruba ethnic group originates, to Brazil.

There is no Brazilian government estimate for the number of Yoruba speakers in Brazil yet the language and culture is still significant in Brazil, such as in the Candomble religion which is influenced by Yoruba theology.

The influences go both ways: in Lagos, for example, returning slaves who were taken to Brazil and later freed brought with them new ideas about architecture and a distinctive Afro-Brazilian style of buildings developed.

Historically, all ethnic Yoruba, including those as far away as Benin, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, can trace their origins to Ile-Ife, in southwest Nigeria, which is the spiritual home of Yorubaland

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