A Professor of French in the University of Lagos, Professor Akanbi Mudashir Ilupeju has charged the Federal Government to embark on a detailed implementation of all past and present policies relating to foreign language acquisition in Nigeria.
The charge formed part of his recommendations while delivering the fifteenth (15th) Inaugural Lecture in the 2024/2025 Academic Session of the University, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. The lecture titled “JE N’EN AI PAS BESOIN: HELP ME WITH THE TRANSLATION” was delivered at the Nurudeen Alao Hall,Distance Learning Institute (DLI).
The event which was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, attracted dignitaries among whom were representatives of the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba Land, Iba Gani Adams and Ogiyan of Ejigbo land, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin, MFR as well as family, friends and professional colleagues of the inaugural lecturer.
Prof. Ilupeju’s lecture underscored the indispensability of French Language in Nigeria especially when viewed against the backdrop of Nigeria being bordered by francophone countries.
The inaugural lecturer who is also the incumbent Dean, Faculty of Arts, stressed the need for stakeholders to ensure the recognition of French language as a birthright for every Nigerian child, for linguistic reasons as well as for political, economic and cultural purposes.
The Professor of French also charged political/government stakeholders to present a common front to advance a solid argument for the establishment of state-sponsored workshops which would drive the documentation and the design of practical works that will encourage learners and professionals to communicate in French.
While advocating for Nigerians who have solid knowledge of French language and can communicate with it effectively, to be given opportunities to serve Nigeria in strategic international positions, Professor Ilupeju added that multinationals should be encouraged to recruit foreign-language speaking Nigerians into managerial positions with a view to ensuring that Nigeria benefits maximally from the potentials which the French language carries.
Born on the 21st of June, 1960 in Adjamé, Côte d’Ivoire, Professor Mudashir Ilupeju is a thorough bred alumnus of UNILAG with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Ed.) in French, Master of Arts (M.A.) in French Translation and Ph.D. in European Languages (Sociolinguistics).
He began his career in UNILAG in 1992 as an Assistant Tutor at the International School before moving to the Department of Modern European Languages, Faculty of Arts, as an Assistant Lecturer in 1995. He steadily rose to become a Professor of French (with specialty in French Sociolinguistics, Translator and Applied Linguistics) in 2019.
His areas of research are: French-African Sociolinguistics, Language contacts, Historiography, Translation, Applied Linguistics, pragmatics, semantics and French as Foreign Language.
Professor Ilupeju, who speaks Yoruba, Malinké (Djoula), French and English Languages fluently, is happily married and blessed with children.
Report: Gbenga Gbelee
Photograpy: Michael Joshua
