By Simon Ebegbulem
THE Umagbae World Association, a Benin-based group in the United States of America, yesterday, raised  alarm over what it described as the extinction of Bini language, saying that the ugly situation was a threat to the rich cultural heritage of the kingdom.

Secretary General of the Association, Mr Victor Oronsaye, who spoke to Vanguard,  shortly after the association granted scholarship to 15 students of the College of Education Ekiadolor studying Edo Language, accused Bini elites of depriving their children the opportunity of learning Edo language by only encouraging them to speak English at home.

He disclosed that it was as a result of the sad situation that the association decided to encourage students studying Edo language by awarding scholarship to over 15 of them studying the language at the College of Education, Ekiadolor.

According to him, “we are concerned about the extinction of our language and every body knows that one of the things that made the Benin Kingdom thick is our language.”

And the reason is that our elites discourage their children from speaking the language at home, they prefer speaking English. That is mental slavery and cultural degradation. We want to appeal to our elites to stop this mental slavery because it will kill our culture”.

In her address, the Head of Department of Nigerian languages in the College, Mr Asoro Kingsley, who led the recipients, commended members of the Association for their effort to revive the Bini language and appealed to the elites to assist to the growth of the language.