The renowned film director and producer Tunde Kelani popularly called TK has declared that he should not be addressed as Daddy or Granpa, stressing that the appealation is alien to Nigeria culture and traditions
Penpushing reports that Kelani made this known in a tiktok interview adding that it sounds odd that foreign languages are eroding Nigerian culture, arguing that he prefers to be addressed as Baba, a Yoruba appellaion of the so-called Daddy, emphasizing that he would henceforth not respond to anybody who addressed him as Daddy
“It’s not that I get angry, it’s just that while we were younger, Iya mi and Baba mi is what we all know, more so we lived in a neighborhood where I can call a woman Iya mi, Iya Alata,Iya Ikereku or Baba Agege..that was how we grew up’, he stated.
Penpushing further reports that the owner of Mainframe Films and Television Production pointed out that it’s disheartening that over many years Yoruba gave up on this tradition, culture and ethics and turned to foreign adaptation
‘But I am just surprised that since about 20-30 years ago,Yorubas gave up on their ethics and traditions,and now upholding another society’s morals and values.Where ever I am,whenever they see me, I was in Lagos yesterday, and I branched to buy something, the seller just called me Daddy,I said NO,I’m not a Daddy, Baba ni mi ,that’s how it is all over and around the Yoruba,which saddens my heart”, Kelani said.
“Truly we have the opportunity to school abroad,but the way they use the word Daddy in foreign countries is quite different from the way we accept it here,they believe it’s whoever that gives birth to them they refer to as Daddy, but I don’t understand we Yorubas, we are supposed to refer to men older than us as Baba not Daddy,but everything has changed which saddens my heart once again’, Kelani emphasised.
“The most painful part is calling me grandpa, I will complain which one is grandpa,what we know is Baba Agba ,do you know I’ve heard and seen some Yoruba women say don’t call me Iya Agba ,they say they refer to witches as that,so I made a podcast that I posted on YouTube yesterday saying,the language that brings dignity and very good reputation for one should be what they should use in calling me”.
“Even if we don’t know each other ,if you’re going to call me Baba call me Baba,if you wish to call me Baba Agba, I am okay with it,and if it’s Baba TK, I am okay with it also, you can even call me TK, but they shouldn’t call me Daddy, nobody should call me grandpa, because in Yorubaland, the word Daddy,doesn’t fit, it’s not a good meaning to refer to in Yoruba when you call someone Daddy. Most of the time I live alone,should I go and Daddy behind the cupboard”
“So as to understand well what I am saying, the language that gives me dignity, how do I stop speaking it and call Baba as Daddy Where’s the dignity in it? That’s how it is..So i said yesterday I am fed up,please don’t call me Daddy anymore
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