Former YOSU President Advocates Digital Preservation of Yoruba Oral Traditions

Former YOSU President, Toheeb Aderemi Raji, has called for the strategic use of digital technology to preserve, promote and transmit Yoruba cultural heritage among younger generations. In his contribution titled “Yoruba Student Association (YOSU) in the Digital Era: Negotiating Preservation, Performance and Cultural Identity in the Digitisation of Yoruba Oral Traditions,” the Fifth President of the Yoruba Students’ Union (YOSU), Federal University Dutse Chapter, examines the opportunities and challenges presented by digital technology in sustaining Yoruba oral traditions. Raji, who served as YOSU President in the 2018/2019 administration and studied in the Department of English, highlights the importance of preserving traditional forms of Yoruba expression, including proverbs, folktales, oríkì, songs, chants, riddles, myths and legends. He argues that YOSU can play a significant role by using digital platforms to document and share these cultural expressions while creating opportunities for younger Yoruba students to engage with their language and heritage. The former President also emphasises that digitisation should complement, rather than replace, traditional forms of cultural transmission. He advocates collaboration with Yoruba elders, traditional performers, scholars and cultural institutions to ensure that digital representations remain authentic and culturally responsible. According to Raji, initiatives such as digital storytelling, Yoruba-language competitions, podcasts, virtual cultural programmes and short-form videos could help make Yoruba culture more accessible and engaging to younger audiences. He concludes by noting that YOSU FUD has an opportunity to become an active agent of cultural preservation in a community where the use of the Yoruba language may be limited, provided technological innovation is balanced with cultural authenticity. The contribution comes at a time when YOSU FUD is expanding its digital presence through the YOSU Enterprise Digital Platform, creating new opportunities for the documentation, preservation and accessibility of the Union's history and cultural heritage. About the Contributor: Toheeb Aderemi Raji is the Fifth President of the Yoruba Students’ Union (YOSU), Federal University Dutse Chapter, serving during the 2018/2019 administration. He is an alumnus of the Department of English.