A video from The Platform 2026 is trending across Nigerian social media after an audience member challenged Lagos governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to answer a question about Yoruba culture in the Yoruba language itself.
What happened at The Platform?
During the question-and-answer session of the 2026 Independence Day edition, the attendee referred to the candidate’s recent interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television, where Yoruba culture and language were discussed. He then asked what Rhodes-Vivour would do to preserve Yoruba culture, tradition and language if elected governor. Rhodes-Vivour began replying in English, and some members of the audience protested and demanded that he speak Yoruba, which briefly made the venue rowdy before he calmed the room.
The candidate’s response on Yoruba in schools
Once the room settled, Rhodes-Vivour affirmed that Lagos is Yorubaland and that language is a carrier of culture and heritage. He said the decline of Yoruba among children is linked to school practices, alleging that pupils are still punished for speaking Yoruba under the label of “vernacular” after more than two decades of APC administration in Lagos. At one point, reports say, he also spoke some Yoruba. He added that his primary role as a candidate is to address governance, and urged the questioner to take some of the concerns to Lagos State Government representatives present at the event.
Reactions online
Reaction has been mixed. Some netizens focused on the candidate’s fluency, while others argued that Lagos is a cosmopolitan city and that governance matters more than language skills. Either way, the episode has made Yoruba language preservation a talking point in the build-up to the 2027 elections, with parents and cultural advocates likely to press all candidates for clearer indigenous language policies.
Source: reports by Legit.ng, Tribune Online, Opinion Nigeria and Linda Ikeji’s Blog. Image credits: Emmanuel Ikwuegbu and Namnso Ukpanah on Unsplash.
