However, just as Chinua Achebe noted in his book that inspired this title, “The Trouble with Nigeria” (1984), that “there is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character” and that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership”, I would aver, in spite of the foregoing, that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with English, the trouble many people especially Nigerians have with it is failure to learn it right. Serendipitously, one window the Conference opens for all, especially through the “English Language and Literature Clinic” slated for this Thursday, is an opportunity to learn and relearn the language. Of course, treatments will be administered to those illnesses, English-wise, that befall users.
The conference could not have come at a more auspicious time. While Prof. Olu Obafemi, a former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), who is the President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), is the keynote speaker, Prof. Sola T. Babatunde, who is the President of the English Scholars Association of Nigeria (ESAN), is the lead paper presenter. It is the first time Professors of the University of Ilorin will be heading the umbrella Academy and Association in history and this goes a long way to show how well the Department is respected in the community of its counterparts across the nation. The conference will be chaired by a former Vice-Chancellor of the University and distinguished professor of English, Prof. Shuaibu Oba Abdulraheem, OFR.
Only those who can do without the English language as a medium of communication should not attend it!