# Nana Anima Wiafe-Akenten

Nana Anima Wiafe-Akenten is a Ghanaian media practitioner and the former Head of the Akan-Nzema Department of the College of Languages Education, Ajumako Campus of the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana. She is the first person to receive a doctorate degree in the Twi language, one of the varieties of Akan.

## Quotes

* It has proven that if you learn your mother tongue you get to know the basic tenets of the Ghanaian culture which frowns on engaging in open insults or character assassination, something we see in our political space now.
* It is common to see some politicians, presenters and other dignitaries trading insults on air, forgetting that children are equally listening and might pick the indecent Twi Language spoken on air.
* A lot of people lacked the basic tenets of the indigenous language which teaches people not to engage in insults, especially on a public platform. That, had been the main cause of the phenomenon in the country.
* We have allowed the infiltration of alien cultures and that is destroying ours which frowns on insults. So children lack a deep appreciation of the local language, when to speak, how to speak it and the occasion to present it.
* While learning the local language children will get to know about etiquettes, politeness, speeches, taboo expressions, avoidance expressions and idioms. They will know these basic tenets of public speaking, all of which are embedded in the indigenous language.
* They were only interested in passing derogatory remarks against their political opponents as though they were enemies.
* Because we have taken our language and culture for granted, parents don’t speak and teach much of their indigenous languages embedded in our culture with their children.
* We have allowed the infiltration of alien cultures and that is destroying ours which frowns on insults. So children lack a deep appreciation of the local language, when to speak, how to speak it and the occasion to present it.
* While learning the local language children will get to know about etiquettes, politeness, speeches, taboo expressions, avoidance expressions and idioms. They will know these basic tenets of public speaking, all of which are embedded in the indigenous language.
* It has become so obvious that if you can insult people very well, you are awarded a position when your government comes to power, and that is bad.
* Language was powerful and delicate — it can make and unmake a person, it can break a nation — it was language that led to the Rwandan genocide.
* Because we are failing to teach our children, a lot of them lack wisdom which leads to the lack of maturity among many of the youth and that translates into our politics.
* Politicians mostly speak their indigenous languages during campaigns. If you speak people’s language, they are able to easily identify or flow with you.
* We can start from somewhere by making Ghanaian languages compulsory subjects from the kindergarten (KG) to the senior high school (SHS) level.
* I urged the media not to give their platforms to politically exposed individuals to spew insults at their political opponents, a situation she said could lead to tensions in the country.
* It was everybody’s responsibility to guard against insulting comments by politicians during their campaigns.
* I was concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them. All quotes in the English Language had to be translated to Twi to mean exactly what the quote means. Even if it is a terminology in English, you have to get the exact Akan word, not just nearest in meaning.
* I said I will also read news when I grow up but I will do it in Twi, and everybody in the living room burst out laughing. My dad asked me if I had ever seen anyone reading in Twi on radio or TV. I closed the chapter because indeed in those days, there were just a few Akan-speaking FM stations, unlike today.
* The first day I came on TV I didn’t inform my parents but they saw me and were all thrilled, and my dad called me and said I was indeed a go-getter.
* There are things that are known to be taboos but are mentioned anyhow on radio by some of these Twi presenters on both TV and radio.