unlike nearly all key nigerian languages, the itsekiri language does not have dialects and is uniformly spoken with little or no variance in pronunciation apart from the use of 'ch' for the regular 'ts' (sh) in the pronunciation of some individual itsekiris, e.g. chekiri instead of the standard shekiri but these are individual pronunciation traits rather than dialectal differences. this may be a relic of past dialectal differences. the english language continues to exert a strong influence on the itsekiri language both in influencing its development and in its widespread usage as a first language amongst the younger generation. modern standard yoruba (the variety spoken in lagos) also appears to be influencing the itsekiri language partly due to the similarity between both languages and the ease of absorbing colloquial yoruba terms by the large itsekiri population living in western nigerian cities. itsekiri is now taught in local schools up to university degree level in nigeria.