"The reported number of Suba varies from source to source, but it is clear that over the last half a century, many Olusuba speakers have become multilingual (Olusuba, English, Kiswahili, Luo) or bilingual (Olusuba, Luo). Over time, many began abandoning Olusuba and adopting the Luo language Dholuo as their language of choice, some losing the ability to speak their native language. "

"Ayot (1977) makes it clear... that the process of assimilation [with the Luo] was relatively slow before colonial factors entered into it."

"Multilingualism is predominant in the sample. Only fifteen persons were monolinguals (2 in Suba, 13 in Dholuo), almost 20%% were bilingual and the rest claimed to know three or more languages [...] Asked to arrange four given languages in order of prestige the majority were in favour of the following order: 1st Suba, 2nd Kiswahili, 3rd Dholuo, 4th English... What is particularly surprising in this ranking is the low position of Dholuo which is in marked contrast to its high frequency of usage."

"Luo is spoken as a second language by most people with the exception of a few older persons, in particular old women."

"In 1995, the government of Kenya, some non-governmental organizations and the Suba people themselves tried to revive both the Suba culture and language. [...] the government initiated the Olusuba language project [...] THe measures put in place included introducing Suba-as-subject in primary school, revivalist initiatives in the form of cultural festivals, sports, a vernacular radio service, and a language panel [...] The Bible translation and Literacy (BTL) together with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) have also been involved in the literacy, translation and documentation programs in the language."