Adebunmi Adeniran has said that Nigerian languages should be reckoned with. The boss of Nailangs is not just preaching that, she has gone a step further to invent a virtual keyboard that has the ability to write 12 Nigerian languages complete with tonal marks.
Speaking in an interview with the Lagos-based writer, Olutayo Irantiola, Adeniran explained that the keyboard is “designed to enable typing at least 12 Nigerian languages without switching from a keyboard to another and is available on all mobile and computer devices”.
Responding to the question about how easy it was to develop a single keyboard that can write 12 Nigerian languages? She said it is a worthy experience, but where there is a will, there is always a way.
“Another thing is when you are under divine guidance, (God) makes a way where there seems to be no way,” she added.
Asked why she included the 12 languages, she said it is because “English language is still our official language”, and so to make it acceptable, it has to be included.
“I chose all the languages that I know are currently written and spoken. I believe in inclusion; thhat all should be allowed to do what they want (positively) with their languages and I believe passionately in Nigeria,” she explained.
To get the tonal marks of other Nigerian languages, she said as someone who is passionate about people and their languages, it required a lot of research on the languages.
“I had consultations with some of its users and speakers, looking into textbooks and writings on the Internet, there are a lot of resources that is available in the 21st century that we live in,” she stated.
Adeniran explained that using the keyboard is easy, as most things now are, since all you have to do is download online.
It is her firm belief that “as a country of over 170 million people, we are a force to reckon with; but we seem not to know it or to be interested in what is ours. And that with our own keyboard we can.
“We can start to have fun and command big players internationally to reckon with us and take our values seriously.”
On other technological means with which to preserve Nigerian languages, she said since technology does not stand still, this is just the beginning.
“We can look forward to having translation, voice recognition and so on incorporated,” she said.