Presentation of Igalapedia Project to ATA Igala

1. INTRODUCTION

This presentation is to introduce to His Royal Majesty, the ATA Igala and the entire Igala Nation both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, the formation of a nonprofit making publishing and web project (www.igalapedia.com) entitled “IGALAPEDIA PROJECT”. The project is registered under the law of the federal republic of Nigeria to carry out book publishing, web design and software development as a pedigree to the Development of the Igala Local Contents: Using Digital Approach. We aimed to create the foot print of Igala language on the Internet, this has put the Igala land, its location, culture, language and the people on the Global Information Infrastructure (GIL) to be accessible to Igala children both at home and in the Diaspora. We teach people how to speak Igala language through the internet at free cost worldwide.

AGABAIDU, This project was initiated in response to the call for promotion of Igala Culture and Tradition through effort at making sure that the younger generation of Igala children living outside home should know how to speak the Igala language. The message was showcased during the Ogbogu branch of ICDA end of year 2011 party by the Onu Igala of Rivers State in person of Chief, Alh. Suleiman Hussein as part of Port Harcourt ICDA’s commitment to promoting IGALA Culture and Tradition worldwide.

AGABAIDU, The word ”Igalapedia” is derived from English phrase; Igala Encyclopedia. This ICT project which is the brain-child of Abdul M. Yahaya (Port Harcourt Based Civil Engineer), an Igala man, who is an active member of Igala Welfare association, Rumuomasi branch Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Along with the founder in the project is a team of volunteers who geared their efforts towards promoting the Igala Culture and Tradition and also portraying a true identity for the Igala people. Details of who are behind the NGO project are made available in the attached Igalapedia corporate profile.

AGABAIDU, The work at Igalapedia project was released to honour your enthronement. Many things account for crediting this work to his royal Majesty, one of which is the coincidence of the realisation of Igalapedia dream with the enthronement of the prince as Ata of Igala. The Igalapedia Project has passed many stages of development from when it has no name till last year (2012) it was branded an NGO project to digitize Igala Local Contents. We welcome you to the throne of Ata Igala ensuring you that your tenure hold remarkable achievement to development of Igala language and Igala land in general as :

· Igala children and the world both at home and in the Diaspora commenced learning Igala language through Internet and desktop application using Igalapedia Dictionary V1.01 from day one of your asumption of office.

· the world commenced learning Igala timing, Igala numbering and Igala monetary values with our Igala learning tools from day one of your assumption in office and also for the first time in history Igala language is tasting a computer programming codes twisted to speak Igala language.

2. MISSION STATEMENTS
“Taking Igala Land to Digital world. “

Our target goal is to create the foot print of Igala Language on the Internet, this is to put Igala land, its location, culture, language and the people on the Global Information Infrastructure (GIL) to be accessible to Igala children both at home and in the Diaspora. We aimed to achieve these by committing resources to developing Igala Local Contents (Using digital approach) there by coming out with the following services

· Providing facilities for rapid development of Igala language and the Igala land (Already in place for utilization).

· Encouraging future generation of Igala children (Most especially those living outside home) to learn how to speak the language with ease. We create a learning platform for Igala children both at home and those living outside home who are interested in the Language.

· We promote the writing and reading of Igala language among the present and future generation of Igala children.

· Mobile Igala Dictionary for phones (awaiting review of dictionary articles before release for public use)

· Igala Desktop dictionary application (V1.01 which is simulation copy was released on 27 April 2013 in Honor of your Royal Majesty Gabaidu, Idakwo Micheal Ameh Oboni (II) and has been downloaded 13,000 times as at first week of August 2013, barely three months after release).

· Desktop application in the like of Encarta Encyclopedia (Development going on). this is to put Igala language, culture, people and location on the Global Information Superhighway (Creating a focal point where every information about Igala Land can be gotten from. ie DIVA Scheme for Igala land)

· Creating a platform where information about Igala books and media production will be available to the world.

· Telling the world that Igala language also exist.

· We intend to bring information about new IGALA films and cultural media production to Igala people all over the world through the web forum.

Many more services that may be conceived with time shall be made available. The Platform for carrying out of above services have been created and available for free use (www.igalapedia.com).

3. ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR:

a) WEBSITE

Hosting and management of a website with address at www.igalapedia.com with effect from May 2012. The website is to drive home our agenda to make Igalapedia Project a complete open-access scholarly language development system which include peer-review, workflow and advanced language development platform where:

· Everybody from anywhere in the world can have free opportunity to learn Igala language

· Every individuals can provide Igala translation to English word / phrases at will.

· Every individuals can contest the translation provided by some other person on the net. This is very much available for other languages of the world.

· Language professionals can provide corrections to available vocabularies online, students and researchers can browse our website for collecting materials to improve their works on Igala and African languages.

· Every individuals can improve his understanding of Igala Language through our learning tools.

The internet service is also to document, preserve and promote the writing and reading of Igala language among the present and future generation of Igala children. This will encourage future generation of Igala children (Most especially those living outside home) to learn how to speak the language with ease through the services and on desktop application. The internet will enable the world to have information about the Igala people and their rich cultural heritage through the web.

b) PUBLICITY FOR ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO BE SPEAKING IGALA LANGUAGE

Enlightenment crusade is also going on through publicity and our internet services stressing the need to be teaching our children the Igala language and also be using it at all the time there by making it part of our life. We adopt the writing of various computer programs (still going) for teaching children how to speak Igala language. As part of this course, Various computer programs have been developed and are regarded as Igala learning tools some of which are on the internet while others are waiting review and approval of our articles. These includes but not limited to the followings;

· Presented articles:

1)The need to developd Igala language

2) Developing Igala local Contents; Using digital approach

· Digitizing Igala Counting System

Igalapedia sees the need to give our children a closer touch with Igala language and making it part of their live. To achieve this, computer program to convert numbers to Igala words and Igala monetary values ranging from number “1” to “999999999999999999” has been written and is currently working at www.igalapedia.com. This also has features which include Igala Scientific Calculator (A learning tool to conduct complex mathematics and get answers in Igala words).

· Igalapedia Clock

A computer program to converting current time on your computer and cell phones then read it out in Igala language. This is used to teach children Igala timing as available before the introduction of English timing. Full article is still in the hands of our editors while the unedited copy is online and also in the desktop dictionary application.

· Digital Igala Dictionary

Igala / English Dictionary powered by WORDNET (A Lexical Database of English) and the integration of Igala word list into WORDNET dictionary database. The Digital Igala dictionary was composed and translated by Abdul M Yahaya (Ejule) and Drisu peter attabo (Lokoja), Editing is currently going on by Dr Salem Ejeba (Lecturer – University of Port Harcourt) and chief Musa Adegbe (Agenyi Ocheje – Idah). This will be reviewed by Dr Tom Miachi and Prof. Omachonu as arranged. This gave birth to the first Igala desktop dictionary application titled Igalapedia Dictionary V1.01 (Prince Idakwo Ameh Oboni (II) Series and containining 3800 Igala Vocabularies, Igala timing and Igala number / money converter). This was released on 27 April 2013 in Honor of His Royal Highness, Gabaidu, Prince Idakwo Ameh Oboni 2 and has been downloaded 13,000 times as at first week of July 2013, barely three months after release. This also include Mobile Igala Dictionary for phones (awaiting review of dictionary articles before release for public use).

4. CHALLENGES

· Difficulties in getting resource materials:

· Lack of interest from Igala people to participate in developing Igala language.

· Lack of training personnel for the online Igala studies

· No Igala language teaching curriculum available: The current online Igala studies articles where drafted using materials from online resources, this is still undergoing review.

· Possible fear for conflict of interest from authors.

· Money: Until today, the project is being funded only by Abdul M. Yahaya when this kind of massive project is to be established and founded by the government of the land. What account for continual spending of his money for sponsoring research for this Nonprofit making project is only to let Igala People see the result of what we are actually talking about which are already coming out.

5. REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

· We seek the royal blessings of the Ata Igala to endorse the Igalapedia project for carrying out the services outline in this paper. This will be a grease of encouragement to our wheel of progress as Igala writers are busy editing and reviewing our Dictionary articles at the moment . This will also bestow confidence in the people who are willing to help us.

· Kogi State Government through the Ministry of Education to re-introduce the teaching of local languages back into the educational system of Igala land and other areas of the State. The re-introduction of teaching local languages back into the educational system of Igala land will prompt our commitment to initiate programs that will help in sustaining and also improve the teaching of Igala language in schools. Igalapedia is committed to promoting economics and academic activities in Igala land, the promise is made against the backdrop of Igala children at home not having access to internet and computers in schools to really enjoy the benefit of Igalapedia Project teaching Igala language through internet.

· Igala professionals to restructure the Igala language and the Igala counting system as it could be fitted into language digitization scheme. New words also needed be formulated into the language and a standard curriculum for teaching Igala language in line with the most current autography needed to drafted.

· For rapid development of Igala language, we call on Igala people to accept our dream for DIVA Scheme (detailed in the attached articles) and our Language Research and Development Initiative (LRDI) whose function is to formulate strategies to develop Igala language. Details of LRDI and mode of operations are detailed in the attached Igalapedia Profile and at www.igalapedia.com. We call on the government of Nigeria to study the structure of Igalapedia project and improve on facilities available to make it the tool for developing indigenous languages.

· Speaking of Local languages to be included into program of Government at all level in a functions, formal gathering and occasions. The instance of this is a delivery of the fourth convocation lecture at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Yoruba language. According to Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Femi Mimiko, said the decision of the institution to present the convocation lecture in Yoruba language showed that the university was committed to the development of the language. Detailed information is available @ http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/ . We want you to request the government at all level to make the speaking of Igala Language at formal gathering a top priority. This is only way the government at each level show their commitment to security of the language not been threaten by extinction.

· Team of Igalapedia researchers need access to the palace library for sourcing information that could promote Igala language, Igala land and the Igala heroes. This articles are to be published on the services of Igalapedia project with citations to respective sources.

6. PROFILE OF THE AUTHOR

Abdul Mumin Yahaya is a home grown Igala child who initiated Igala Encyclopedia (IGALAPEDIA PROJECT) as a tool to be utilised for developing Igala Local contents, Igala land and also teach how to speak Igala language through the facilities he has put in place. He is an indigene of Ejule town and currently based in Port Harcourt practicing Civil Engineering and Computer programming as a hobby.

Abdul grew up with grandparents who are traders and lovers of Igala folks and storytelling. This account for his enthusiasm to see that Igala vocabularies needed to be kept alive so long as man lived. Abdul attended Government Technical College Idah during which he grew up in the hands of Hajia Alami Garba at Akpa Saraja’s Compund Idoma Idah. The period see him through the selling of cloths for the foster parents in many markets in Igala land, this gave him a good command of Igala monetary counting which resulted to computer program that is converting numbers to Igala language monetary values today. This is also available for use in the Igalapedia Dictionary V1.01.

Find attached a copy of our corporate profile and few other articles generated as part of our Igala language development crusade for your better understanding of Igalapedia project

We look forward to your royal blessings which will be a great source of encouragement to our wheel of progress as Igala writers are busy editing and reviewing our Dictionary articles at the moment .

Thanks

AGABAIDU,

Abdul M Yahaya

08064053228, igalapedia@gmail.com

For

Igalapedia Project