I live and work in the UK as a lecturer in Business and Management. My days are shaped by academic research, teaching, and scholarly conversation but my roots have never left Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria.
Growing up, Ibibio was more than a language to me. It was my identity and culture. It was how values were passed down, how stories were told, and how belonging was expressed.
Over time, I began to notice something unsettling. Fewer children could speak Ibibio confidently. Many families were choosing English only and United Nations has warned that without deliberate action, hundreds of indigenous languages including many across Africa could disappear within the next generation.
I asked myself a difficult question: What if Ibibio becomes one of those languages? That question stayed with me and eventually, it moved me to act.
In 2021, while lecturing full-time in the UK, I co-founded Uyai Akwa Ibom alongside my niece Aniekeme Umoh not because it was easy, but because it felt necessary. More than any global framework, this work is driven by something simpler: I did not want my language to become something spoken only in the past tense.
Here is what we have built since:
- 2021 — Four foundational Ibibio language books
- 2022 — Flashcard sets and a colouring book for early childhood learning
- 2023 — A storybook, reviving storytelling as a tool for language transmission
- 2024 — Ibibio textbooks for Primary 1 and Primary 2, supporting structured learning in homes and schools
- 2025 — Expanded our textbook series with Primary 3, 4, and 5 thereby building a complete, structured Ibibio curriculum for primary education.
Through Uyai Akwa Ibom TV on YouTube, we also produce animated, child-friendly content that makes learning Ibibio joyful and visual. For many children in the diaspora, these animations are their first real point of connection with the language and a proof that indigenous language learning can be modern, engaging, and deeply relevant. https://lnkd.in/eyhXGsKv
This work has never been about profit. It has always been about legacy. It is about ensuring that children both at home and in the diaspora can speak Ibibio with pride. It is about affirming that our language is not outdated, but a rich system of knowledge, culture, and history that deserves to be carried forward.
If you have ever understood a proverb that could not be translated into English… If you believe our children deserve to inherit more than foreign languages… Then this cause belongs to all of us.