Nigeria Oral History Documentation hosts one of the world’s largest repositories of freely licensed Indigenous content.

Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria — August 26, 2024 — The Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project, a pioneering cultural preservation initiative led by the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (registered as Wikimedia Nigeria Foundation), is making significant strides in documenting the languages and dialects of Akwa Ibom State. Supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, a global non-profit organization, this project is committed to safeguarding Nigeria’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage for future generations.

Project Genesis and Motivation

Africa is home to over 2,000 languages, with Nigeria alone accounting for 25%. Sadly, many indigenous languages in Nigeria are primarily used for informal communication and are not supported in education or commerce. As a result, these languages are at risk of extinction, as they are gradually being abandoned in favour of foreign languages.

The Wikimedia Nigeria Foundation launched this project following an alarming warning from UNESCO’s Advisory Committee on Language Pluralism and Multi-language Education. The committee projected that the Igbo language and its cultural heritage could face extinction by 2025, overshadowed by more dominant languages in Nigeria. Responding to this critical situation, the Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project was created to help prevent the loss of such invaluable cultural assets.

The project commenced in 2021, documenting languages in Nigeria’s southwest. In 2022 and 2023, it expanded to Cross River and Rivers States. This fourth edition aims to extend the preservation of linguistic diversity by documenting the languages and dialects of Akwa Ibom and Delta States.

With the Wikimedia Foundation’s support (WMF), the project aims to safeguard these languages and make them accessible globally via Wikimedia Commons, contributing to the global knowledge repository.

Team Composition and Field Activities

The Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project is led by a team of cultural preservation experts dedicated to achieving the project’s goals:

1. Ambassador Olushola Olaniyan – Project Lead and Strategist, overseeing the strategic direction and ensuring successful execution.
2. Dr. Isaac Olatunde – Deputy Project Lead- guided academic research and documentation efforts.
3. Tunde Asaolu – Production Coordinator, managing all project logistical and technical aspects.
4. Ayokanmi Oyeyemi – Lead Photographer, capturing visual stories accompanying the linguistic documentation.
5. Tunde Oladimeji – Project Director, a renowned filmmaker and actor, creating compelling audiovisual records of languages and their cultural contexts.
6. Adebayo Ajibola – Cinematographer, transforming the recordings into engaging cinematographic content.

This team has been working in the field in Akwa Ibom State since August 20, 2024, and will continue through September 2, 2024. Their primary activities include interviewing native speakers and documenting languages, dialects, and oral traditions while preserving cultural insights unique to these communities.

Achievements and Documentation Progress

As of August 26, 2024, the Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project has made remarkable progress. It now holds one of Africa’s largest repositories of indigenous language audiovisual content, with over 200 unique recordings. The team has documented 22 distinct languages and dialects in Akwa Ibom State alone. Additionally, 15 languages, including variations of Urhobo and Ijaw, have been recorded in Delta State.

Key highlights of this edition include:

• Documenting a Catholic Mass conducted in the Ibibio language in Uyo.
• Recording the cultural traditions surrounding the Ekpo Festival.
• Capturing linguistic nuances through collaboration with scholars at Ibibio Alive.
• Engaging with Chief Brown Mene at the Palace of the Olu of Warri to document the Ijaw language.
• Collaborating with Urhobo Youth leaders to record 11 dialects from different Urhobo kingdoms.
• Recording oral histories with HRM Noble Eshemgam Orefe III, Uku Oghara of Oghara land, as he shared his people’s traditions in their native language.

These materials will be archived in the U.S. Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons under a CCBYSA-4.0 license, enabling academic reuse and educational research while ensuring this knowledge remains freely accessible.

Broader Impact and Future Plans

The Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project is part of a more significant movement to document and preserve Nigeria’s cultural and linguistic heritage. The team plans to showcase the audiovisual materials collected during the project on International Mother Tongue Day in 2025. The documentation will serve as an invaluable historical resource, underlining the importance of linguistic diversity and cultural preservation.

After completing work in Akwa Ibom, the team will extend their efforts to Ogara in Delta State, collaborating with local linguists and traditional leaders to continue documenting endangered languages and cultures.

Call for Support and Collaboration

The Nigeria Oral History Documentation Project recognizes that collaboration is vital to success. The project team calls upon the Nigerian government, cultural professionals, linguists, and all stakeholders in Nigeria’s heritage ecosystem to support this vital initiative. Together, we can create a more inclusive and vibrant cultural archive reflecting Nigeria’s traditions’ diversity and richness.