Jju Wikipedia Goes Live

The Jju Wikipedia was approved on December 20, 2025. It was officially created on January 26, 2026. The transfer of files from the Wikipedia Incubator was completed the next day, on January 27, 2026. The Jju Wikipedia is now open for editing as a separate Wikipedia project.

Significance

The achievement of this milestone is significant because Jju became the 12th Nigerian language added to Wikipedia edition in Nigeria after Hausa (2002), Igbo (2004), Fula (2005), Yoruba (2008), Gungbe (2022), Tyap (2022), Nigerian Pidgin (2022), Igala (2024), Obolo (2024), Nupe (2025), and Central Kanuri (2025). Its approval and launching happened together with that of the Nawat Wikipedia, the first American language Wikipedia edition to be launched in three years. The Karai-Karai Wikipedia soon followed Jju in Nigeria, in March, as 13^th on the list. What this means for the Nenzit (Platoid) languages is that our languages are more represented globally, and this will lead to more native language documentation and promotion. The launch of Jju Wikipedia was one of the landmark achievements in the Tyap Wikimedian User Group 2024-2025 projects. The TWU organised the Jju Wikipedia Outreach dedicated to training Jju speakers on article creation, with the Tyap Wikimedia serving as the direct model.

Challenges

The early challenges of this outreach included inconsistent spellings. Also, the technical creation process involved multiple steps that encountered errors, including a database permission issue, before the Wiki was successfully activated. The outreach also faced multiple challenges in sustaining community engagement and retaining volunteer editors. There were also challenges with editors editing without being reminded, a lack of network coverage, and a lack of data for editing. As part part of the challenges, most of the articles created by the Jju Wikimedians were too short to be moved to the main space. Despite these challenges, solutions were proffered.

Solutions

To address these challenges, several practical steps were taken. To deal with inconsistent spellings, a standard spelling guide was developed and taught to the editors during training sessions, helping to ensure uniformity in their contributions. The technical issues were resolved as the system was carefully reviewed and corrected until the Wiki became fully functional. To improve participation and retention, the facilitator regularly encouraged editors to keep editing and stay active. In response to the problem of poor network coverage, a location with a stable network was identified, and editors gathered there to carry out their work. The issue of limited data was handled through support from TWU, which provided data for the editors. In addition, more people were encouraged to join the outreach and continue editing, which helped to strengthen and sustain the community. Under the leadership of Joshua Jacob Nzamah, some of the articles were elongated. However, not more a third of the over 700 articles created in the Wikimedian Incubator made it to the main space.

Trainings

Two outreaches were organised by the Tyap Wikimedian User Group to lay the groundwork for the Jju Wikipedia. The first Jju Wikipedia Outreach was held on 21-22 and 28-29 September, 2024. The outreach introduced Jju speakers to Wikipedia editing. The programme trained 20 participants. The training covered how to create and translate articles from the English Wikipedia into Jju. Also, members of the Jju language development board were among those trained, helping to ensure spelling consistency and orthographic standards.

The second Jju Wikipedia Outreach Zonkwa was held over three days from 5-7 December, 2025 in Zonkwa. This deepened the editorial community further with a training that covered article creation, article translation, and referencing. The two outreaches reflect TWU’s deliberate strategy of building editors and a self-sustaining community capable of carrying the project forward after the Wiki’s formal launch.

Results

As a result of the outreach program, training, and editing, the Wikipedia Language Committee approved the creation of the Jju Wikipedia and the Wiki was activated in January, 2026. Its approval and launching happened together with that of Nawat Wikipedia, which is the first American language Wikipedia edition to be launched in three years since Wayuunaiki in 2023. Shortly after the launch, the Jju Wikipedia reached over 250 articles. Also, the Jju Wikimedia Community is now growing with more editors participating to write articles in the Jju language.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead, TWU plans to work with other Nenzit (Platoid) languages that show interest in joining the Wikimedia project in documenting knowledge in their domains, with a long-term goal of bringing these languages under the Wikimedia umbrella. Achieving this goal requires the active support and participation of speakers of Nenzit languages, whose involvement is essential for the growth, documentation, and preservation of their languages on the platform. In addition, the Jju Wikipedia community needs to work hard to improve by creating more original articles and translating existing ones, so that the language can continue to grow and gain wider visibility.