Educational: The Impacts of Kola Tubosun in the development of Igbo Language

THE IMPACTS OF KỌLÁ TÚBOSÚN TO THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION OF IGBO LANGUAGE

Kola Tubosun was born on the 22nd of September 1981 in Ibadan. His full name is Kọláwọlé Olúgbémiró Ọlátúbọsún. He studied at the University of Ibadan, Moi University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA. Kola is a Nigerian linguist, scholar, writer, teacher and cultural activist whose work and influence span the fields of education, technology, literature, journalism and linguistics.

Kola founded the Yoruba Name Project. He is a language advocate who has taken Yoruba to higher level. He campaigned severally for the Yoruba language to be added in twitter. Finally, Twitter granted the request to make Yoruba one of its languages. He taught Yoruba in the University of Southern Illinois Edwardsville, USA. He was a Google project manager on Language. He is an award winning journalist, writer, translator and language advocate. To say but the least, Kola is a great man. He is the first African to win Premio Ostana International Award for scriptures in the Mother Tongue, 2016 in the town of Ostana (Cuneo Italy). His travel blog KTravula.com was recently nominated for the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists (2015) Honours. He has also been listed as one of the 100 Nigeria's most Innovative persons in Technology.
Yorubaname.com is the dream of Kola. On 8 August 2015, the project released a free Yoruba keyboard software of Mac and Windows to allow its users type in Yoruba language on the internet.

I am short of words when I noticed that Kọlá Túbọsún did not leave Igbo language behind. While very many Igbos are busy arguing, talking trash about Igbo, who hate and who love, general and no general Igbo, speaking and no speaking Igbo, his love for language made him carry Igbo alongside his great project in Yoruba.
Igbo writers and publishers use the following fonts to type Igbo: Igbo New Time Roman and Igbo Ariel. When you type Igbo, the diacritic marks must appear only when your system has the aforementioned fonts. Any other laptop or display device the work appear in without installation of the fonts, you'll get goose bumps as ụ turn to x, ọ turn to q. Kọla Tụbọsụn saw this and updated the Yoruba keyboard to include Igbo. He catered for Igbo keyboard in July, 2016. Now when you type Igbo, you need no font for it to display very well. Whether on phone or computer, whether installed Igbo font or not, everything appear without change in Igbo. We now have Yoruba+Igbo keyboard software of Mac and Windows. Kola and his team did that. 

Kọla Tubọsụn is involved in setting up a version for Igbo language at IgboName.com.Yes, BBC has launched Igbo language as one of its medium of dissemination of information; it is Kola who supervised the BBC style guides translation into Igbo. He ran helter-skelter to ensure that Igbo language meets up since the Hausa and Yoruba have been completed. It is a privilege that I worked with him in this project.

Kola is a hardworking man who maintains his love across the border without tribalism and ethnocentrism. I have written about the impact of Ajayi Crowther to the development of Igbo language in the 18th century. This is 21st century; Kola Tubosun has proved to be a greater Crowther of our time.
Ndị Igbo must respect this man and praise his handwork for the benefit and sustainability of our language technologically and otherwise.
I am happy to have worked with Kola Tubosun, a transparent man. A tall man with a tall heart. I am about to write about Kola, this is just an abstract of what I have in mind to do. The spirit of supporting my language and writing spurs more seeing Kola's motivational impact to the growth of Yoruba and Igbo as well Kola Tubosun, remain great and blessed!

By

Okoro Mark Ogbonnaya (Maazi Ogbonnaya)