Newsbreak: Wikipedia partners Yoruba World Centre to promote indigenous values, history

Newsbreak: Wikipedia partners Yoruba World Centre to promote indigenous values, history

Samuel Ogunsona

In what appears a major breakthrough in the promotion of Yoruba culture, world acclaimed Wikipedia–the world’s largest online encyclopedia will now partner the International Centre for Yoruba Arts and Culture (the Yoruba World Centre) in a multimillion dollar project.

The aim is to promote Yoruba culture, language, heritage and history.

Irohinoodua learnt that the collaboration interest was presented to the Centre last weekend at the University of Ibadan, by the Yoruba Wikimedians User Group, one of the 183 international representatives of Wikimedia Foundation Incorporation, the operators of Wikipedia.

The Wikimedians were led by the President, Mikaeel Sodiq and Isaac Olatunde, the Administrator of Yoruba Wikipedia in Nigeria, while they were received by a team led by the Coordinator of the Yoruba World Centre, Ogbeni Alao Adedayo.

The core objective of this collaboration is to promote a strong relationship between the Yoruba World Centre and the Wikipedia Community, by promoting digital content inclusion on Yoruba Wikipedia with verifiable and reliable sources in a manner that will be acceptable to the entire Yoruba language users, readers, writers and enthusiasts within Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

According to Olatunde, the Administrator, the intention of the Wikimedians is to use the resources of the Yoruba World Centre to improve the quality and credibility of contents on Yoruba Wikipedia, and to promote the Centre among Yoruba academics, students and researchers all over the world.

Responding, the YWC Coordinator recounted that the Centre had been on ground since 2014 but was formally presented to the public by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, late last year and has lived up to expectations as the engine room for documentation, preservation and promotion of Yoruba history, language, arts and culture.

He told the gathering that the Centre is in collaboration with other language and culture development organisations like the Centre for Yoruba Language Engineering (CEYOLENG), Egbe Akomolede ati Asa, the Yoruba Studies Association (YSAN) the DAWN Commission and others, so as to be able to deliver on its mandate. He believes this will go a long way in achieving the desires of Wikipedia.

Members of the team that received the Wikimedians included the renowned cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, Professor Akin Alao of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Baale of Oluyole, Chief Yemi Ogunyemi and the Centre’s Secretary, Labake Owolabi, who doubled as the representative of CEYOLENG.