A groundbreaking educational technology aimed at reversing the decline of indigenous language fluency among Nigerian children has been developed by a University of Ibadan computer scientist. Dr. Aderonke Busayo Sakpere, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, announced the completion of KoEDE, a mobile application designed to make learning the Yoruba language engaging and accessible through gamified digital tools.
Sakpere disclosed the motivation behind the project during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan. She highlighted growing concerns that many Nigerian children, particularly in urban centres where English dominates daily communication, are increasingly unable to speak their native languages fluently. This trend persists despite national education policy recommendations that encourage mother-tongue instruction in early years of schooling.
The KoEDE initiative originated in 2022 when Sakpere participated in the Empowering The Teacher (ETT) Fellowship Programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in the United States. As part of her coursework, she was required to design a technology project. Reflecting on her own observations and a small pilot study she conducted, Sakpere concluded that an interactive digital tool could help bridge the language learning gap experienced by many children in Nigeria.
Drawing on principles of gamification and constructivist pedagogy, KoEDE combines learning and play to sustain learner interest and motivation. The platform features a suite of interactive challenges, including puzzles, sentence-building tasks and touch-and-drag exercises that are structured across beginner, intermediate and expert levels. Points are awarded for correct answers, and the system avoids harsh penalties for mistakes to encourage persistence. Visual illustrations and audio support are integrated to help learners improve pronunciation and comprehension at their own pace.
The final stage of KoEDE’s development was undertaken in collaboration with the Yoruba Centre at the University of Ibadan, an established institution for promoting Yoruba language instruction both locally and internationally. This partnership ensured that the app’s content was linguistically and culturally grounded.
Sakpere explained that funding constraints slowed progress in the early years of the project. The turning point came in 2024, when KoEDE secured a grant from AlumNode under the auspices of the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, a German foundation. The grant was critical in expanding the technical capacity of the development team and covering key development costs.
Following extensive internal testing by more than 20 students, the application has been uploaded to the Google Play Store ahead of its public launch, scheduled for February 23, 2026. Feedback from the pilot phase has helped refine the user experience and ensure readiness for broader use.
While the initial version focuses exclusively on Yoruba, Sakpere said future iterations will include additional major Nigerian languages such as Igbo and Hausa. Plans are also underway to introduce synchronous learning features that enable real-time interaction among learners, as well as artificial intelligence enhancements to personalise the learning process based on individual needs.
