I am from a town called Fantswam (Kafanchan) in Southern Kaduna, Middle Belt, Nigeria. I am a graduate of Mechanical Engineering. However, my work on language preservation ran concurrently with my studies. I have visited various libraries in different cities to deepen my understanding of linguistics since 2010, and currently work as a volunteer translator of the Tyap language on various projects, especially Wikimedia sister projects. I speak Tyap, English, and Nigerian Pidgin. My work with the Tyap language stems from a personal realization. Growing up, I avoided speaking Tyap and noticed many others were abandoning it for Hausa. As a teenager, I struggled to understand conversations in Tyap. That struggle sparked my determination to learn and preserve the language. I started small, using a notebook to write down translations with my mother’s help as a translator.

We used an English dictionary for reference, filling in Tyap translations and leaving blanks where we couldn’t. This process showed me just how much of the language was already lost. In 2007, inspired by my learnings of Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Sinitic writing systems, I developed a writing system called the Akai script and a corresponding numerical system known as the Fafang, which I hoped to use for the writing of Tyap, and other Nigerian languages. Determined to deepen my understanding, I travelled from Benin City at one time and from Nasarawa-Toto at another time to Kaduna to seek guidance from older speakers. Even then, many words had no known translations, which was a wake-up call.

Around this time, I connected with the chairman of the Tyap Literacy Committee and Bible Translation Trust (TLCBTT), Major-General Zamani Lekwot (retd), through the Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA)’s President, Wg. Cdr. Danjuma Karau. He introduced me to a linguist, Dr. Carl Follingstad, whose feedback was instrumental. That meeting in 2011 marked the beginning of my language preservation journey.