The co-founder of Wikipedia says the languages of Yoruba in West Africa and Swahili in East Africa are the most popular among the several African languages being used on the online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, 45, says Yoruba is the most popular African language for Wikipedia, with 29,000 pages. The Swahili Wikipedia version is second among African languages with 23,000. Other African languages on Wikipedia include Afrikaans, Hausa, and Zulu.

Speaking in Lagos this week, Wales says his website is branching out from English.

"For a long time there was this sort of cultural concern as why do we have to do everything in English. What happens to local culture? Now we [are] going to have both," said Wales.

Wales founded Wikipedia in January 2001. Eleven years later, Wikipedia has become the go-to site for hundreds of millions of internet users seeking information about anything and everything. Its content is generated by thousands of self-appointed editors who write and rewrite the articles in an open, online process.

Wikipedia on has seven active editors working in Yoruba. But Wales hopes that more users for the online encyclopedia will appear in Yoruba as well as other African languages.

“Not everybody speaks English and won't," Wales noted. "So they should have a vibrant life in their own language. And that’s really great because it’s very organic and the internet provides that in a way for very low cost.”

But challenges such as internet connectivity in Africa remain. And Wales notes that getting people to work in languages besides English is not easy. The English version of Wikipedia has nearly four million pages, far more than any other language, though several languages such as French, German, Spanish and Russian have 800,000 pages or more.


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Wikipedia-Co-Founder-Adding-More-African-Languages-144875665.html#.T3a7VYkspFg.facebook

this boy lacks good comprehension skills. can someone tell him when wikipedia became africa. olodostein

Abinibi yatosi Ability. We are the best !

Yea dats thru....bt pple don't wanna accept fact... You will soon see pple accusing you of tribalism..

speedyboi: Yea dats thru....bt pple don't wanna accept fact... You will soon see pple accusing you of tribalism..

People can say what they want. Facts are facts. It is on NL folks fail to accept that. It is funny when so many nairalanders talk sentimentally these days to assuage their feelings of inferiority complex. They are always quick to disenfranchise the Yorubas ludicrously and without recourse to facts.The most ridiculous thing I have read on NL was Papabrowne's announcement that "Bendelites" are the brightest folks who run Nigeria !!! Rather like saying the Norwegians run the world !!!!! Self-delusion does no one any good. It is like how people relate to Americans. You may despise them but it would be pointless and self-delusional to deny their real world influence and greatness.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/africa/languages/languages-of-africa-at-soas-yorb.html

Languages of Africa at SOAS: Yorùbá
Yorùbá is a Niger-Congo language related to Igala, Edo, Ishan, and Igbo amongst others. It is one of the principal languages of Nigeria and spoken in a couple of countries in the West African coast. An estimated 20+ million people speak Yorùbá as their first language in south western Nigeria and more in the Republics of Benin and Togo. Yorùbá is also spoken by diaspora communities of traders in Cote d'Ivore, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia, and it used to be a vibrant language in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Outside West Africa, millions of people have Yorùbá language and culture as part of their heritage; Yorùbá religion being one of the means of survival in Cuba during the obnoxious slave trade. Many who did not have Yorùbá as their heritage bought into Yorùbá identity through religious conversion. Yorùbá language, culture and religion survived since then until now in Brazil and several other New World countries. A mixture of the old and new decendants of the Yorùbá now live in North America, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Yorùbá is one of the most extensively researched of all sub-Saharan languages and cultures, and has a long tradition of oral verbal production (oral literature) within indigenous cosmopolitan which is receptive of both Islamic and Christian cultures. Yorùbá is one of the many African languages that one is sure to hear people speak in the buses and the underground trains in several parts of London; a BBC reporter has compared Rye Lane in Peckham, South East London, to a mini-Lagos, where one can hear several people speaking loudly in Yorùbá as they go about their shopping. Like many other African languages, Yorùbá is tonal.

https://www.nairaland.com/849594/why-do-we-rate-ibo

Papabrowne wrote:

I don't know where you got that idea. Without question, Ibos and Bendelites have always been known to be the smartest Nigerians in the country!!
They are by far the most successful. They control the Nigerian economy. They produce the best technocrats.
The Lagos economy is run by the Igbos. Pull them out and Lagos would look like Cotonou.

https://www.nairaland.com/849594/why-do-we-rate-ibo/1

Gbawe replied:

What an incredibly ignorant statement. I can only conclude you are "Bendelite" and that is why you speak like this. Even if a case can be made for Igbos having significant influence in the control of the economy of Nigeria, where on earth do you get off arrogating same to "Bendelites"?

What many do not understand is that Yorubas folks are very secure in themselves. They don't feel the need to constantly remind anyone of what they have achieved because they are not driven by an inferiority complex that always leads them to make grandly deluded statement just to gain a sense of validation.

With the nonsense written in cyberspace one would think the Yorubas are simpletons with no influence and achievements. The truth , given what is on ground and can be factually proven, is rather very different and indeed the Yorubas would be more boastful if they were as insecure as others.

I can only deduce enduring and innate inferiority complex as the reason folks like you are quick to give the Yorubas no recognition while arrogating unto yourself things that pander to the wildest delusions of grandeur. Come back and talk about the "Bendelites" being the "smartest" Nigerians when that quality places them in a position of dominance that is borne out by facts no one can dispute.

Show us , with facts, that Bendelites control the Nigerian economy by proving they are the biggest and most influential players in the banking, oil, formal business, Press sector etc, etc. You are just deluding yourself and I cannot be bothered to educate you. I don't need to proclaim the Yorubas smarter or more successful than anyone else but some of you should try and check the latent dislike of the Yorubas that makes you ignore facts to begin talking ignorantly and without recourse to realities on the ground in Nigerian and indeed even the diaspora. I will use only the banking sector to ridicule your nonsense because, frankly, spreading the scope will expose the idiocy of your ridiculous assertion. If 10 out of 24 Bank CEO's are Yoruba (8 Igbos, 2 Northerners, 2 SS and 2 non-Nigerians) where does that leave your claim of Bendelites being the best technocrats? Does cream not rise to the top , even with our problems, in Nigeria as is the case everywhere else in the World ?





NAMES OF NIGERIAN BANK CEO'S

1. Access Bank http:
CEO: Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede(south-south)
Site: http://www.accessbankplc.com/careers

2.Afribank
CEO: Nebolisa Arah(Igbo)
Site: http://www.afribank.com/careers

3. Bank PHB
CEO: Cyril Chukwumah(Igbo)
Site: http://www.bankphb.com/careers

4. Diamond Bank
CEO: Emeka Onwuka(Igbo)
Site: http://www.diamondbank.com/careers

5. Ecobank
CEO: Offong Ambah(south-south)
Site: http://www.ecobank.com/careers

6. ETB
CEO: G.O Falayan(yoruba)
Site: http://www.equitorialtrustbank.com/ careers

7. Fidelity Bank
CEO: Reginald Ihejiahi(Igbo)
Site: http://www.fidelitybankplc.com/careers

8. First Bank
CEO: Stephen Onasanya(yoruba)
Site: http://www.firstbanknigeria.com/careers

9. FCMB
CEO: Ladi Balogun(yoruba)
Site: http://www.firstcitygroup.com/careers

10. FinBank
CEO: Mrs Suzanne Iroche(Igbo)
Site: http://finbankplc.com/careers

11. GT Bank
CEO: Segun Agbaje (yoruba)
Site: http://gtbplc.com/careers

12. Stanbic IBTC
CEO: Chris Newson(foreigner)
Site: http://www.stanbic.com.ng/careers

13. Intercontinental Bank
CEO: Mahmud Lai Alabi(yoruba)
Site: http://intercontinentalbankplc.com/ careers

14. Nigeria Int'l Bank (Citibank)
CEO: Emeka Emuwa(Igbo)
Site: http://www.citigroup.com/careers

15. Oceanic Bank
CEO: John Aboh(North-central, Benue)
Site: http://www.oceanicbanknigeria.com/ careers

16. Skye Bank
CEO: Akinsola Akinfenwa(yoruba)
Site: http://www.skyebankng.com/careers

17. Spring Bank
CEO: Mrs Sola Ayodele(yoruba)
Site: http://www.springbankplc.com/careers

18. Standard Chartered Bank
CEO: Christopher knight(foreigner)
Site: http://www.standardchartered.com/ careers

19. Sterling Bank
CEO: Yemi Adeola(yoruba)
Site: http://www.sterlingbankng.com/careers

20. Union Bank
CEO: Mrs Funke Osibodu(yoruba)
Site: http://www.unionbankng.com/careers

21. UBA
CEO: Phillips Oduoza(Igbo)
Site: http://www.ubagroup.com/careers

22. Unity Bank
CEO: Alhaji Falalu Bello(hausa)
Site: http://www.unitybankng.com/careers

23. Wema Bank
CEO: Segun Oloketuyi(yoruba)
Site: http://www.wemabank.com/careers

24. Zenith Bank
CEO: Jim Ovia(Igbo-delta)
Site: http://www.zenithbank.com/care

is it really true

Congratulations! *clapping*

~Bluetooth:

Abinibi yatosi Ability. We are the best !

Yoruba !!! E yee tan ra yin. Clueless and hopless poeple

heh.

Babasessy: he co-founder of Wikipedia says the languages of Yoruba in West Africa and Swahili in East Africa are the most popular among the several African languages being used on the online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, 45, says Yoruba is the most popular African language for Wikipedia, with 29,000 pages. The Swahili Wikipedia version is second among African languages with 23,000. Other African languages on Wikipedia include Afrikaans, Hausa, and Zulu.

Speaking in Lagos this week, Wales says his website is branching out from English.

"For a long time there was this sort of cultural concern as why do we have to do everything in English. What happens to local culture? Now we [are] going to have both," said Wales.

Wales founded Wikipedia in January 2001. Eleven years later, Wikipedia has become the go-to site for hundreds of millions of internet users seeking information about anything and everything. Its content is generated by thousands of self-appointed editors who write and rewrite the articles in an open, online process.

Wikipedia on has seven active editors working in Yoruba. But Wales hopes that more users for the online encyclopedia will appear in Yoruba as well as other African languages.

“Not everybody speaks English and won't," Wales noted. "So they should have a vibrant life in their own language. And that’s really great because it’s very organic and the internet provides that in a way for very low cost.”

But challenges such as internet connectivity in Africa remain. And Wales notes that getting people to work in languages besides English is not easy. The English version of Wikipedia has nearly four million pages, far more than any other language, though several languages such as French, German, Spanish and Russian have 800,000 pages or more.


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Wikipedia-Co-Founder-Adding-More-African-Languages-144875665.html#.T3a7VYkspFg.facebook

who cares, next topic pls mtcheww Yoruba

More popular than hausa and fula?

But 2bh tho. You've just gotta love d language and its uber rich culture.

Learning other Nigerian languages now tho. I hear hausa is the easiest to learn?? Hmm

Also think the language has that "addictive' -ish to it. That's why, some people from parts of Nigeria, try so hard not to learn/understand or speak it.

Jo o! [Jor o]!!

Ose! [Oshay]!!

lol! One love, One Nigeria jor

Trash.

mkmyers45: More popular than hausa and fula?

yes, when you add people of Yoruba descent outside Africa to the already large numbers in Africa.

I don't think this is anything worth making noise about. Yorubas are known to revere their language wherever they are. Same cannot be said of other Southern Nigerians. There are about 4 million Igbos in Cameroun which puts it as the largest non indigenous ethnic group but yet Igbo language is not so popular in Cameroun.

Jawn:
Yoruba !!! E yee tan ra yin. Clueless and hopless poeple

U jst spoke it urself!!! . Meanwhile, I dnt knw common gudday in Igbo..nd I dnt evn want to....I prefer hausa, its attracts me wen I see pple conversing in hausa....bt igbo puts pple off incase u dnt knw...dats d main reason u av very low amount of speakers in d world..evn Nigeria.

saxywale:

yes, when you add people of Yoruba descent outside Africa to the already large numbers in Africa.

You might be wrong...Hausa has a large of descendants too

4 million igbos in cameroon? I.e., 20% of their population?

doesn't seem likely..

mkmyers45: You might be wrong...Hausa has a large of descendants too

Hausa is only used in the northern parts of west African countries. In addition to the countries listed by poster, their are native Yoruba speakers in brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, barbados and Puerto Rico. The Yoruba summit, a three day conference just ended yesterday and it was held in Benin republic with Yoruba speakers from all around the world in attendance. This same conference was held last year in brazil.

www.newsnet.com.ng/2012/03/yoruba-summit-akure-monarch-leads-others-to-benin-republic/

[/color][color=#990000]you guyz behave like babies.I tot this site was meant for mature mainded people at ur early age u guys insult ur self and fight all the time.I mean what is the purpose of being here self.U guys should better sit down and think of something better so that u become one of those mentioned people rather than wirting rubbish and posting nonsense.

Yeah, you seem to be way off Abagworo. Read this, follow the various references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Cameroon

I really wonder where you got that number from, since it not consistent with more likely sources.

Abagworo is dead wrong on the figure he claimed,and the same goes to 99% of his posts but he will never accept the fact am afraid.

Jawn:
Yoruba !!! E yee tan ra yin. Clueless and hopless poeple

You just affirmed what Jimmy Wales said by typing in Yoruba - wow.

Proudly a yoruba!!...

.....damn it!'lord of little things',so surprise how yorubas are jumping into this forum,just for myopic reasons!that a co-founder of wikipedia made an unguided statement,some people are already putting up an Owambe to celebrate it.how does this affect the price of garri in Onitsha main market!when even the heart of the so called yoruba land'Lagos'is under trait by hausa-fulani Jihadist!

mkmyers45: You might be wrong...Hausa has a large of descendants too

Quite correct, The people of west africa either learn mostly Hausa or Yoruba.

But in terms of africa yes Hausa is more spoken but in world terms Yoruba and spoken well as well.

As many posters have already said, yoruba does not end in Africa but also to south america and Caribbean Islands.

Just like English does not just end in England of French does not just end in France. Same goes to yoruba, dutch etc

So yes the claim might not be far from the truth

Austine.E:
.....damn it!'lord of little things',so surprise how yorubas are jumping into this forum,just for myopic reasons!that a co-founder of wikipedia made an unguided statement,some people are already putting up an Owambe to celebrate it.how does this affect the price of garri in Onitsha main market!when even the heart of the so called yoruba land'Lagos'is under trait by hausa-fulani Jihadist!

Chill, haba

saxywale:

Hausa is only used in the northern parts of west African countries. In addition to the countries listed by poster, their are native Yoruba speakers in brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, barbados and Puerto Rico. The Yoruba summit, a three day conference just ended yesterday and it was held in Benin republic with Yoruba speakers from all around the world in attendance. This same conference was held last year in brazil.

www.newsnet.com.ng/2012/03/yoruba-summit-akure-monarch-leads-others-to-benin-republic/

i attended.

Abagworo: I don't think this is anything worth making noise about. Yorubas are known to revere their language wherever they are. Same cannot be said of other Southern Nigerians. There are about 4 million Igbos in Cameroun which puts it as the largest non indigenous ethnic group but yet Igbo language is not so popular in Cameroun.

too bad. What a waste

Austine.E:
.....damn it!'lord of little things',so surprise how yorubas are jumping into this forum,just for myopic reasons!that a co-founder of wikipedia made an unguided statement,some people are already putting up an Owambe to celebrate it.how does this affect the price of garri in Onitsha main market!when even the heart of the so called yoruba land'Lagos'is under trait by hausa-fulani Jihadist!

if you don't like the fact that Yorubas celebrate themselves, pls help yourself out of your misery by jumping into the lagoon.

ekt_bear: 4 million igbos in cameroon? I.e., 20% of their population?

doesn't seem likely..

pls don't take it serious. Today is april first

Itz April fools, its bogus n false news.


Hausa language is d widest