I now understand ‘versioning’ as cultural engineering — where language, images, values, child psychology shape young minds

Associate Professor of the Department of Linguistics, African and Asian Studies, University of Lagos, Osita Gerald Nwagbo, also an Igbo language expert, who participated in the Room to Read and Accessible Publishers adaptation and versioning workshops, expressed his enthusiasm about the project’s transformative impact

What is your assessment of the mother tongue literacy project and what new perspective and knowledge did you gain?
LET me begin with one word: transformational. This collaboration between Room to Read and Accessible Publishers Ltd was not a typical top-down project; it was a co-creative journey. As an Igbo language expert, I came in expecting to contribute, but I left with a completely new framework for how we can use language as a tool for empowerment, not just communication.

Room to Read brought a world-class approach to literacy development while Accessible Publishers brought its deep roots in Nigeria’s publishing and education sector. Together, they created a synergy that allowed us to localize global concepts without compromising cultural integrity or educational quality. I now understand ‘versioning’ not merely as translation, but as cultural engineering — where language, images, values, and child psychology all come together to shape young minds.

How do you plan on incorporating the training into teaching and writing?
The training was an intense, enlightening, and often joyful experience. It was practical — we worked on real texts, real illustrations, and real scenarios. I particularly valued the focus on inclusive storytelling — how to consciously create content that reflects gender balance, disability inclusion, and socioeconomic diversity while still keeping the story fun and readable.

As a university lecturer, I’m already integrating these insights into my course on Indigenous Literature and Literacy Development. I’m designing a new module on early-grade literature in African languages, using the Room to Read versioning process as a case study. In my writing, I’m more intentional about voice, setting, and character representation, things I used to take for granted but now see as critical for a child’s connection to a book.

This is where the magic truly begins! For starters, I have learnt how to mentor students in creative writing projects specifically for early-grade readers in Igbo. I, along with my other colleagues, are planning to launch a student writers’ club focused on producing children’s literature in Nigerian languages. As a writer, I will try to develop a series of culturally embedded storybooks for children in Igbo that reflect urban and rural realities, including intergenerational relationships — something we don’t write about enough in our children’s literature.

Dr. Osita Gerald Nwagbo

What have been the benefits of the training and versioning to early learners and society — culturally, socially, academically and economically?
This initiative is not just about books. It’s about building bridges — between child and culture, between school and home, between tradition and future. For the early learner, seeing their language — Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba — in a colourful, beautifully illustrated storybook is validating. It says, ‘your language matters. Your story matters.’ That message boosts self-esteem and supports deeper engagement in reading.

Culturally, we’re preserving idioms, folktales, and values. Socially, we’re fostering inclusiveness — with characters who are girls, boys, differently abled, rural, urban. Academically, localized content boosts literacy and comprehension. Economically, we’re creating a market for indigenous language publishing, employing writers, illustrators, translators, and educators. It’s a literacy ecosystem that feeds itself — if we sustain it.

What was the quality of training received from Room to Read team?
I have attended many trainings in my academic life, but this one stood out. The Room to Read team didn’t just talk at us — they worked with us. The facilitators were humble yet deeply knowledgeable. Their pedagogy was participatory, interactive, and most importantly respectful of our languages and our cultures.

They brought structure — a clear process for reviewing, adapting, and quality-checking content — yet gave us space to be creative and authentic. They didn’t assume expertise; they encouraged dialogue. And that’s rare. I give them full marks for professionalism, cultural sensitivity, and results-driven engagement.

Any advice would you give to government, stakeholders, policy makers and project partners?
To our governments, stakeholders and policymakers — I say this with urgency: If we want to truly transform education, we must start with the child’s language. We need policies that mandate the use of indigenous languages in early-grade learning, backed with funding, teacher training, and proper materials.

Support must go beyond lip service. Let us invest in mother tongue literacy as a core strategy — not an add-on. I also urge collaboration with academic institutions to standardize and produce culturally relevant curricula and reading materials in local languages.

To Room to Read and Accessible Publishers Ltd — well done! But let’s not stop here. Let’s scale this initiative to more states, more languages. Let’s build a national coalition for early-grade literacy