Photo of Issahaku Tudor Abass. Image by Shahadusadik, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed).
By Sadik Shahadu
This interview is part of a series highlighting the personal journeys of language activists who are also Wikimedians, exploring how they preserve, promote, and revitalize their languages through Wikimedia projects and digital tools. In this article, Sadik Shahadu interviews Issahaku Tidoo Abass, a professional teacher and dedicated Wikimedian from Tamale, Ghana. Abass shares his experiences in contributing to the Dagbani Wikipedia and his efforts to document and share knowledge in his native language, Dagbani, a Gur language spoken by approximately 1.1 million people in northern Ghana.
Sadik Shahadu (SS): Please tell us about yourself.
Issahaku Abass (IA): My name is Issahaku Tidoo Abass, and I am from Tamale, Ghana. I am a Dagbana by tribe, which means my native language and mother tongue is Dagbani, a Gur language largely spoken by the Dagomba people in northern Ghana. I am a member of the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group with Wikimedia. I joined the Wikimedia movement in January 2023, and I have made over 35,811 contributions on all Wikimedia projects. My contributions are largely focused on Dagbani Wikipedia, English Wikipedia and mostly Wikidata, where I contribute significantly to expanding lexicographical data in Dagbani on Wikidata. I am a teacher with the Ghana Education Service and currently on study leave, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology at the University for Development Studies. Through my contributions to Dagbani Wikipedia, I have earned a number of awards, such as thesecond top contributor for the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana contest and thewinner for the Afrocreative WikiProject. I was voted as the Wikimedian of the Year for the Dagbani Wikimedia community and theoverall winner of the Wikimedian of the Year 2025 awards ceremony organized by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group.
SS: What is the current status of your language offline and on the internet?
IA: Dagbani is spoken by approximately 1.1 million people, primarily in northern Ghana. It is the most widely spoken language in the Northern Region and serves as a lingua franca among various ethnic groups in the area. Dagbani is part of the Gur language family and is closely related to other Mabia (Gur) languages like Mampruli and Moore. However, literacy in Dagbani is lower than in English, and written materials such as books and newspapers are limited in Dagbani. Most knowledge is orally transmitted to the younger generation.
While there is more Dagbani content online, its representation on the internet is still limited.Dagbani Wikipedia,launched in 2021, is now one of the most significant online resources in Dagbani, containing over 11,000 articles and an expanding volunteer base. Dagbani is one of the most integrated languages on Wikidata in Africa, with over 12,400 lexemes created by the community. Last year I was one of the individual microgrant recipients that helped us to clean hundreds of lexemes on Wikidata as part of our efforts to improve the quality of lexemes in Dagbani. While many recordings of Dagbani words and cultural performances of the Dagomba people have been uploaded on Wikimedia Commons, more articles, Wikipedia editors, and digital resources are still needed. Social media, YouTube, and educational platforms have inadequate Dagbani content.
SS: What are some of the challenges you face in preserving your language on Wikimedia Foundation projects, and how have you overcome some of them?
**IA:**The most common challenges we face are mostly related to internet connectivity and the cost of internet data. Other challenges are related to translating technical terms in Dagbani on translatewiki.net.
We have a small number of active editors, making it difficult to maintain and expand content, as recruiting and retaining volunteers is a challenge. Also, there are limited written literature and digital resources, such as dictionaries or grammar guides, making it hard to find reliable sources for citation.
To address these challenges, the community has implemented several solutions to support the growth and sustainability of Dagbani Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. We engage language experts and collaborate with language students and teachers to create a structured approach for translating technical terms on translatewiki.net. As an experienced editor, I collaborate with the community to organize regular edit-a-thons, training programs, and community engagement events to attract new volunteers and also improve the skills of existing contributors.
Through these efforts, we are steadily overcoming challenges and strengthening the presence of Dagbani on Wikimedia projects, ensuring that future generations can access and engage with knowledge in their native language.
SS: What motivates you personally to engage in digital activism for your language?
IA: Bridging the knowledge gap. Many African languages, including Dagbani, lack sufficient online representation, which motivates me to document Dagbani content on Wikipedia and its sister projects. Last year, I was voted the Dagbani Wikimedian of the year and the overall Wikimedian of the year 2025. These recognitions keep me highly motivated to contribute more.
Empowering local communities is another reason why I engaged in digital activities to help provide educational materials in Dagbani, which will enable more people to learn in their native language.
I believe that contributing to Wikimedia projects will allow me to leave a lasting impact by making knowledge freely accessible in the Dagbani language. Digital activism can also open doors for me for networking, funding, and career growth.
SS: Can you describe your online language activism in more detail, including how Wikimedia projects contribute to your efforts?
IA: As one of the active editors of the Dagbani Wikipedia, I have regularly translated articles from the English Wikipedia to the Dagbani Wikipedia. Last year I co-organized a series of edit-a-thon contests to clean up Dagbani lexemes on Wikidata. It is always my pleasure to create and edit lexemes, adding statements and also linking Wikipedia articles to their respective Wikidata items.
Also, our natural language processing project, which was supported by Ghana Natural Language Processing (NLP), has helped us record and upload Dagbani audio data to Wikimedia Commons and is currently being used as pronunciation audio for Lexemes statements on Wikidata. This, I believe, will help to ensure the preservation of oral traditions and also help non-native speakers of the Dagbani language to know how those words are pronounced.
As one of the guest facilitators for our flagship program, I have developed my presentation skills as well as improved my confidence when I sit in front of a camera. The Dagbani Wikipedia Saha has been one of the innovative approaches we have identified to recruit more volunteers and also educate the general public about Wikipedia and its sister projects. The Dagbani Wikipedia Saha is a tele-education program that is being implemented by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group to train volunteers using digital TV for volunteers who can not attend in-person events due to distance and time. The program is aired on Sagani TV and also streamed on Facebook and YouTube.
Through Dagbani Wikimedians User Group Wikimedia projects, Dagbani is gaining a stronger digital footprint, making it easier for future generations to access and learn their native language.