African-American Educator Keeps Nigerian Writing System Alive Using Children’s Book

Posted by Eric Ojo Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, October 12th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Chinua Mosley, an African-American ed-tech educator and artist, made history recently when he revived a century-old Nigerian writing system using children’s book.

Mosley, who is a native of Lithonia, Georgia, and currently teaching in the United Arab Emirate (UAE), launched his 43-page unique children book entitled, “Nsibiri Anatomy”, with a mission to bring back this historic South Nigerian writing system.

Keeping the core of his pedigree as an educator and advocate for representation, the author ensured that the book doubles as an educational resource and positive imagery tool for children, families, and educators alike.

Notably, it is an educational tool for those to learn Igbo, Nsibiri, and even English all at once. This book is designed for English-speaking families to learn the Nsibiri symbols starting from the basics.

The multilingual book takes care of all of these needs as well as being fun, educational, and visually striking. The characters are pictured learning different body parts along with facts about each. Readers will discover the English word for each body part on the left-hand side of the page while learning the Igbo translation and Nsibiri symbol on the right-hand side.

Words along with matching symbols accompany each teaching. Mosley has included pronunciation breakdowns in the book to assist readers with the prounciations of the Igbo words. The picture book features characters that are children of color. He hopes to inspire children across the African diaspora to learn the language and writing.

By and large, Black parents and educators across the world now have another children’s book to add to their bookshelves that benefits the whole family and community

While many people today still speak Igbo in the modern world, Nsibiri is being left behind. According to the author, who is also a technology and design educator, the writing system created in 400 AD is on the decline.

“Nsibiri is an African writing system that originated in Nigeria and it uses symbols to stand for entire words”, he said.

Interestingly, his vision aligns with the Nigerian graphic designer, Chiadikobi’s mission to bring back Nsibiri via fonts and a dictionary.
Being an advocate of representation and culture, Mosley noted that there is also a lack of melanin in children’s books, adding that even among the books that do have diversity there is a lack of “darker skin”.

“Black children across the diaspora will get to discover how to write new words in Nsibiri while encouraging parents to keep African culture by sharing the traditional writing system”, he added.

The author equally knows Black families and educators will get to embrace their multicultural roots by learning Nsibiri from Nsibiri Anatomy. “Adults may enjoy learning the language and writing with their children”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, Nsibiri Anatomy (ISBN: 979- 8-9860644-0-6), the language and writing-focused children’s book is currently available via Amazon.

Parents who would like their children to connect to their African roots, and educators who are looking to sustain African traditions can learn more about the book by visiting Chinua Mosley’s Amazon author page.