Meet UNILAG Undergraduate Who Developed Wazobia Bible Application

INNOVATION: Meet UNILAG Undergraduate
Who Developed Wazobia Bible Application
Kayode Sowole, a 400-level Computer
Science student of University of Lagos who
won the ‘Best Student App’ for developing the
Wazobia Bible application which allows
people to read the bible in Pidgin, Hausa,
Igbo, Yoruba and all English translations
offline.
In this interview with Vanguard Learning, he
speaks on his inspiration for application
development. Excerpts.
TELL us about yourself.
12My name is Kayode Sowole. I am from
Sodeke town in Abeokuta, Ogun State. I am
currently a 400-level Computer Science
student of University of Lagos.
I am a highly motivated individual who
always enjoys a good challenge. My interest
in computing since my childhood has been a
major factor in helping me to develop my
programming skills that have led to my high
level of success in mobile app development.
I love developing web and mobile
applications. My leisure activities include
writing, travelling and listening to music.
When did you realise you wanted to become
an App developer?
I made the decision to become a mobile
application developer in my first year in
University of Lagos in 2010 after an online
video training on app development on
YouTube.
So what steps did you take?
I started by downloading and installing the
Java IDE, which the YouTube training had
recommended. I also got the Netbeans IDE
on my laptop. Then, I searched Google for
related e-books and downloaded them on
my laptop for references. From that moment,
I started building Java and Android apps. I
found my kicks in getting online to research
and learning new stuff about app
development.
What was the first app you developed?
The first app I developed is called the
Picpuzzle, a picture puzzle game that
requires the player to rearrange the items in
a picture in the proper order. I had fun
putting that one together.
Where did you get inspiration for the app you
created?
The Holy Spirit was the author of my
inspiration. The thinking behind the app was
that when God communicates with you in
your native language, it seems as if God is
from your town for Him to have been able to
talk to you.
It allows for a closer and deeper transaction
with the Almighty that is very native and
heartfelt. When you read the Yoruba Bible, it
seems as if God is a Yoruba man, which is
true because we are all copies of God’s
image. Language is very powerful.
If you want a people to lose their sense of
identity, all you need to do is to take their
language away from them. As such,
providing the word of God to people in a
language that they can understand is so
powerful and has a very good feeling.
The Wazobia Bible app, affords you the
opportunity to read God’s word in Pidgin,
Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and all English
translations offline. It’s all about creating
value and opportunities for people to access
God’s word.
What were the high points of your
preparation?
The incorporation of the Bible into Bible
programming languages such as THML
(Theological Mark-up Language) and OSIS
(Open Scripture Information Standard) was
the most significant part of my preparation.
The Theological Markup Language is a new
markup language that is being used to mark
up texts for the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library and other projects.
This XML application can be thought of as
HTML with additions for electronic books and
rich digital libraries, with special support for
theological needs such as scripture
references and Strongs numberings.
Also the Open Scripture Information
Standard (OSIS) is an XML application (or
schema), that defines tags for marking up
Bibles, theological commentaries, and other
related literature. These are useful
languages I had to code with to develop the
app.
Did you know that you were going to win?
I was shocked when I received the news of
my win. Someone had called me to tell me I
won because I didn’t attend the presentation.
How do you feel about winning?
This is so comforting and assuring. I feel so
exhilarated. I’m so happy my hard work on
the app has really paid off. This is a reward
for the value I have tried to create by
opening up the word of God to reach more
people in a language they can understand
and appreciate.
How do you plan to maximize the platform
your victory has brought?
I intend to use social networking platforms
like Facebook and Twitter so as to reach out
to a lot of people.
Development of the app
Also the 6 month- promotion of the app
promised by MTN would help popularise the
app.
Could you take us through the start-up
process and its growth trajectory?
I started the project by compiling the Holy
Bible in Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and all
English translations in plain text format.
Next, I built the GUI (Graphical User
Interface) in Eclipse which made the project
about fifty percent ready. After that, I
developed the connection between the Bible
files and the core of the app. At this stage,
the project was seventy five percent
completed.
To complete the development of the app, I
introduced the reading of other documents
such as Bible in one year, Every day in the
word and other Christian books. I also made
a collection of 384 bible verses which will be
highlighted when reading the Bible. At the
end of this stage, Wazobia Bible app was
hundred per cent ready for use.
How have mobile users embraced the app
and what kind of numbers have you churned
out?
Wazobia Bible app has been downloaded
beyond my expectation. The app has had
over 2,800 downloads on MTN App Store.
Have you been able to monetize the
application?
No. It’s a free app for now.
How do you intend to deal with the
competition within the mobile industry?
I intend to introduce other features like
reading the Bible out in audio and in the
selected language such as Igbo, Hausa,
Yoruba and Pidgin.
How would you assess current level of local
mobile applications development?
I think local mobile applications development
is increasing rapidly and a few years from
now, the local mobile applications
development community would have
doubled.
MTN has launched the MTN NextApps store
for various platforms, how will this impact
the development of mobile applications and
related content for mobile uses ?
MTN NextApps store has definitely expanded
the reach of apps to various platforms which
will definitely improve mobile applications
development speedily because it will
encourage developers to port their apps to
several platforms.
Would you say Nigeria has the local capacity
to effectively support the growth and
development of mobile content and
applications?
Not at the moment. We have a lot of talented
students in Nigeria but most cannot even
afford a laptop. Even those who have laptops
have to use N100 from their pocket money
to get 10MB of data to browse. Only a few
can afford to fuel their generators because
there’s no light. As students, we need
laptops, data and electricity to effectively
support the growth and development of
mobile content and applications.
What advice would you have for the
government or corporate bodies in a bid to
strengthen the local mobile application
industry?
The government needs to make electricity
stable to strengthen the local mobile
application industry. Corporate bodies need
to divert the millions they give to music stars
for adverts to buy laptops for secondary
school students who just finished their WAEC
and are awaiting results.