Chioma Ekeoma, founder of Adaoma Igbo Language Services (ADILS), an e-learning platform on a mission to restore and promote the use of the Igbo language on the lips of its natives and interested persons globally.
The e-learning platform has taught the language to students (children and adults) across the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, UAE, Ivory Coast, Dublin, and Nigeria, helping them to understand the Igbo language and communicate in it.
Chioma Ekeoma shared with Today Africa about her entrepreneurial journey.
What inspired you, a certified medical lab scientist, into becoming an Igbo language tutor?
(laughs) I am laughing because I get to hear that question over and over and over again. So I’m not surprised to hear it again today. If I’m permitted, I want to say an Igbo proverb. There’s a saying in Igbo that says “awo adighị agba ọsọ ehihie n’efu”. Meaning that there is a reason, something costs another.
Pardon me. I’m all over Igbo. Everything around me is Igbo so any opportunity I see to express myself in Igbo. I don’t hesitate. So what inspired me despite the fact that I’m a certified medical laboratory scientist.
First of all, before I became a medical laboratory scientist, let’s say I was first a teacher. Now, if we are to talk about religion, some people call it in the scriptures, it’s called motivational gifts. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.
There are some that can clip on you. Like when they are done clipping, you won’t even want to match wherever they clipped. So teaching is one of my motivational gifts. Like it’s something that flows naturally. It’s something I do without stress. There are some things you do without stress.
Even if someone wakes you by 12 midnight, you deliver. So that’s how teaching is for me and let’s say members of my family. My mom and all her siblings but one are teachers and they taught till retirement age.
If I should take down memory lane a bit, I remember doing as in primary school, even secondary school. I’ll go get modern biology. Learn about, let’s say, the ear or the eye. Study it on my own. Understand it and teach my classmates in class without having a handout or any notebook.
So it’s something that is in me. That’s the first part. Before I went to the university to be trained as a med lab scientist, I’ve already started teaching since primary school, secondary school, and even there in the medical school.
There are some concepts that may not really be so clear. My classmates will come, Chomy please, I didn’t understand this and the other one. And by the grace of God, since it’s something that is in me and I love sharing knowledge too, no need hoarding knowledge.
Because that thing you feel you know, someone knows it much more than you. So why hoard it? I’ll teach my classmates and it continued. After graduating and being inducted into our council as a medical laboratory scientist, now let’s get down to where did this Igbo start?
My inspiration to delve into Igbo completely can be traced to three things. First one, my daughter. You’ll be wondering, how did my daughter come into the picture? I’m going to explain.
Then an article I saw online some years ago either 2020 or 2021. But it’s just that I didn’t know why I didn’t maybe screenshot or get the link of that article. And then the third reason is a life regret.
Let me combine the three. For the records, I’m a mom of three. So when my first daughter entered primary one, like grade one. So going through her schoolwork, I saw different versions of English. I saw diction, I saw reading and comprehension, and creative writing.
I saw like four different English language lesson notes and I’m like when we went to primary school we didn’t have this kind of setting. We probably had only one English lesson note but they had up to four or five. I can’t count the number again but I don’t have any problem with them learning those forms.
What would now hold my attention is the fact that I didn’t see any Nigerian language in all the subjects they offered. So the next day, when I went to pick her up from school, I went to meet the headmistress to query her, like, how come your school doesn’t teach any Nigerian language?
She said, ah, madam, well, let her tell me the truth. I said, go ahead, I’m all ears. She said that, first of all, that it was really hard to get Nigerian language teachers then. They are all over the place now compared to some five years ago, six years ago, seven years ago.
That it was really hard for her school to get one language teacher. Then after the whole trying, she finally got an Igbo language teacher and introduced Igbo language in her school. But along the line, okay, for the records, I live in Port Harcourt.
You know that Port Harcourt is not really an Eastern state, it’s not part of the Eastern state so Igbo is not primarily spoken here. We have people from different states, Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Yoruba, Delta.
So when she introduced Igbo language in the school, parents from other ethnic groups were kicking against the idea. And they were like, I’m from this particular place. Why will my child learn Igbo? If you should teach Igbo in your school, bring this teacher, bring Yoruba teacher, bring Hausa teacher, bring Efik teacher so that my kids will learn our language.
And you’re not going to blame them. People have different orientation and different mindsets. So you’re not going to blame them. After the whole kicking, front and back, she now had to remove Nigerian languages. When she explained that to me, I now told myself, wait, being a mom, I got to know that children socialize at home, in school, and in church.
Now, she won’t get Igbo language from school, obviously, because they don’t teach. Now, church is once a week, majorly and you still have different people from different places. It’s ruled out too in church. So meaning that the home is the only place remaining if my kids can speak Igb.
Because it’s the only place they will be exposed to the language. I now made a conscious decision that day and said, the way I teach them English and mathematics, I will personally start teaching them Igbo language. That was the daughter part of the inspiration.
Now, within that same period, I saw that article that had the research that Igbo language is one of the languages at the risk of being extinct. I think the record says it will be in 2025. And I’m like, for something to go extinct, that means it’s no longer, it won’t be in existence.
Meaning that in the next five, 10 years, if I tell somebody, “chere, a na m abịa”, the person will tell me, what did you say? So I’ll talk to someone in Igbo and the person will not understand me. I said, the same Igbo that my parents taught me and I can speak.
Even our forefathers will not be happy with our generation if such a thing happens. Because this is transgenerational. They taught us. So it’s on us to pass it to the next generation. So that’s the article part of it.
Then the third one was now a life regret. Why did I call it a life regret? My dad of blessed memory spoke five languages fluently. My dad spoke Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, pidgin English, and correct English. So whenever he comes home, he will want to teach us Yoruba and Hausa.
But you know kids who say no, we don’t want to learn. We are Igbos. Why are we learning Hausa? I remember those days my dad would teach us “daya, biyu uku, hudu, biyar, shida, bakwai, takwas, tara, goma”. These are numbers in Hausa. I’m even surprised I still remember them after over 30 years, right.
Growing up now, I got to see the wonders knowing a language can do. Because when you speak to someone in the person’s language, there is this connection that is deep, unlike someone that doesn’t understand the language. So these three things culminated and inspired me more in transitioning into Igbo language.
And then I could say that when I started teaching Igbo, I had in mind that it should just be a side hustle. Of course, I’m a medical practitioner and I know my union. So I had it to just be a side hustle. Well, along the line, I saw that this is a huge problem.
Sincerely, it’s a huge problem that you’ll see adults that are like, please, I want to learn this Igbo. My parents didn’t teach me and I get mocked by my age mates. They’ll tell me, ordinary bia, you don’t know. They receive lots of insults and mockery.
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And in today’s world, when you see a problem and you are able to create a solution, that’s business for you. I had an influx of demand. The demand was so much that I even had teachers, people under me that joined in the business.
So conclusively, teaching Ibo right now fits so well in my life because one, I love to teach. It’s natural and then being a mom of three, it gives me the time to take care of my kids because I so much believe that it’s better and easier to train a child than to correct an adult.
If you don’t get it right now, you are in for something you may not be able to handle in the next 10 years. Yes. So that’s exactly why I transitioned. It’s my gift and my passion. It gives me time and of course, it yields income.
What were the challenges that you faced in the beginning of starting up your business and how did you overcome them?
Every business has its own challenges and mine is not an exception. So when I started, the first basic challenge I had was being able to persuade potential clients of the effectiveness of online classes. You know, five years ago, six years ago, online teaching wasn’t as rampant as it is now. That’s correct.
People weren’t really learning online. I think it was during that period of COVID that the whole online teaching skyrocketed. Then it was a bit of a challenge for me to persuade a potential client because they believe that online class may not really be as effective as the traditional one-on-one learning. That was the major challenge.
But I thank God that some parents decided to give it a trial. And when they gave it a trial, they saw that it was very effective. Because for a class to be effective, the style of teaching, the method of engagement, all these factors contribute to a class being effective.
And guess what? Those parents that believed in me, their kids became my testimonial and they brought me more clients. They’ll say, oh, do you think it’s even possible? You say, yes, so if not, how did my child learn this?
Some of the parents will tell me only this one month of learning Igbo, my kids are beginning to greet me in Igbo, say some basic things at home, which they never knew from Adam, meaning that they got all from the online class. That was the major one.
Then again, for the fact that Igbo language doesn’t really have lots of digital resources, that was a challenge too, as when compared to other languages like French, English, Spanish, these ones have been there for ages. But Igbo, there were little or no resources online that someone that is just starting out can use and now build on.
I had to engage the core educationalist at least and we put heads together and drafted a curriculum that’s a blend of audio, visuals, text, games, conversational classes, animations and all that. Let’s say I created some of my resources from scratch and then with time, sourced some more resources and added them up to them.
Then another challenge was the time zone difference. I’m on a mission to restore and promote the use of Igbo language, but a greater percentage of people that need the service like the target audience are usually those in diaspora.
Even though people outside the South East also need it, it’s not as strong as people in diaspora, how quick they really need it. But permit me to say, me we again, they will say, “O weghi ụzọ eji ga Onitsha dị nso”. There is no easy way of making money.
The challenge and the sacrifice I had to pay then was to wake up in the night because look at a place like Canada. Some of the provinces have up to eight hours difference when compared to Nigeria. Meaning that most times I teach them from 11 p.m, 12, 1, 2, and even 3 a.m. So initially it was a challenge, but with planning I overcame them.
So imagine coming to the class, I see your teacher is nodding. Every time you see a teacher nodding, you’ll just tell your parents, mommy, that Igbo teacher is sleeping in class. So with planning, I was able to sort that one out.
And again, internet, you know that somehow you can compare our internet connection to the much more developed countries. I started with a normal phone Wi-Fi, then gradually to having a more stable network connection.
By the grace of God, network connection isn’t a problem anymore. The time zone difference, my body’s already used to it. Even during Christmas, somehow unconsciously, those times I will wake up because I’ve done the business for years.
And finally, light. Of course, we’re in Nigeria. You know how wonderful our light system is. We speak about our nation anywhere we find ourselves. So our light conditions are wonderful. Those early days when they really want to show their wonderful aspects, by the grace of God, I have a standby generator that works well.
Sometimes I switch to my generator, then along the line, I had to get solar energy. I installed solar energy in my home. So I don’t have any problem with lights anymore. So if there is no P-H-E-D, there is a generator. If there is no generator, there is solar. During the rainy season, if the solar is not giving, the generator will give.
So anyhow, I must be in class. So those are the challenges and I’m glad I’ve been able to sort them out.
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What strategies did you use in attracting and retaining your clients?
First of all, there is always the trial phase. The first strategy is, I’ll always offer my prospects trial class. Why do I do that trial class? It’s for you to test and see. If you come to class and someone teaches you for one more hour, truth be told, you should be able to know if this person is a good teacher or not.
So once I tell them, if you feel that online class may not really be effective, what about we do maybe a three hour trial class? You don’t pay the full money. Just pay for the one, two, or three hours.
And the thing is that before they are done with the one hour, they are blown away. Some of them, before I wake up they’ve paid for the 20 hours just after doing the first one hour. Test and see. If you think that we are a good fit, then we continue. But if you think we are not a good fit, bye bye, see you later. That is it. So that’s the first strategy.
The second strategy is that referral part. Because I believe that this is a problem, especially for people in the diaspora. So if you’re able to see an instructor that by the grace of God is helping your kids learn and speak Igbo. It’s not bad if you share the good news with others.
I get lots of, hello, so and so person gave me your contact. I heard you taught so and so person. So the referral system works wonders for me. Even some of the associations of NDIGBO, I teach in diaspora because apart from family, one-on-one classes, I also teach groups of learners.
Some of those groups came via referrals from parents that taught their kids. Then again my social media presence, especially LinkedIn. I post informational and educational content on Igbo language. And when I’m done with some of this content, people come to my inbox and say, oh, I love the way you explain this like I’m a five-year-old. I understood it.
The way you broke down the concept, that’s so nice. So the social media aspect of it also helped in getting clients. And then at some point, I invested in adverts, to advertise myself because you can be wonderful, you can be nice, but if you don’t have visibility, forget it.
Someone you’re even much better than we’d be getting leads here and there. So I also invested in advertisements. These are the ways I was able to strategize to gain and retain my clients.
Are your classes live or recorded classes?
My lessons are life classes. Apart from teaching Ibo, I also offer course creation as a service. For example, I have a company in Europe. There we are looking for an Igbo language course creator after their whole advert and the whole interview, they told me I was their best fit.
Maybe their whole interview process, they saw that I was just the best fit. So they gave me the gig of creating a full beginner Igbo language course for them. It’s on sale on Udemy. So I created the course for them. Now do you know the beautiful thing about this course?
According to someone, let me not say it myself because I know what I did in the course. But someone neutral went to Udemy, got the course and was blown away. Do you know that this adult learner had to trace me because I introduced myself as the course creator. So he had to trace me down to LinkedIn and sent me a message that God will bless me that he was born in the UK.
And he has been looking for ways to learn Igbo. He will go to YouTube sometimes, the content is not structured. You learn greetings today. You learn phrases tomorrow. But the course took him step by step by step. We do nouns today, pronouns, verbs, merge them, sentence formation.
The course was so wonderful that he had to look for who created it. Then when he did a Google search, he saw my LinkedIn profile. He now came to my inbox just to say thank you for creating such a course for NDIGBO to have access to.
But my personal classes are life, one on one, so that if they have questions, they’ll be able to express themselves and get the best out of it. Yes, the course is also effective, but if you have your question, you don’t have me live to answer. So that’s just the difference between the two.
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What are some of the challenges that you have seen these learners face and how is your course structured to help them overcome these challenges?
The challenge I may say they have, but not all learners, will be the pronunciation. You know that as this is a language class, we need the tongue. It should be very oral. Sometimes they face it with words that have blends. What do I mean blends? Blends are the Igbo alphabet, those ones that are double, like kp, ch, kw, those ones that are double.
Now, owing to the fact that these alphabets are not in English, they are entirely new to them. Sometimes they find it difficult to pronounce those words. But do you know one thing I tell them? You were born and bred in the US. There’s no way you’ll compare your Igbo to me that have spent over 30 years in the East.
I’m not saying that you will not speak well. You will speak well. But it’s just like me coming to compete with a Chinese person and speaking China when I’ve never been to China. Maybe I just took a course to learn Chinese in three months, and I want to compete with a native Chinese speaker.
So what I do is repetition. I keep repeating it till they pick the right sound. Then again, sometimes I let some of them slide. Do you know why? When I let them slide, depending on the learner, because you know that learning is personalized.
If I notice that this learner is someone that needs a lot of pampering, I can let this slide so that the person doesn’t lose interest at the moment. Because they may kind of get discouraged. So sometimes I let those ones slide.
Then by the time they are like, oh, this Igbo, I can’t do without this Igbo. This Igbo is everything I’ve got. I’ll now point them back. And before you know it, some of them, since they’ve already fallen in love with the language, the manner of teaching, they now get much more open to get those corrections well.
Then again, while learning, I watch those students. They now want to pronounce something like, “kw agba ọsọ” and they say something like, “aba ọsọ”. They correct themselves by pronouncing the right and once they do it I clap them.
Because they themselves have noted that they didn’t get it right and corrected themselves. So that showed that learning took place and they have unconsciously improved in that aspect.
What are the roles technology and the learning platforms play in your business?
The world is a global village now and we are in the tech era. We cannot keep a blind eye to tech in education. That simply means that since we are in tech now, tech should also be incorporated in learning even Igbo.
Sometimes when I want to onboard my learners and the parents are like, oh, how does this Igbo learning work? I explained down to telling them that we even play games. They’d be like, eh, games in Igbo. How do you plan to achieve that?
And funny enough, they would be like let me enter this class and know how this lady will play games in Igbo. How is that possible? But when they come, they see that it is much more possible. And they enjoy it.
First of all, let me talk about gamification since they are related. So one of the ways tech has really helped me is I incorporate lots of gamification in my class, especially for the very younger kids.
But over the years, I discovered that even adults want the game. When they’re done with the lesson, they will say, Onyenkuzi, any game. I will be like see this father wants a game. One day, I introduced one game to my 12-year-old student in the US. Immediately, I shared my screen. He said, oh my god, I used this to learn about US history.
I said, huh? He said, yes, my history teacher here in the US use this to teach us about US history and we learned it real quick. And I said, oh, that means using this will make you learn Igbo real quick too. He said, yes.
In the child’s mind, I use this tool to learn about the history of the US and I come to Igbo class and I see the same tool. That means there is something about this Igbo I really need to learn. And only that got him glued till the end of the class.
First of all, I use gamification and there are lots of websites and apps that support Igbo letters, even though it’s not as many as normal letters. Because those dots and punctuations are in Igbo. There are some websites that don’t really support them.
Then I also use tech in creating my content, especially videos. Because whenever you are learning, you should have the text, you should have visuals, and you can also make it move like animation. For example, you want to say something like “ga” which means go.
If you’re able to animate a leg that is moving, somehow it will stick in the mind of the learner. So I use tech in creating my content. I use gamification a lot. Then even the mode of learning, Google Meet and Zoom are tech tools. These are the ways I use tech in my class.
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What advice would you give to others, especially women who want to start their business?
Whatever idea it has the ability to grow, provided you invest in it. Sometimes when we say investment, we think it’s only money. No, money is not the only thing to invest in a business. You invest your time. I remember sometimes I would Google tech tools to use. And I see them. Next thing, I go to YouTube. How do you use this? That’s investment.
And by the time I see two, three, four videos, I know how to use a tech tool. I practice it and I test them with my children, I always practice things with them. I use the other laptop, and tell them to log in, and I practice with them. And it’s working. So next time, I will use it in my class.
Any woman that has any business idea, do not say that, oh, having kids is a disservice. It’s not because I’m a proud mom. And till tomorrow, I love being a mom. I love being a wife. It’s still part of achievement. Do not feel that having kids will kind of deter you. The only thing is that it may slow you down. Or even if you are slowed down a bit, you are not stopped.
Because till tomorrow, even though I have a thriving business, it’s my family first. I don’t joke with them. My family first before the business. So if any lady, any woman has any idea, go for it. Plan yourself.
You see how I just told you how my typical day goes? Time for food, time for content. Just plan yourself. Plan your 24 hours in such a way that you have your business working and you have your family working too. And if it gets overwhelming, outsource.
You don’t need to get all the profit yourself. I have teachers that work with me. So instead of me eating the whole morning, I outsource it. Give them my material so that they have the same quality of content and they work for me.
Sometimes I need the services of a designer, even though I can do one or two designs. But I still outsource it. so that I can have time for some other things I really need to do. So whatever the idea is, go for it, plan yourself and by the grace of God with the right resources and investment, you’ll scale through.
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