Ikeoluwa Abioye, a Nigerian tech whiz is the brains behind Alarino, a new digital platform designed to accurately translate and write Yoruba, focusing on the crucial tone marks that give the language its true meaning.
From Academic Star to Tech Innovator
Ikeoluwa first made headlines in 2017. At just 15 years old, attending Starfield Schools in Iju, Lagos State, she achieved an extraordinary feat: nine A1s (Distinctions) in her West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Her impressive results covered a wide range of subjects, including Mathematics, English, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Civic Education, Catering, Biology, and ICT. The publicity from this accomplishment opened doors for her.
“After it was published, I received calls from education consulting agencies interested in helping me study abroad,” Ikeoluwa recalled.
“While I didn’t go with any of them, the experience sparked the idea that studying in the U.S. was possible—and it gave me the confidence to pursue it. Financial concerns were a real issue, but I eventually secured a full financial aid package to attend Dartmouth College.”
At Dartmouth, she pursued Computer Engineering, a perfect fit for her passion for hardware, software, and machine learning. This education equipped her with the skills to turn innovative ideas into reality.
The Genesis of Alarino: Addressing a Linguistic Gap
While studying in the U.S., Ikeoluwa faced a common challenge for speakers of tonal languages: Google Translate and similar tools often lacked the diacritics (tone marks) essential for accurate Yoruba translation.
“I often needed to recall Yoruba words or confirm meanings. I turned to Google Translate and similar tools, but most of them lacked proper tone marks,” she explained.
“In Yoruba, diacritics aren’t optional; they determine meaning. Without them, the same letters could mean completely different things.”
Recognizing this critical gap, Ikeoluwa leveraged her tech expertise to create Alarino. The platform’s core function is to build a comprehensive dataset of properly diacritized Yoruba words.
Her inspiration stemmed from a broader realization at Dartmouth: African languages are often underserved by technology, overlooking their unique linguistic and cultural needs.
“Our needs are unique, and our languages are frequently left out of global tech innovations,” she noted.
As president of the African Students Association at Dartmouth, Ikeoluwa helped build a support network for African students. This experience further highlighted the significant, often overlooked audience in Africa and the diaspora whose linguistic and cultural needs aren’t met by mainstream tech. “That awareness drives my work. And I want to build tools that speak directly to that gap,” she stated.
Alarino’s Vision: Quality and Accessibility
Though Alarino began as a personal solution for Ikeoluwa, it has evolved into a mission to serve the broader African community. “I want Alarino to become the world’s largest and most reliable Yoruba translation platform. That means expanding our data through both machine learning techniques and human contributions while always maintaining quality,” she affirmed.
Beyond just a dictionary, Ikeoluwa envisions Alarino powering a new generation of Yoruba-focused applications, including “voice assistants, educational tools, mobile keyboards, and even real-time AI translators.”
She is committed to ensuring Alarino is a trusted resource for learning and understanding Yoruba, where users can be confident in the accuracy of translations and spellings. By showcasing what’s possible with culturally informed tech tools, she hopes to encourage more innovation and visibility for African languages.
For now, Alarino https://alarino.com/ is a public service tool, a free resource reflecting Ikeoluwa’s commitment to preserving underserved languages in the tech space. She has no plans to charge for its use.
About Ikeoluwa Abioye
Ikeoluwa Abioye, currently a software engineer based in the U.S., first gained prominence in 2017 for her remarkable academic performance, securing nine A1s in the WASSCE. The following year, she scored 305 in Nigeria’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). An indigene of Irepodun Local Council of Osun State, Ikeoluwa’s long-held dream of studying Computer Engineering at a top institution like MIT or Harvard has been realized through her journey at Dartmout