Philip "Tete" Akoda (born 1 May 1996) is a Nigerian author, lexicographer, and entrepreneur.Negroid Haven, 2023Vanguard Nigeria, 2024 He has written several literary and reference works relating to African languages, including publications on the Efik language and a descriptive thesaurus of the Yorùbá language.Akoda, 2023Institute of Translation and Interpreting, January 2026 bulletin He is the founder and chief executive officer of Nkanda, an educational technology startup focused on the digital documentation and preservation of African languages and cultures.Public Presentation of the Book: Groundwork of Eniong Abatim History Through Nkanda, Akoda has developed mobile language-learning and dictionary applications, including the first Efik language learning app on Google Play, as well as a bilingual Efik–English dictionary containing over 14,000 entries.Role Model of the Week: Developer of the First Efik Language Learning App on Google Play
Biography Philip was born in Calabar, Nigeria, in May 1996. He is a great-grandson of Edidem Bassey Eyo Ephraim Adam III. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree (first class honours) in Business and Management from the University of Derby (2024). Before his studies at the University of Derby, Philip had previously attended the University of Essex during this time, he founded the AFLANG project (later known as Nkanda) and developed the first Efik Language Learning App.Imminent Research Grants – Projects Awarded Due to the novel mobile app, Philip was invited to the UK House of Parliament to speak at the Black History Month event.Our Youngest Ever Speaker At Our Black History Event, House Of Parliament, 22 Year Old Philip Akoda, Prepared To Take Centre Stage This Friday The 27th
Literary works As an author, Philip has published several literary works which have greatly contributed to Efik literature including Learn Efik 1-2 which were his earliest literary works. Due to his knowledge on Efik history, Philip also co-authored Groundwork of Eniong Abatim History (1670-2020) with his mother, Prof Winifred Eyoanwan Akoda. Groundwork of Eniong Abatim History (1670-2020) focuses on the history of Eniong Abatim, an Efik-speaking community in the lower Cross River region of Nigeria. In 2022, Philip published A 21st Century Efik pocket Dictionary: Efik - English, English - Efik. Philip's publications have been adopted in several schools across Calabar, Nigeria.Andem, 2023 Beyond the Cross River region, Philip authored Ìṣura Ọ̀rọ̀ Yorùbá: A Comprehensive Yorùbá Thesaurus, a descriptive thesaurus focused on the Yorùbá language and its semantic structure. The work has been cited in discussions on African lexicography and digital language preservation.Institute of Translation and Interpreting, January 2026 bulletinAdeyemi, 2026
Digital contributions Outside the literary space, Philip has championed several digital projects aimed at preserving and promoting African Languages and Cultures. Through Nkanda, he has published language learning applications for African Languages such as Ndebele, Oromo and Fante.Chaparadza, 2018 One of Philip's most major contributions to the digital space was the Tete Efik Dictionary App.Tete Efik Dictionary The Tete Efik Dictionary App is an Efik-English/English-Efik mobile dictionary app. Named after Philip whose Efik name is Tete, the app boasts of over 4,000 Efik words and 10,000 English words. It greatly stands out in the digital space due to the intricate details contained in the app some of which include phonemic transcription, definitions, sentence examples, synonyms, antonyms, history & etymology and audio pronunciations. In addition to the Tete Efik Dictionary App, Philip also spearheaded the development of the Yoruba Dictionary App. Released in 2024, the Yoruba Dictionary app contains extensive lexical data, including definitions, phonemic transcriptions, synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, and hyponyms, along with audio pronunciations from native speakers. The app includes dialectal variations from over 12 Yoruba dialects, making it one of the most comprehensive digital resources for the Yoruba language. In 2025, Nkanda was awarded the imminent research grant to build its unified multilingual dictionary platform which will host Efik, Yoruba and Hausa Languages on debut.
Awards & Recognition 2025 - Imminent Innovation Grant in Language Technology (Nkanda, Under Philip's leadership).MultiLingual 2025 - Association of Language Companies in Africa (ALCA) Outstanding Contribution to African Languages Award.ALCA 2025: Africa’s Role in the Global Language Services Industry 2024 - Mastercard Foundation FAST Program for Startups (Nkanda, Under Philip's leadership).
Publications Ìṣura Ọ̀rọ̀ Yorùbá: A Comprehensive Yorùbá Thesaurus (2025), . A 21st Century Efik Pocket Dictionary: Efik–English, English–Efik (2022), . Groundwork of Eniong Abatim History (1670–2020) (2021), . Learn Efik Vol. 1 (2021), . Learn Efik Vol. 2 (2021), .
References
Bibliography