ans ▁and ▁thus ▁without ▁writing ▁convention ▁they ▁could ▁resort ▁to . ▁Vari ous ▁use ▁was ▁made ▁of ▁letter ▁combinations , ▁modifications , ▁and ▁dia crit ics ▁to ▁represent ▁such ▁sounds . ▁Some ▁resulting ▁orth ograph ies , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Y or uba ▁writing ▁system ▁established ▁by ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 th ▁century , ▁have ▁remained ▁largely ▁int act . ▁ ▁In ▁many ▁cases , ▁the ▁colonial ▁reg imes ▁had ▁little ▁interest ▁in ▁the ▁writing ▁of ▁African ▁languages , ▁but ▁in ▁others ▁they ▁did . ▁In ▁the ▁case ▁of ▁Haus a ▁in ▁Northern ▁Niger ia , ▁for ▁instance , ▁the ▁colonial ▁government ▁was ▁directly ▁involved ▁in ▁determ ining ▁the ▁written ▁forms ▁for ▁the ▁language . ▁ ▁Since ▁the ▁colonial ▁period , ▁there ▁have ▁been ▁efforts ▁to ▁propose ▁and ▁prom ul gate ▁standard ized ▁or ▁at ▁least ▁harm on ized ▁approaches ▁to ▁using ▁the ▁Latin ▁script ▁for ▁African ▁languages . ▁Ex amples ▁include ▁the ▁Standard ▁Al phabet ▁by ▁Le ps ius ▁( mid - 1 9 th ▁century ) ▁and ▁the ▁Africa ▁Al phabet ▁of ▁the ▁International ▁Institute ▁of ▁African ▁L anguages ▁and ▁Cult ures ▁( 1 9 2 8 , ▁ 1 9 3 0 ). ▁ ▁Following ▁independence ▁there ▁has ▁been ▁continued ▁attention ▁to ▁the ▁trans cription ▁of ▁African ▁languages . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁and ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁UN ES CO ▁facil itated ▁several ▁" ex pert ▁meet ings " ▁on ▁the ▁subject , ▁including ▁a ▁sem inal ▁meeting ▁in ▁B am