It was fascinating reading about the Vai script and the many conversations around its origins. It is used by the Vai people who speak the Vai language, one of the Mande groups and Mande languages. They are currently located in Liberia, with a small number in Sierra Leone, having migrated at some point from northeast of there. The traditional origin story is that an elder named Bukele received the script in a dream and implemented it in the 1830s among his people. There seem to be some symbols in the script, however, with more ancient origins (possibly as inscriptions in Mali, where the Vai would have migrated from). And some users of the script in the late 1800s reported it as having some ancient origins. It's complicated, but the consensus seems to be that the Vai did have some kind of pictorial script previously, and that at some point it transformed into a syllabic script, possibly at the initiative of some group of elders in the early 1800s. The first documents with the syllabic script are from the 1830s. Some have speculated as to whether the Vai began using this script (or developed it more fully) in part in response to observing the colonial use of writing. This script and the discussion around its origins represents a fascinating example of some of the complications of literacy, history, and colonial encounters in Africa.