The Holy Bible has been entirely translated into Okun, a Yoruba language dialect spoken in Kogi, Kwara, and Ekiti States, by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN).
“We now have the full Holy Bible in 27 Nigerian languages.
“Translation or revision is on-going in 10 other Nigerian languages,’’ Pastor Samuel Sanusi, General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of BSN told a news conference on Sunday in Lagos.
As the Okun translation was finished in a record-breaking five years, Sanusi said that the group had broken yet another Bible translation record with its accomplishment.
“With this, we have broken the global record of Bible translation which we previously held for completing that of Igala common language in 11 years.
“The United Bible Societies (UBS) set a target of 12 years for the completion of any translation project. This has not been achieved by any society except the BSN,’’ Sanusi said.
He claims that Okun people, who speak the Okun dialect, are one of the main ethnic groupings in Yoruba.
According to him, the Bible translation cost roughly N87 million.
The project’s donors were acknowledged by the general secretary for their contributions.
Sanusi urged all levels of government to enforce language usage in order to protect the nation’s native tongues, particularly in educational institutions.
“Our Languages are our identities and an integral part of our cultures.
“By translating the Bible into Nigerian languages, we are helping to preserve the languages and cultures of our people.
“It costs a minimum of N120 million to complete a translation project, if achieved in eight years,’’ Sanusi noted.
He said that the Apostolic Church Nigeria in Agirigbon, Ayetoro-Gbede, Kogi, would dedicate the fully translated Bible in Okun Language on November 3.
For the sake of the deaf faithful, he continued, the BSN would dedicate an extra 77 historical Bible tales in Nigerian sign language.
The dedication, according to him, would take place at the Bible House Research and Development Center in Ibadan on November 26.
“With this, we have completed a total of 222 chronological Bible stories.
“It is only the United States of America that has the full Bible in sign language in the world, and was achieved in 2020 after 38 years.
“We are trusting in God that a time will come when the deaf in Nigeria will have the full Bible in the Nigerian sign language,’’ Sanusi said.
By distributing 1,145,232 copies of the English Bible in 2021, he claimed that the BSN had likewise become the world’s leading distributor of the English Bible.
According to him, Kenya placed third with 455,817 copies distributed, followed by the Bible Society of America with a distribution total of 1,118,174.
Sanusi expressed sympathy for the country’s recent flood victims and urged all levels of government to do more to lessen their pain.
