Pastor Samuel Sanusi is the General Secretary/CEO of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN). In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on factors affecting the spirituality of Christians, national issues, and the effects of the translation of the Bible into indigenous languages.
TO what extent has the Nigerian Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) contributed to the growth of the church and Nigeria at large?
The Bible Society of Nigeria first began operations as far back as 1807, when the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS), which was founded in 1804 came to Nigeria. Their mission was to ensure that the Bible was available in every language spoken across the globe. So, three years after it was established, they came to Nigeria. In 1966, through the pioneering efforts of the late Dr. Akanu Ibiam, the Bible Bible Society of Nigeria was formed.
Our work is to make the Bible available and affordable to Nigerians. We do this by translating the Bible into Nigerian languages, publishing, distributing, raising funds, and organising programmes around the Bible so people can engage with it. The Efik Bible was published in 1868, being the first complete Bible to be translated in Nigeria. It was followed by the Yoruba Bible that came in 1884, then the Igbo Bible in 1906, the Hausa Bible in 1932, and so on. We now have the complete Bible in 27 Nigerian languages, though we have some other agencies that have come up to assist in this great commission, we have the complete Bible in 33 Nigerian languages, but 27 of those language Bibles are produced by the Bible Society of Nigeria.
How long does it take to complete a Bible translation project?
It depends on so many factors, but on average, we are looking at eight years. The eight years can become 20 years and it can also become five years, depending on factors on the ground, including human capital. Funding is a major factor because if the funds are there, the work will move fast. We dedicated the Okun Bible two years ago and the Bible became the fastest translation in Nigeria, having completed the work in a record time of six years. An indigene of Okun land, in Kogi State, took it upon himself to pay the salaries of the translators who worked on the project, while another man from the same place built the office where the translation was done. The Okun Bible Project cost us over 90 million naira. That is the translation cost alone not including production cost. At the end of the day, the people said that they could only produce 10,000 copies of the Bible for their people. If the translation cost is 90 million naira, and I am giving out the Bible for N2,000 per copy, is that business? That is to further prove to you that we are a not-for-profit because if you divide 90 million naira by 10,000 you will have a copy for about N9,000 before I add the cost of shipping, insurance, customs duties, and so on. That Bible should not be less than N15,000. But we are giving it out for N2,000. It means that some people have supported us by paying for the translation and other things, and then we can give it out at that price. This is why we do not sell, we distribute to the people.
Is the King James Version of the Bible Bible authorised for reproduction?
Yes, by King James. It is free for anyone to reproduce if you can afford it. It is 400 years old and according to Copyrighting Law, 400 years old production is no longer new, so anybody can access it unless you brand it your way with unique features. For example, we have the unique features we introduced to it. If you pirate it, you have committed a criminal offense. The King James Bible under the stable of BSN has different features that are not in the original King James. By adding those features to it, it has given it a new copyright so if you pirate that one, you are committing offence, but if you produce the general one with no added feature, you are free.
How is the project to translate the Bible into the Nigerian sign language going?
The project of the Nigerian sign language is still on. Two years ago, we completed 222 Chronological Bible stories for them but in October 2022, we started with the translation of the complete Bible with the New Testament. If we have more sponsors, we can engage more translators to make the work faster. It is very capital-intensive and time-consuming. If it takes us about 150 million to finish the regular Bible translation project, then the Sign Language Bible project for the deaf will cost us times four or five times that amount, that means embarking on sign language translation is a billion naira project, but we are not deterred because our work is to break every known barriers that make the word of God inaccessible to people. We only hope that more people and organisations (will) support us to make this project succeed.
We are still in the book of Matthew, which will take a minimum of three years to finish.
Some people do not like speaking their indigenous languages, yet we have organisations like BSN translating the Bible into indigenous languages, what is your advice?
I only pray that Nigerians will be consistent in our policies. Change is indeed constant, but there are some things that we should not allow to change. I have been privileged to meet with the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, and the like, they have their national languages, even when you go to places like Kenya, Tanzania, and the likes; they have their national languages. In Ethiopia, they have their national language so if you and I are Ethiopians, we can discuss it with our national language and not English, and all of us will understand ourselves. But our case in Nigeria is different. I do not understand why we have failed to adopt a common language as a nation. I know some Chinese CEOs who cannot speak English and they do not mind, all they do is if they are speaking to an English-speaking person, they get somebody who understands English to interpret. If they are speaking to a French-speaking person, they get somebody who understands French to interpret. They read, speak, and write in their language but that is not the case in Nigeria. I said policy inconsistency because I remember when a one-time Minister of Education, Professor Babatunde Fafunwa of blessed memory, proposed that mother tongue should be used as the language of instruction in primary schools. What has become of that policy today?
Does this have to do with inferiority complex or westernisation?
It is not an inferiority complex; it is westernisation. We have made our language vernacular and prefer to speak English. Some languages in Nigeria have already gone into extinction and some others are on the verge of dying because people do not speak those languages. The government is not doing enough to promote the preservation of our languages. I believe that the death of a language is the death of a culture. The Bible we read had its original language before it was translated into other languages.
The original languages of the Bible are Hebrews, Greek, and Aramaic. We should be proud of our language and culture. Can there be a harmony between the digital and hard copy Bibles, as some find it old-fashioned to attend services with physical Bible because scriptures are usually displayed on the screen? What should be the solution, even when scriptures are projected should pastors ask the congregation to still open their hard copy Bibles? No need to say that. I know a church where the pastor comes to the pulpit with his physical Bible not iPad, though because of his age, they project the Bible verses on his separate screen just like a teleprompter for him to read the passages from, but when he mentions a Bible verse, the only thing the church monitor will show is the Bible verse and not the details so that you can jot down the Bible verse and also open your own Bible to read.
This is because once you start projecting everything for the people, they may no longer bother to have physical Bible and this may hurt the spiritual growth of Christians. Most of our Pastors today grew up reading the hard copy Bible. Another appeal I would like to make to church leaders is this: as the Bible Society of Nigeria, there is hardly any day that I do not receive a phone call or e-mail requesting for free Bibles for evangelism, or crusades. I am surprised that churches will make plans and budgets for crusades and evangelism but no budget or provision for Bibles for converts that will be won in those outreaches. I expect and encourage the churches in Nigeria to come together and partner with the Bible Society of Nigeria to produce Bibles in large quantities and distribute them to converts and others who need copies.
How is BSN coping with the exchange rate and what is your advice to Nigerians on the present situation of the country?
Honestly, it has been very tough because everything that affects every other businessman in Nigeria affects us. In 2023, we set out to distribute three million copies of the Bible, but we ended the year with 1.3 million copies. This year we scaled it down to two million copies because of the economy. For us to achieve the target that means we are expected to distribute about 200,000 copies monthly, but as we speak, we have done less than 50,000 copies. This is because of the current economic situation. Unfortunately, we do not produce Bibles in Nigeria, they are produced abroad, and if the printer charges two dollars per copy and I produced 10,000 copies, that is $20, 000 dollars. Assuming he gave me credit and I got it from him when it was N1000 to one dollar, now I am paying back in three months when it is N1,500 to one dollar and I have to pay at the new rate because they sent it to me on trust. I have to look for an additional N500 for each Bible to pay back the printer. I think that has spoken volumes of what we are facing now.
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