Discourse | The Contributions Of Indigenous Languages In Promoting Literature In Northern Nigeria – The Nupe Language Experience (Part I) By Isyaku Bala Ibrahim | The Arts-Muse Fair
Introduction
Nigeria
is made up of two broad regions: Northern and Southern Nigeria. Northern
Nigeria is a region with a diverse social cultural make up. It is a
multi-ethnic and religious region consist of three sub-regions popularly known
as geopolitical zones: North Central, North
East, and North West zones
that has nineteen states and Federal capital territory (FCT) all together today.
Language is a means of communicating
between two or more people in a particular area or medium. It could be oral or
written. Virtually, one finds two or more speakers of a Nigerian language in
almost all the regions of the country because of our integrated demography
overtime. Mutual struggle to make ends meet led to migration of southerners to
the North, and vice versa. So, today, there are Igbos, Yoruba, Hausas, Fulfulde,
Nupes in also every state of the federation. When one visits Sabongari in Kano,
you will think one is in Aba, Abia State, likewise if you are in Sabo in
Ibadan, Oyo state, you will think you are in the centre of Katsina town or
Zaria city. Likewise, within the north, one
witnesses integration of other tribes within the region accepted by their host communities.
For instance, there is Anguwar Nufawa in Zaria, Bauchi, and Kano; Tudun Nufawa
in Kaduna. Therefore, most of these languages’ speakers are currently living in
different communities across Nigeria, their ancestors settled there for
centuries which led to their full integration thereby divorcing host
communities of their languages’ homogeneity in all the regions.
The sad thing here is we have allowed
external forces such as politics and tribalism to overwhelm our thinking, and
our resolve to leave together in a genial multi-lingual society. How does a
Berom and the Hausas see themselves in Plateau today? How an Agatu person from Benue or Nasarawa
State sees a Fulfulde person/herdsperson; or a Fulfulde sees a Nupe farmer? How
did we degenerate to this level of distrust and discontentment among ourselves as
northerners, let alone people from the other side?
Then, as writers, how can we integrate
ourselves and solve these problems? Will it not be wonderful to have Magana
Jari Ce translated into Agatu or Berom? Do you know that Berom in Plateau does
not have its Bible until July 31st, 2010, but comfortably used Hausa
Bible for worship and prayers for decades, but when there is fracas, you see
both in battle ground against each other? Therefore, language is a powerful
tool for integration or disintegration, it only depend on the motive of the
actors who will either choose to use it towards good or evil.
Therefore, the evolution of Nupe
literary development in Northern Nigeria and the current efforts to position it
among the most literate languages in the country is what this paper is going to
elaborate.
Indigenous
Languages of Northern Nigeria
There are over three hundred and fifty
distinctive tribes or languages in Northern Nigeria out of over 520 in the country.
Majority of them exist today in their oral forms or unwritten in the diverse
communities of the entire north. Below
are some of languages in Northern Nigeria:
North-Central
·
Benue (14) Tiv, Idoma, Igede, Agatu, Akpa, Etulo, Abakwa, Akweya and Nyifon
·
FCT (7) Gade, Gbagyi, Nupe, Gbari, Koro, Igbira-koto,
·
Kogi (15) Igala, Ebira, Nupe, Okun, Kaba, Bassa, Oworo, Yagba,
Igbira-koto,
·
Kwara (7) Yoruba, Nupe, Baruba, Fulfulde and Hausa
·
Nasarawa (29) Agatu, Bassa, Eggon, Gbagyi, Gade, Goemai, Gwandara,
Ham, Kofyar, and Lijili.
·
Niger (38) Nupe, Gbagyi, Hausa, Gbari, Kadara, Gade, Bauchi,
Ayadi, Busa, Gwandara, Fulfulde, Kamuku, Kambari, Pangu, Koro
·
Plateau (40) Berom, Bassa, Hausa, Fulfulde, Afizere, Amo,
Anaguta, Aten, Bogghom, Buji, Chip, Fier, Gashish, Goemai, Irigwe, Jarawa,
Jukun, Kofyar (comprising Doemak, Kwalla, and Mernyang), Montol, Mushere,
Mupun, Mwaghavul, Ngas, Piapung, Pyem, Ron-Kulere, Bache, Talet, Tarok, and
Youm.
North-East
·
Adamawa (58) Bura phabir, Fultfulde, Huba (Kilba),
Bacama/Bata (Bwatiye), Longuda, Mumuye, and Samba Daka.
·
Bauchi (60) Bole, Fulfulde, and Hausa, Ajawa, Gamo-Ningi,
Kubi, Mawa, Lere, Shau and Ziriya
·
Borno (28) Hausa, Babur, Bura, Shuwa Arabic, Kanuri, and
Marghi
·
Gombe (21) Tangale, Hausa, Fulfulde, Awak, Bole, Hone, Jara,
Kamo, Kwaami, Loo etc.
·
Taraba (14 )Jenjo, Jibawa, Kuteb Chamba, Yandang, Mumuyes,
Mambila, Wurkums, fulfulde, Jukun, Ichen, Tiv, Kaka, Hausa and Ndola
·
Yobe (10 ) Kanuri, Ngizim, Karai-Karai, Bolewa, Bade, Hausa, Ngamo,
Shuwa, Bura, and Maga.
North-West
·
Jigawa (4) Bade, Hausa, Kanuri, Warji
·
Kaduna (57)
Gbagyi, Gbari, Hausa, Mala, Jere, Gwandara,
·
Kebbi (15) Hausa, fulfulde, Gobir, Kaba, Dakarkari,
Kambari,Gunga, Danda, Zabarma, Duka, Fakka, Sakaba Wasagu, and Banga
·
Kano (2) - Fulfulde and Hausa
·
Katsina (2) - Fulfulde and Hausa
·
Sokoto (3) – Hausa, Gobir and Fulfulde
·
Zamfara (2) Hausa and Fulfulde
Aside Hausa, no any language in the
north has done much in written documentation, majority of them remain undocumented.
Only few are making marginal efforts toward achieving such objective like the Nupe,
Tiv, Berom, etc in the region.
Nupe Language Literatures
Nupe
is one of the major languages in Nigeria. The word Nupe means a language, a
person, a former country of its speakers. There is no tentative figure on the
number of its speakers, but they are predominantly found in Niger, Kwara, Kogi
States, and the Federal Capital Territories (FCT) but their population could be
estimated between 6-8million across the country. They are also found in big
cities and towns across Nigeria as settlers.
However,
let us try to define or know what constitutes Nupe literature. There are
different analogical explanations or definitions of what constitutes a Nupe
literature. First, it could mean books written about the Nupe people in
whatever form or format. Secondly, they are books written by the Nupencizhi on the tradition and culture
of the Nupe in whatever language. The third school of thought strictly defines
it as the literature written in Nupe language by whosoever about others, the
speakers or any topic of interest for the consumption of humanity. So the key
word there in the last school of thought is just the language that matter not
the culture or the people, but the written language. For instance, Magana Jari Ce originally written in Hausa
could become Nupe literature once translated by any person that learnt how to
write Nupe language, not necessarily a Nupe person. He could also write other
books about Nupe culture using Nupe language even if he is not from Nupe. That
is the school of thought that I belong, a Northern Literature should be a book
written in any of the indigenous language from any of the nineteen states and
FCT by any person.
For
the purpose of this paper, I will explain the efforts made in the three schools
of thought on the development of Nupe Literature, and how far it has gone in
developing the language to date.
Development of Nupe Language Literature
There
are two phases to Nupe language literary development which span over a century
ago. It was first led by the missionary activities in the Niger territories, and
then followed the current efforts by students, scholars, anthropologist and
historians etc.
1. Missionary
stage
This
can be traced back to the early missionaries of both Islam and Christianity.
The early Islamic scholars used the Qur’an and Hadiths to translate/interpret
in Nupe language their messages to Muslims from the oral to the written Nupe
Ajami. Though very unpopular now but Nupe Ajami was widely used by the
businesspersons, emirates and the aristocrats in the ancient Nupe Kingdom from
about seventeenth to the mid twentieth century through the use of translators
or interpreters orally or written.
This trend continued until the coming of the
Christian Missionaries whose activities heightened in the mid-nineteenth
century in the kingdom. This is submission on the importance of indigenous
language in missionary activities in the north:
“At
the dawn of the twenty-first century a new interest in vernacular translations
has arisen among Nigerians. It is fueled by the popularity of the Jesus film,
which is being dubbed into the tribal languages. Most of this work is being
done by Nigerians themselves, many of whom have been prepared in United
Missionary Church schools such as the United Missionary Church of Africa
Theological College and the Tungan Magajiya Bible College. Often this has been
followed by linguistic training from the Nigerian Translation Trust, an heir of
Wycliffe Bible Translators.” 1
The use of the indigenous languages became a catch for
effective evangelization of Nupe Kingdom in the nineteenth century which called
for translations of the scriptures in the native languages. So this profession
was pioneered by the Church missionaries in the 1840s. The activities in the 19th
century have made tremendous impact in the literary activity and development of
the Nupe language. Nupe was among the first target when mission stations were
stationed in different parts of Niger River territories.
The Anglican Bishop Herbert Tugwell suggested that the
missions interested in the Nupe come together in a conference to decide on
matters related to translation questions. These missions were the Anglican
Church Missionary Society (CMS), SIM and the Brethren Mission (UMS). Their
first meeting was held at Pategi in 1906 where they settled on a working
alphabet. They also planned to translate the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’
Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Banfield was asked to be the secretary. The
second meeting in 1907 was at Shonga, and later meetings were at Pategi in 1908
and 1909. At the first conference J. L. McIntyre (CMS) was asked to write a
Nupe grammar. Banfield was to revise his translation of the Gospels. After the
committee decided his translation of the Gospels was good quality it went to
the Bible Society and they were printed in 1908. The Banfields were on furlough
and were able to be in London when the Gospels were being printed.
The Nupe Literature Conference’s work was not the first
attempt at Bible translation into Nupe. Samuel Ajayi Crowther had a translation
of the Gospel of John printed by CMS in London, fruit of his many contacts with
the Nupe and his attempts to open the kingdom to Christian missionaries. In
1886-87, the BFBS published the four Gospels translated by Archdeacon Henry
Johnson and a later revision by J. L. McIntyre and T. W. Bako in 1889. This
same Thomas Bako also had a translation of the Psalms, with revisions by
Obadiah Thomas and J. J. Williams, published in 1903 after Bako’s killed in
Lokoja. As they met, the 1909 Literature Conference urged Banfield to continue
translating.2
Pioneer Nupe Language Literature
The interesting part of the earlier Nupe translators was
that their source language was not Nupe. They worked through oral interpreter
or translators to get their messages across to their target group or their work
published.
Reverend
Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 -1891)
i.
Primer for the Nupe language in 1860
ii.
A grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in
1864
iii.
Translated Gospel of John into Nupe in
1877
Rev. Henry Johnson (1834 – 1908) was an eminent Anglican Bishop
i.
Nupe reading book and a translation of
the Catechism of the Church of England, 1883. 12 pages
ii. He translated the Gospels into Nupe and popularly
known as the African Pastor between1886-1887
iii. Adua Lazhin be Lozun, Be Litani, Be
Gigo Lilici, Be Baptismi Lilici, To Katekismi. Be Konfirmesoni, nimi ezhi
Nupenci. (Portions of the Book of Commmon Prayer in the Nupé
language.), 1899
T. W. Bako
died 1902, an Oworo
Yoruba slave bought in Lagos, he worked together With A. W. Banfield in Lokoja
briefly before he was killed during his mission activities at the area
i.
Gospels
translation to Nupe earlier by Henry Johnson (revised) by J. L. Macintyre, CMS,
and T. W. Bako in 1899
ii.
Psalms into
Nupe. It was revised before printing by O. Thomas and J. J. Williams
Alexandra Banfield Wood (1878-1949)
A.W. Banfield was an evangelist who stayed in Tsonga
(Shonga) for over two decades in the current Kwara State of Nigeria. He started
the work of translating the Bible into Nupe in 1900s; by 1908 he has translated
the four Gospels into Nupe language from English Bible. In 1914 Banfield
completed the entire translation of the New Testament Nupe language and later
the whole Old Testament. He is considered as giant in Bible translation.
However, R. V. Bingham, the co-founder of SIM said: “Mr
Banfield applied himself wholeheartedly to mastering this difficult tongue.
Into it he began to translate the precious Word of God. He compiled his own
dictionary and when he returned from his first furlough he had ready the
manuscript which the British and Foreign Bible Society printed, so that he was
able to take back to the field these portions of the New Testament (the four
Gospels) to the two or three million people who spoke the Nupe language.”
Bingham later said: “A.W. Banfield set the standard and tone for SIM’s
translation programme.”3
He used the Niger Press and translated & published his
works in Nupe language as listed below:
i.
Gospels
(Matthew, Luke, John & Mark), 1908
ii. Completed the translation draft of the
whole New Testament in 1914 using the Reverse Standard Version of 1881.
iii. Romans - Revelation (Portion of the Bible), 1910-1915
iv. A Grammar of the Nupe Language together with a Vocabulary by A. W. Banfield & J. L. Macintyre in 1915
v. A Nupe Dictionary in two volumes of
over 13,000 words; volume 1 in 1914 and volume 2 in 1916.
vi. Gamaga - Nupe Proverb and translated in
English, a collection of 623 Nupe proverbs, 1916.
vii.
Zabura tò Gạ̀cìṇẓì. (Psalms and Proverbs –
Part of the Old Testament into Nupe) in 1920 and revised by a committee in
1950, the committee included: A. W. Banfield, I. W. Sherk, F. Merryweather, A. E. Ball, and C. H.
Daintree.
viii. Nupe Language Bible in 1953
by same committee.
Rev J. L. Macintyre, a CMS missionary
With Banfield, A. W.
in 1915 published - A grammar of the
Nupe language together with a vocabulary (London)
Isaac Madugu
Sharp Sayings: Aphorisms of Jesus in the Gospels 1994
Sheikh Saidu Muhammad Enagi (1952 – 2011)4
Translated the Holy Qur’an into Nupe Language in
2002
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