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By Gilbert Ekezie
The Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) has said that it stands as number one globally in the distribution of copies of the English Bible, with the distribution of 897,116 copies in 2020.
General Secretary/ Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of BSN, Pastor Samuel Sanusi disclosed this during a facility tour of the Bible Guest House in Ibadan by various Media professionals.
He said that his claims were proven by a publication by the United Bible Societies(UBS), that BSN was leading the world in Bible distribution followed by the Bible Society of Australia which came a distant second with 426, 318 Bibles distributed.
Sanusi also said the U.S Bible Society is the third with 403, 210, then China 157, 946, Kenya, 109, 807 and South Africa 96, 257.
According to him, in ranking by region, Africa came third out of the seven Areas,/Regions of the (UBS) in full Bible distribution.Central and South America came first, distributing 11.1million full Bibles , followed by Asia with 6.2 million, Africa 5.9million, Europe 5.1 million and North America 1.7 million. Oceania distributed 0.64 million, while Middle East distrobuted 0.17 million.”
Sanusi explained that out of the 5.9 million distributed by Africa, Nigeria distributed 1.5 million copies or 25.42 per cent of what over 40 Bible Societies in Africa distributed.”
He informed l that aside the production and distribution of Bible, BSN is also involved in other things which include57 -room Bible Guest House, Research and Development Centre at Ibadan, Oyo State, which was dedicated on June 8, 2016.
He also stated that the 57-room Bible Guest House, Research and Development Centre which was established with a loan facility from BSN parent body at little or no interest, has a translation office , biggest Bible warehouse that takes up to fifty containers, three halls and an e- library. “Our main objective of establishing the guest house is to plough back the profit made here into our capital – intensive Bible translation.”
The BSN Executive Secretary regretted lack of support attitudes of some Bible users to the organization, noting that such would encourage it to produce more Bibles and make them available in the market. “With support from orgamisations and members of the public, we will be able to produce more Bibles. We see situations where some organizations and individuals come or write to request for free Bibles. That is good, but due to lack of sufficient funds, we find it difficult to meet their demands. So, that is why we call for financial support in order to live up to expectations.”
Sanusi who advised those involved in Bible piracy business to desist from such act , promised to ensure that copies of the Bible are translated and made available in major Nigerian languages, even for the deaf and dumb. “We are seriously working on the translation for the deaf and dumb and very soon, it will be available.”
At the Deaf Translation Centre which has a total number of nine members of staff, a Consultant, Mrs Emmaculeta Austin explained how the centre has been working hard to ensure that the deaf and dumb are carried along in reading and understanding the Bible.
She commended BSN for providing such opportunity for the less privileged to have a sense of belonging.
