Nigeria, Qatar Deepens Cultural Exchange Through Arabic-Yoruba Translation Scheme
By Sulaimon Salau
The Nigerian Centre for Arabic Research in partnership with Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, Qatar, have intensified efforts to further promote the translation of Arabic into indigenous languages in Nigeria.
The partners, who unveiled this plan during a media parley in Lagos, said the initiative would award scholars who have translated various publications from Arabic to Yoruba and vice versa, with a sum of $2 million.
This, according to them, would enhance international cultural exchange between Nigeria and Qatar as well as promoting peace and international relations.
The Qatari researchers are currently in Nigeria brainstorming with their Nigerian counterparts on advanced forms of promoting indigenous languages for better understanding of their citizens.
Head of the Delegation/ Media Committee and former Head of Department, Qatar University, Dr. Hannan Alfayyad, said the participants are expected to present their published books and must have achieved a feat in the field of translation.
She explained that the entries could be made by an individual as well as a group of people who pulled resources together to make the publication or a corporate entity. The publication should be in the area of humanity, sciences and the work should be in the prints.
She said the objectives of the initiative are to spread peace all over the world and promote international understanding.
Another member of the delegation, Ustaz Muhammad Bashir, said the Sheikh Hamad award is aimed at encouraging translation and to honour the translators for their efforts in building the bridges between different cultures and to respect the work that they published.
A Director with Voice of Nigeria, Dr Qasim Akinreti said the collaboration showed that the cultural aspect of President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Qatar recently is manifesting through the programme.
He said: “This is an extension of foreign relations between Nigeria and Qatar. So eventually we’ll see scholars from Nigeria, visiting Qatar University for further studies mainly focusing on indigenous language studies,”
Akinreti said the initiative would promote global understanding because language is extremely powerful globally as a medium of communication.
“Arabic is one of the foremost international languages. Yoruba is also recognised by UNESCO. In fact, all indigenous languages are recognized, but the Qatar Foundation has chosen Hausa and Yoruba for better understanding and cooperation. Scholars have been drawn from Nigeria Universities, Arabic/Islamic centers in Nigeria as well as University of Qatar to see how they can exchange ideas of cultural promotion, more importantly, Yoruba language. So, the works will be assessed and the best of them will be given prizes,” he said.
He said the Qatar Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Voice of Nigeria (VoN) in language broadcast.
“This is one area the media benefits. What we intend to do is to see how well the media can delve into the cultural understanding between Qatar and Nigeria. So, we are hoping that the Nigerian media will benefit from this cooperation,” he said.
