ABSTRACT
Translation as a vehicle for effective communication has
contributed in so many ways in education, information dissemination, cultural
transfer, etcetera. However, in the rural area where majority are not literate
in the use of English language, translation seems not to have been effectively
utilized as government communicates to the teeming population there mainly in
the English language, which is the country’s official language. As a result,
there is a total breakdown in communication as the masses are kept in the dark
about activities of government, some of which require participation by the
people. This has devastatingly affected the pace of rural development. The question
is whether translated materials can enhance information dissemination at the
rural area considering that many people can hardly read materials written in
their indigenous language? This study intends to provide answer to this
question. In the end, we hope to contribute towards the efficiency of local
government system as a veritable tool for grassroots mobilization. We
investigated the impact of Igbo translation of the law stopping all forms of
traditional/ cultural maltreatment against anyone who loses spouse and the law
permitting women to bear children by the Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL). We
were guided by five research questions and four hypotheses in the formulation
of the questionnaires used in gathering information. We first used systematic
sampling technique to select the 15 Local Governments sampled for this study
and later applied random sampling technique to distribute the questionnaires.
Our analyses were presented in tables with each table accompanied by a
description of the decision arising from the analyses. We presented summary of
our findings based on the result of our analyses. Our conclusion is that the
people at the rural area are not always aware of the translated versions of
government policies and programmes. As a result, translation has not
contributed much in information dissemination at the rural area. Government
should therefore ensure that these policies and programmes, which are
originally in the English language, are translated into the indigenous
languages and circulated widely to the people for their understanding and
appreciation. We made some recommendations which we hope will help to
ameliorate the problems.
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Many researchers have in the
past looked at various uses of translation in solving problems of the society.
For example, there have been studies on the use of translation in literature
(literary translation), the communicative use of translation where issues such
as ‘Translation in Nigerian Languages for the Mass, Print and Electronic
Media’, etcetera were treated. This current study has tried to focus on local
government system with a view to finding out the relevance of translation in
bridging communication gap in the local area.
Local government system was
established in Nigeria for the main aim of bringing government activities
closer to the people at the grassroots level. It was believed that by creating
the local government system, the people at the grassroots will always be aware
of government policies and programmes and be able to participate in government
activities for the good of the rural area. Nwokike (2006:232) captures this
fact where he observes that local governments serve two broad purposes of:
1.
enabling many public services to be
provided at a level nearer to the people whom the services benefit;
2.
enabling local political opinion to
be organized and expressed
Oyediran
(1998:40) also succinctly present the reasons for the creation of Local
Government as follows:
1.
Local Government is created to
provide certain basic services for the citizens at the local level;
3.
Through local government, local
people jointly solve common problems and needs, which could not be solved by
the individual alone;
4.
Local government gives the citizens
the opportunity to practice democracy;
5.
Local government is a useful
instrument for the central and state governments in the governance of a
country.
The Political Bureau set up by
the Babangida administration in 1986 in its main report (Report of the
Political Bureau, March 1987:120) acknowledged this fact where it stated that
local government is a viable instrument for rural transformation and for the
delivery of social services to the people. The Bureau further states that local
governments are best equipped to transform rural areas as a result of the
following factors:
1.
Proximity to the people: - People at
the grassroot are only able to understand and organize local government because
they are able to feel its presence and impact on their day-to-day activities.
2.
Responsiveness: - A government
operating at the grassroot level is more likely to be attuned to the needs of
the people.
3.
Simplicity of Operation: - Local
government organizations are usually not complex and generally do not really
require sophisticated and highly qualified personnel for effective performance.
Problem,
however, arises where more than half of the populations at the grassroots are
not literate in English language, which is the official language of
Nigeria. Momoh (1993) in Akeredolu-Ale (1993:16) notes that this situation
forces the rural communities to play a secondary role, usually as observers,
rather than active participants in matters affecting their lives.
Since more than half of the
population cannot understand English language, how then can information on
policies and programmes of government be communicated to them? How can
information on the happenings around the world be communicated to them at this
period of globalization? The need for proper information dissemination cannot
be over-emphasized. The world is presently a global village whereby whatever
affects people in one part affects other people in other parts. A case at hand
is the recent economic meltdown, which affected the entire world, and every
nation is seriously battling to come out of it. The stock market was affected
both locally and internationally.
The purpose of a particular act
of communication, according to Knowles in Hickey (1998:103), may be to transmit
to somebody a message, which results in the increment of the recipient’s
knowledge. Umanah in Akeredolu-Ale (1993:163) also succinctly identifies that
the central purpose of communication is the mobilization of the rural
population for rural development.
Language is a vehicle for
communication, but language for communication must be one that must be
understood by the receiver of the information, otherwise, there would be
communication gap. Communication gap is mainly caused by language barrier and
illiteracy (Okigbo and Nsiegbunam, 2000:290; Nwokike, 2006:55; James, Ode and Soola (1990)
quoted by Oden in Ndimele, 2004:126; Oden in Ndimele, 2004:126). Therefore,
translation could serve as the only option.
Uwaezuoke (2002:29) had quoted
Mamu (2000) as saying, “If local government which is the third tier of
government must function more effectively and efficiently than before, the
grassroots should be sensitized to participate in development projects. This
can be achieved by relating effectively with the communities to offer
themselves for participation in development programmes”. He argues that without
the participation of the communities, the objectives of local government could
not be achieved. In line with this view, the Presidential Committee on Review
of 1999 Constitution (PCRC) in its main report, volume I (2001) pointed out
that the Committee was cautious in considering the issues canvassed for an
acceptable local government system to take account of the development needs of
vast majority of Nigerians to whom local government is closest.
How then can the grassroots be
sensitized? Using English language as has always been the case would continue
to be counter-productive. The situation therefore, calls for indigenous
language option.
Odunlami (1999:105) suggests
the broadcast of more programmes on both the radio and television in local
languages, while the print media should endeavour to produce and circulate more
vernacular newspapers. Umanah (1993) in Akeredolu-Ale (1993:168) also
recommends the sponsoring of special local language supplements for targeted
rural populations and for special mobilization projects when and if
circumstances become compelling.
This study equally upholds the
view that translation of government policies and programmes as well as other
necessary information from other parts of the world from our official language,
which is English and/or other foreign language(s), to our indigenous languages
will immensely contribute in breaking the communication gap existing at the
rural areas. This is because by translating them into the indigenous languages,
communication with the rural communities would be made easy as they can
understand and fully participate through shared ideas. For as put by House
(2009:3); “with translation, however, communicative events are reduplicated for
people originally prevented from participating in, or appreciating, the
original events”.
However, it is one thing to
translate government policies and programmes into the indigenous languages and
another thing for the target audience to be aware of that or understand the
translation. This is because many people cannot read materials written in their
indigenous language.
We have therefore in this study
tried to find out whether the translated materials would have any effect on
information dissemination at the grassroots. We intend to investigate the impact
of Igbo translation of the law stopping all forms of traditional/ cultural
maltreatment against anyone who loses spouse and the law permitting women to
bear children by the Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL).
The problem the researcher
focuses on is the inadequate mobilization of the people at the rural area for
grassroots development and the role translation plays as a viable means of
breaking the jinx.
Nigeria adopted the English
language as the official language of the nation because of the multilingual
nature of the country, which made it difficult for the different ethnic
nationalities to understand one another. But the vast majority of Nigerians who
live at the rural area are not literate in the use of the English language. As
a result, rather than solving the problem of communication, the adoption of the
English language for the nation worsens the situation as communication to the
people at the rural area becomes almost impossible. This leads to breakdown in
communication and the masses kept in the dark about activities of government
some of which require participation by the people. This situation negatively
affects the pace of rural development.
This study opines that
government policies and programmes as well as other information that are for
the consumption of the people should be translated into the indigenous language
for easy communication and implementation.
We do not, however, loose sight
of the fact that not everybody can read materials written in their indigenous
languages. Against this backdrop, this work intends to find out how far
translated materials can go in enhancing information dissemination at the rural
area. Our result enabled us to make useful suggestions.
In
order to locate possible solution to the research problem, the following
questions have been asked:
(1)
Are government policies and
programmes translated into the indigenous language?
(2)
Are the rural people aware of the
translated versions of government policies and programmes?
(3)
How far has translation contributed
in information dissemination at the grassroots?
(4)
How far has translation of
government policies and programmes ensured good governance in the local
government system?
(5)
Are the translated versions of the
government policies and programmes made available to the people at the
grassroots?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The decision to investigate on
this area of research resulted from the very problem of poor information
dissemination to the vast majority of the people living at the rural area and
the need to find a way of making local government system more effective.
Apart from giving the reader a
general idea of the relevance of translation to modern day communication, this
study is designed to examine the following:
1.
Whether government policies and
programmes are translated into the
indigenous
language of the target audience.
2.
Whether the translation of government
policies and programmes into indigenous languages can actually bridge the
communication gap in the rural area;
3.
How aware the people at the rural
area are about translated versions of the government policies and programmes.
4.
The medium for letting the people at
the rural area know about the translated materials.
5.
How far translated versions have
enabled the effective implementation of government policies and programmes.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Local government is a
grassroots government aimed at bringing government activities closer to the
people as well as mobilizing them for participation in government activities.
The reverse, however, seems to be the case in virtually all the local
governments throughout the federation as the rural people are deprived of the
activities of government because of communication gap and some other factors.
As a result, a lot of people remain in doubt about the usefulness of local
government system.
Researchers had in the past
proffered solutions on how to make local governments more effective. This study
is not unmindful of all those past contributions but hopes that through this
angle, it would add to various suggestions/ recommendations on how best to make
local government system more effective.
Moreover, this study is
considered timely as the National Assembly is presently on the move to amend
the 1999 Constitution. Therefore, our recommendations shall hopefully be
communicated to the National
Assembly and
it would assist them in arriving at fruitful enactment on local government
system. The Daily Independent Newspaper in its edition on Friday, May 28,
2010:7 reported that the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, had on
Thursday, 6th May 2010 signed into Law a bill to enforce the
speaking and writing of the Igbo language and its wide use among the Igbo in
the State and outside. The Newspaper also quoted the Governor as saying that
the Igbo language would henceforth be compulsory in all educational
institutions in the State, just like English and Mathematics. It is our belief
that the result of our investigations shall ginger the state government to see
the need to have government policies and programmes translated into Igbo
language for the benefit of the rural communities.
1.6 Research
Hypotheses
For the purpose of this study and based on the questions
asked, the following hypotheses have been formulated:
(1.) Government
policies and programmes are translated into the
indigenous
language of the target audience.
(2.) The rural
people are aware of the translated versions of government policies and programmes.
(3.) Translation has
contributed immensely to
information dissemination at
the grassroots.
(4.) Translation
of government policies and programmes has ensured good governance in the local government system.
Although this study intends to
investigate the impact of translation in bridging communication gap in the
rural area, it will be difficult for us to cover all the local government areas
in the federation. This is because the size of the local government areas in
Nigeria is so vast that one can hardly investigate all within the limited time
allowed for this research to be concluded. Neither will it be easy for us to
investigate all the local government areas in Anambra State.
Therefore, to work within the
ambits of this study, we are limiting ourselves to Anambra State. We shall
further limit ourselves to fifteen out of the twenty-one local government areas
in Anambra State.
1.8 About The Translated Law
The Law known as “Anambra State
of Nigeria 2005, Laws No. 5 and 7” seek to stop all forms of maltreatments
permitted by culture against the widows/ widowers, and to empower women on
child-bearing.
The Laws, which were passed by
the Anambra State House of Assembly and signed into Law in 2005 by the then
Executive Governor, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, is made up of twelve (12) sections.
The Law was considered very
vital because of the need to stop all forms of culture permitted inhuman
treatment being meted to the widows. Prior to its passage, many churches and
organizations had continued to kick against such ill treatments, as they are
crimes against humanity. A lot of communiqué had in the past been issued by
those groups to condemn such acts. For example, the Anglican Diocese on the
Niger had in one of her synods
condemned such acts and even gone ahead to prohibit that among her faithful.
But the stumbling block was the language in which this law was written
(English). With the translation of this law into our indigenous language, the
effective understanding and implementation of it is what we are battling out to
reap its proceeds.
Among the groups that fight
this ugly menace is the Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL). This is a
non-governmental organization established by a group known as African
Commission on Human and People’s Right (ACHPR). Its main objective is to fight
for people’s freedom in Africa.
The Women’s Aid Collective
(WACOL) also stands out to fight for the right of the children and the youth,
women and men, to ensure that everybody is given his rightful place in the
society. This accounted for why it saw the need for this Law to permeate all
the nooks and crannies of the Igbo land especially to the people of Anambra
State for whom it was made by having it translated from English language into
the Igbo language.
The translation was
necessitated by the fact that majority of the people of Anambra State who
reside in the rural area are not literate in the use of the English language,
the official language of Nigeria. If the Law should be left to remain as passed
in the English language, a lot of people might end up not being aware of its
existence and therefore, the aim of enacting it would be defeated.
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