The Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) has urged the Nigerian Church and the Christian community in the country to take ownership of the society, as it canvasses for more support to meet the day-to-day operation and objective of the bible society.
Samuel Sanusi, General Secretary/CEO, BSN, stated this when he met with the Association of Christian Correspondents of Nigeria (ACCoN) who were at the Bible Guest House on a courtesy visit to the BSN on Friday 25 February. According to Sanusi, the Nigerian church that should be the father of BSN has not been helpful, hence he posits that the BSN is a baby of every Christian. “Here in Nigeria, the Church does not own BSN.”
The BSN general secretary disclosed that the society plans on distributing three (3) million copies of the bible in 2022, despite the various economic challenges it has to contend with. He posits that people still have the mindset of BSN being a Christian NGO. “…daily running costs have not been like that. For the last five years the enterprise has been running at a loss,” he said.
According to him, BSN serves a peculiar community who should understand its plight and challenges, and posits that if the Bible Society of Nigeria should stop producing bibles in Nigeria today, the bible will be out of reach of many average Nigerians. “Since I came onboard, my challenge has been how do I improve staff welfare. The Church can create a special vehicle to support BSN operations across the country,” Sanusi said, stating that “the place of the bible in Nigeria has been relegated to the background”.
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Speaking further on the economic realities faced in the day-to-day operation of the BSN, Sanusi disclosed that every mission agency in Nigeria is challenged. “BSN is bleeding and our operations today is sustained on loan because one of our partners abroad agreed to print for the society and this has been going on for the last seven years,” he stated.
On the March 10 Christian Leaders Summit with the theme, “The Holy Bible: Our Reliable Foundation for Maximizing Personal and National Wellbeing”. Sanusi said the essence was to sensitize leaders on the role of the bible on the nation. He disclosed further that two of the four keynote speakers will be coming from the U.S.
“If we add the cost of translation to the price; nobody will own a bible again in Nigeria; if the Church fails to support the society, God will do it. Our mission is to meet the needs of everybody in different forms,” he concludes.
