NSO KORAN

BEING FIRST IS NOT THE ISSUE
Sheikh Murtala Chukwuemeka launched his major work, the igbo translation of the Quran "NSO KORAN, today in Abuja. He was greeted with thundering applause for pioneering( emphasis mine) the work. The news trending was that he was the first to undertake and complete this gigantic project
However, hours after, Jafar Jafar published an article in his Facebook Page(Still on " Nso Kiran") where the credit for pioneering this kind of work was attributed to a Canada based Professor Jumbo Ugoji in 1984.
Pages of that extant copy were provided by the daughter of the author, Ngozi as proof of claim, and it was claimed that the Sheikh didn't I consult the author or any other authority in the field prior to launching his work, as nature of the work demands input from various sources ( which shouldn't diminish the fact that the principal author shall take credit).

My Take
It's possible for two different scholars to arrive at authentic translation if the Quran in a given language contemporaneously and independently with each ignorant of other efforts and the respective authors should take credit for their work which may not be similar. For example, prior to the publication of the complete version of Sheikh Gummi's version of Hausa translation, there exist at least two others ( incomplete of course), notably that of Sheikh Nasir Kabara Kano, but these lacked universal spread.

Also Arabic translations appeared at different times and with different interpretations and bear the names of the original authors to date. Same can be extrapolated to virtually all of the languages in which translations appeared and in which there's agreement. All one has to do in the circumstances, is to quote the author one is referencing , in English you have Yusuf Ali, Pickhtal etc.

This is true of all Nigerian languages where you had many dialects, with words having contrasting meanings and usages in full and context. Onitsha igbo is different from Abakaliki or Aba or Mbaise versions and to aim at a standardized version is an exercise in futility.

To me this claim of who is the first stands, but unlike Sheikh Murtala, Prof didn't take necessary steps to make his work widely available to igbo speaking audience. Both works are a work in progress, subject to review as time goes and as the language changes with infusion of English, Yoruba, Efik, calamari, pidgin and other languages. All that I can say is that may Allah reward them all!
Allah knows best
Basheer Adamu Gobir

funny mind,many will now say quran fell from heaven