Institute canvass passage of NITI Bills into law

The Nigerian Institute of Translators and Interpreters (NITI), has called on the Federal Government to expeditiously pass the NITI Bill before the Nation Assembly.

NITI is an accreditation body for the translation and interpretation profession in Nigeria. It also inducted 60 new members into its profession recently.

A lecture at the Department of Islamic Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulRazzaq AbdulMajeed Alaro, made the call in Abuja at the 19th Annual Conference with the theme: Leveraging Translation to Improve the National Economy.

The Guardian gathered that the conference brought together professionals from different states in the country, comprising university dons, academics, professional translators, other interested members of the public and media practitioners.

He said: “We need to take more decisive action towards the passage of the NITI Bill into law, which I learnt in the course of preparing this paper, has been in the National Assembly for more than a decade. In countries like Germany, the United States, Canada, translation and interpreting are well regulated.

“In Germany for instance, a distinction is even made between lay translators and certified/professional translators. NITI may have to project the revenue potentials of translation and interpreting services to members of the National Assembly or relevant MDAs whenever an opportunity to do that presents itself.

“Through this, perhaps, members of the National Assembly may be motivated to do the needful. Although NITI has over the years continued to provide the platform for bringing translators and interpreters together, there are compelling reasons for the institute to step up its game in terms of ethics governing the profession, bearing in mind that without regulation it may be difficult to keep the profession in its dignified position.”

In her remarks, the Disaster Risk Reduction officer at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Adejoke Raji, said that a lot of translators are now looking into how to translate from French into Nigeria’s local and English.

He said that there is the need for Nigerians to support the concept of translation as a professional outreach.

She said: “For instance, if your child should tell you now that I am given an admission to study language, you feel like “language? What do you want to do with it? But trust me, there is so much to gain from translation, linguistic application and social linguistics.