Jehovah’s Witnesses boost pidgin language devt
OTA—THE advancement of Pidgin English received a boost recently at Ota, Ogun State at the Nigerian Pigdin Convention Series of Jehovah’s Witnesses which held from December 20 to 23, 2018.
This was the seventeenth in the series of the 2018 “Be courageous!” Regional Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Recently there are clear indications that Jehovah’s Witnesses are seriously using Pidgin as tool to reach the heart and they have risen beyond the general stereotypical description of it as ‘Pidgin English’ or ‘Broken English.
Jehovah’s Witnesses adopted Nigerian Pidgin as a formal language of worship in 2015.
Speaking on the development, a convention coordinator in Ota, Jonathan Diyaolu said: “It is all about communication, reaching the heart. Whatever language communicates best to those we are speaking to is the language that should be used.
“Jehovah’s organisation is spirit directed, hence could see far ahead. The most organised organisation on earth has seeing in advance how this will boost the preaching work, not only in Nigeria but the whole of English speaking West Africa to aid seekers of truth hear the kingdom message.”
Explaining Jehovah’s Witnesses line of thinking, Seyi Olojede, who served as Programme Overseer for the last Pidgin Convention said: “Today, many focus on promoting the English language. The world encourages the thinking that speaking English means that one is intelligent or educated.
Thus, parents and family members are very eager to speak English or teach their children to do so. However, we as Jehovah’s people are different. The purpose of the Christian Congregation is not to learn English nor is one elevated if he speaks English.
“In fact, it is not unusual to hear pidgin spoken by those with a high degree of education, including professionals.
“I am impressed with the way things have been going.”