The 1999 Nigerian Constitution is now available in Yoruba Language online and is being distributed free of charge by a reformist group, Change Movement Nigeria.

“Download the 1999 Nigerian Constitution in Yoruba Language,” says a message on the group’s website, http://www.changemovementng.org.

News Express learnt that Ayanbode Oje, a member of the Change Movement Nigeria, made the translation and bequeathed it to the group, which decided to make the document available to everyone for free.

“Our objective is to empower the truly disenfranchised, the oppressed, the voiceless to be able to critically engage in participatory democracy and open governance. Please, this document is not for sale and it is to be effectively distributed for the benefit of all,” said Olu Adegoke, leader of Change Movement Nigeria.

Adegoke disclosed that the group is currently working on an audio version of the constitution, adding: “We are calling for volunteers to help translate the constitution into other indigenous languages in Nigeria.”

Yoruba is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa. The number of speakers of the language was estimated at around 20 million in the 1990s. The native tongue of the Yoruba people is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas.