Introduction / History

The Bukpe language, belonging to the Niger-Congo class, is spoken by the Ukpe-Bayobiri ethnic group. This people group is only found in Nigeria. Bukpe is spoken in Obudu and Ikom LGAs (Local Government Areas) in Cross River State, Nigeria.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The lush vegetation makes the language area favorable to agriculture. The major crops are yams, cassava, rice, plantains, and palm produce. Some of these are grown for cash crops and sold in local markets. Other occupations include trade, private businesses, or government work. Some young people seek employment in large cities, returning home for festivals and other special occasions.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Missionary Mary Slessor introduced Christianity to Cross River State, coming to Calabar in 1876. She worked primarily among the Efik, but also traveled upriver to share the gospel with other ethnic groups. Today, nearly all of the Ukpe-Bayobiri people identify as Christians. Some of the Protestant denominations in the area tend to focus on social issues rather than personal salvation through faith in Christ.

What Are Their Needs?

Bukpe is a stable indigenous language and is used as a first language in the ethnic community, but it is not known to be taught in schools. Survey work needs to be conducted to assess the multilingualism of the Ukpe-Bayobiri people and in what domains Bukpe, English, Hausa, and neighboring languages are being used. Audio-visual Bible lessons can be found at globalrecordings.net under the name Ukpe-Bayogin. These provide a Bible overview from creation to Christ, and teachings on the Christian life to be used for evangelism and church planting. Community leaders may be interested in further language development to preserve their language. Workshops are available that would expose participants to language vitality and potential short-term development and translation projects.

Prayer Points

Pray Ukpe-Bayobiri Christians will access the Bible stories available online to share their Christian faith with family and neighbors.
Pray a survey can be conducted to help assess the vitality of the language and assist community leaders in deciding if they wish to pursue language development.
Pray Bukpe speakers will engage with Scripture that is available in other languages and assess their level of understanding of those Scriptures to determine their translation needs.

Scripture Prayers for the Ukpe-Bayobiri in Nigeria.

References

Bukpe| Ethnologue Free
Ukpe-Bayobiri language - Wikipedia
Where on earth do they speak Ukpe-Bayobiri? (verbix.com):
PeopleGroups.org - Ukpe-Bayobiri
Mary Slessor - Wikipedia