Whats in a name???

A name is a label for a noun, normally used to distinguish one from another. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context.

I believe a name speaks a thousand words. It tells a story about the past, manifests the present and indeed predicts the future.

The importance of a name can be seen in biblical history. Adam was the first man created by God; he was named after the earth from which he was created. One could say that his name had a lot to do with his lenient punishment after he ate the apple handed to him by Eve. The earth yields harvest, therefore Adam being the earth was the first father on earth.

Name can predict one’s future or one’s destiny. Abram and Sarai were renamed to Abraham and Sarah when God told them they will be the father and mother of all nations. Jacob was renamed to Israel, and Saul was renamed to Paul.

Biblically, people were named at birth; this name would reflect something of significance or describe the course of their lives. Solomon meant peace; Joseph named his son Manasse (which means causing to forget in Hebrew) as a gesture of pardon to his brothers for selling him into slavery.

In Africa, a name means more than the person bearing the name. A name is placed on an individual to tell the story of his family or to signify the individual’s status within the community. A name confirms an individual’s identity and windows on that individual’s culture. A name links with the past, the ancestors and is a part of the individual’s spirituality.

In Africa, the birth of a child is a moment of joy and significance. Naming a child is Africa is of great importance, it is believed that the name chosen will exercise an influence on the life of the child. In the Yoruba land, a name prefixed by “Ade”, usually means the bearer is of royal lineage. The name “Balogun” indicates the bearer is of the warrior lineage and name prefixed or suffixed by “Ola” usually indicates wealth.

An African adage says a good name is worth more than all the fortunes in a kingdom. It is however important that one’s name is carefully guarded and not abused.

During a gathering with a few friends, we began talking about the political situation in the United Kingdom. The British National Party had gained two crucial seats in European parliament. This would not have being an issue if the British National Party were not alleged racist in practice and doctrine. My friends and I watched an interview given by the British National Party press chief Phil Edwards with disbelieve and anger. He described Africans as people with low intelligence quotient (IQ) and immigrants that are always involved with crime. He preached Britain for indigenous British. In simple language, Africans are not welcome in the United Kingdom because we are not good enough.

We as Africans have stereotypes attached to us. One needs to listen to/watch the news, or flip through the news paper and our ignorance are very apparent. These stereotypes have being passed through generations and I sincerely hope this generation will put a stop to these stereotypes.

Over twenty youths were killed on the streets of London last year through gang violence, how many of these youths were of Caucasian origin? So if a pompous over educated buffoon from the British National Party describes Africans as people with low intelligence quotient (IQ) and immigrants that are always involved with crime, then he has a ground to stand on. I say this because all he sees or rather pays attention to are the minority of Africans chasing the fast life, crime and easy money.

Yes, people of the Caucasian origin are also involve in similar or even worse activities, however I will not touch on that issue because I believe when an individual is on fire, he kills the fire on his skin before he attempts to help another individual on fire.

Some Africans accept these stereotypes that it becomes part of their thinking, these sets of people believe they can never amount to nothing because of the colour of their skin unless they result to crime. I understand the challenges facing them, issues like absent fathers, and lack of role models, lack of self respect and low self esteem has crippled the minds of our youths. They subscribe to the thought that academic knowledge is far inferior to street knowledge. They look up to those on the silver screen with big chains and aspire to be as unreal as what they perceive. We as people will not sort this problem out unless we unite, accept we need to change, and help each other change. We need to instill self believe in our youths, show them the importance of real education, restore the pride in our fathers and acknowledge the importance of our mothers, let the strong among us mentor the weak.

That night we discussed the name Nigger and its origins. One of my friends seems to think it was ok to be called Nigger. He felt it was offensive for a person with Caucasian origin to use the word but it was fine for Africans (black people) to use it as it makes a mockery of what it meant. This statement disturbed me and I wondered if he understood the importance of a name. I asked him how he would feel if I referred to him as stupid instead of his birth name. He gave me the obvious answer. He shares a lot of peoples view on this issue. Nigger is a term used by everyone in today’s time. It is thrown around in music and even rolls off the tongues of many (black people) effortlessly. I feel it is an insult on those that fought for equal rights of people of African origin to maintain the name Nigger. Even more insulting when it comes from a person of African origin.

Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable as a pejorative term and common ethnic slur for black people. The word originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun Negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective Niger, meaning "black". I will refrain from writing more about the origins of the word Nigger and how it was imposed on people with African origin to confirm their inferiority. If our ancestors fought so hard for equal rights and just to be treated right, then we will keep that name out of our existence.

Our discussion then led us to the names of countries in Africa. My friend made a valid point, if we are fighting to change the name bestowed upon us by another race to confirm superiority or inferiority, should we campaign to change every name that is not African, even the name of a precious country Nigeria?

Lord Lugard’s Caucasian mistress gave Nigeria its name. Lord Lugard was the first governor general of Nigeria (1914-1919). The name Nigeria was created from the words Niger and Area, taken from the River Niger running through Nigeria. This name was made-up by Flora Shaw

Eko has lost it real name to Lagos. Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo; which has since developed into Lagos. Should we also campaign for Lagos to be only known as Eko, its original name?

I started this article by stating the importance of a name, its deep meaning and spirituality should be guarded and never abused. I will state now that Nigger is not my name, neither is it the name of my ancestors. I am Nigerian, simply because it carries or hides no derogatory term and I will refer to Lagos as Eko, Lagos, las giddi or giddy, same reason as Nigeria’s

Whatever you choose to call yourself or allow people call you, always think about the meaning, origin and importance of that name.