By Emeka Reuben Okala.
Name:
A name is a set of words by which a person, animal,
place or thing is known, addressed, or referred to. – The New Oxford Dictionary of English.
The language in which a name is given is as immaterial as the concept of the name itself is fundamentally important. A Nigerian could be called by the name John, either in memory or honour of John the Baptist or John the Gospel, or any other John who has existed or is existing and has achieved.
In the same vein, people from Africa and other parts of the global divide, but not necessarily from the Jewish state or Britain and America answer such names as; Mary, Thomas, Kenneth, Esther, Martha, Sampson, Samson, Mark, Matthew, Collins, Wilson, William, Evelyn, Louis, Justin, Justina, Valentine, Carolyn, etc. This is because they appreciate the values of these names as reflected in the lives of those who had previously borne them. I know a Greek whose name is Nnamdi, in honour of the revered first indigenous Governor-General and first President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. This Greek is the son of late John Mandilas, the erstwhile Chairman/Chief Executive of Mandilas Group of Companies.
Aside from being given after an achiever of a foreign descent, a name could also be given in a foreign language, due mainly to the influence of a foreign language on a local society, thus one can see many Nigerians, especially from the Igbo ethnic nationality and the South-South answering such English names as; Chris, Kenn, Sampson, Valentine, Vincent, Mary, Kate, Evelyn, John, Paul, Peter, Mike, Eric, Margaret, Elizabeth, Glory, Edward, Edmond, Harry, William, Goodleave, Diana, Dionne, Rita, Caroline, Dianne, Ezekiel, Prince, Jude, Aloy, Ben, etc, and some folks from the minority ethnic groups of the Old Eastern Region of Nigeria going by such Igbo names as; Chukwuemeka (I am a good example), Ifeanyichukwu, Uzoma, Chukwuma, Chikaodinaka, Adego, Adanma, Adaku, Adaoma, Azikiwe, Mbadiwe, Iheoma, Ihuoma, Uchechukwu, etc.
Igbo was the second most influential language after English in the entire former Eastern Region of Nigeria and more prominent in the upland areas. Up until now, the locals in some of the ethnic nationalities of Rivers State (both upland and riverine) use pidgin Igbo interchangeably with pidgin English to transact businesses across ethnic lines in common markets overt, e.g. transactions between the Ikwerre and Kalabari locals in all local markets overt in the State are still widely conducted through the use of pidgin Igbo and pidgin English.
Also one could be fortunate to make a family while sojourning in a foreign land, and as a token of appreciation of the host society in which s/he is living, s/he may give their offspring names in the language of their host country. Some Nigerians with such Greek names as; Athina, Vangelis, Kosta, Dimitris, Giota, Angeliki, Niki, or a Greek with a Nigerian name like Nnamdi, or a South-Southerner with the names like; Ayodele, Omololu, Ade, Kayode, Rotimi or Musa, or a Jamaican with a Greek name Alethia. (Sis. Alethia a 26 year old vibrant young lady of our Church in London, just passed on on the 22nd of October 2005. May her soul rest in perfect peace). Our own late great Zik had the names of some of his children in Yoruba, one is called Bamidele.
The point I want to establish here is that in our globalised world of unrestricted interdependence, inter-relationship and networking, any human being could be given a name in any language, based however on the concept of that name. That one’s name is given in a foreign language, does not ipso facto transfer the citizenship of that country or society in whose language the name is given to the bearer of that name.
I’m constrained to place my fingers on the keyboard to produce this piece on this subject-matter, because most of our brothers and sisters of Igbo extraction who have had a need to unreasonably attack the indisputable fact that Ikwerre ethnic nationality is not a part of Igbo, have ludicrously asked me to explain why my name is Chukwuemeka – a name in Igbo language, if I’m not an Igbo. I have tried times without number to explain to them the reason for this. Yet they annoyingly remain adamant.
Ironically most of those challenging my citizenship of a non-Igbo ethnic nationality based on my name have their own names in English. They are either called Chris, or Ken, Vincent or Tony, Stan or Peter, Franklyne or Ezekiel, Kevin orThomas. Frankly speaking, I can only remember three of them with their names in Igbo language; Chukwuma, Emenike and Nebukadineze (I don’t even know the Igbo meaning of this name). The rest have foreign names. What a contradiction!
Another paradox is that virtually all of these folks that ask this laughable, idiotic and manifestly unintelligent question arguably belong to the well-read, well-informed and well-exposed class anywhere, anytime. This is where I’m helplessly bewildered.
If it’s not a crime for an Igbo to go by an English name, if it sounds plausible for a Nigerian to have his or her name in English, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, etc, if it’s normal for a Greek to answer an Igbo name, if no eyebrow is raised when a South-Southerner has his or her name in Yoruba or Hausa and if it’s not a societal taboo for an Igbo to answer a Yoruba name, why , for goodness sake, does it sound superfluous in the ears of the Igbo folks in these fora that an Ikwerreman has his first name in Igbo language?
Ladies and Gentlemen, must I be Igbo to have my name in Igbo language? Someone please help out!