BURNING POT BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON
Nigeria: In Need Of A Change of Name?
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Names… From Ebele, Abati, Sambo, Fashola, Oronto..., I am yet to see
anybody who does not have one; the English language calls it a noun.
Everyone and everything has one, from the very popular to the virtual
unknown. Most people have a vague idea what their own means, but few give
them much more thought. The study of names is called onomastics, it is a
Greek word, ÉÕÉÀÉÕÉ Éø (onoma), which means, "name". It is a field that
touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, sociology, philology and
much more.
Questions onomasticians try to answer about given names include: What they
mean - their etymology or origin. How they affect the people, their
cultures and why names are chosen?
Etymology is the study of the origins of words. The etymology of a word is
its linguistic history. The word etymology comes to us from the Ancient
Greek Language. It is composed of two parts: the Greek word etymon, which
means "the true sense of a word", combined with the Greek element logia,
which means "doctrine, study". Combining these two parts gives us "the
study of the true sense of words".
So my first question would be what is the etymology of the word Nigeria?
In writing this essay I spoke to a number of historians, spoke with
Nigerians and no one could give me a satisfactory explanation, definition,
in one word no one could give me the etymology of the name Nigeria, the
common answer, it means Niger Area and I asked how many of us would name
our kids Abuja, Lagos or Aba Area because they were born close those
places or would we just address them without as much as knowing the
meaning of the name.
What is in a name, why is it that Matthews, Mohammeds, Joshuas, Solomons,
Peters, in our political landscape have not behaved to name. Can someone
show me a stealing or a corrupt government official and I will tell you
the history, the origin, anthropology and philosophy of the name whether
Muslim, Christian or Pagan and the question then is why are they like they
are. Do they respect the values that the names stand for, and talking
about values, what value does the name Nigeria stand for?
Is it because we do not know the meaning of Nigeria or could it be because
we do not know the origin of the name that we have attached a phenomenon
to it called the Nigerian factor...
For the name Ghana, it has both the Arabic and indigenous meaning, from
Warrior King, Kings land to gold, precious stones and what have you. It
was very explanatory as regards origin, linguistics, and much more, it
stretched to now Ivory Coast and talked about similarities in meaning with
Togo, sadly nothing on Nigeria.
I almost want to say at this point that hence Nigeria has no meaning, can
we not start to give it an etymology, after all what we want as Nigerians
are simple, a Nigeria that is as good as its promise. We need a Nigeria
that is a definition of principles, of idealism, of character, not
birthplace, creed, ethnic group or tribe. This lack of origin is one that
has led to a weakness of attitude, which translates to weakness of
character.
Our name Nigeria has left a sour taste in the mouth right from time, we
have become fanatical, we cannot change our mind, we cannot change the
subject, so we are still grappling with the same problems, only the styles
that change and new terminologies developed but the ideology be it
corruption or ethnicity it remains largely the same. So our culture has
been shaped by the Nigerian factor, one that we have been forced to
develop for lack of direction, for lack of a beginning. So as a nation we
have continued with a culture of indifference.
When we do not know the meaning of our name, we do not know why it was
chosen, our case can then be only likened to getting a man to understand
something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. For lack
of an origin, because we do not know the why of Nigeria, we have leaders
that have integrity without knowledge, thus they are weak and useless, the
other lot possesses knowledge without integrity and this equally portends
its own danger.
Is it because of this lack of meaning that makes a whole University
community freak, protest and the whole nation engage it in a talk-shop
because of a change of name. A change of name that does not bring quality
or even quantity, does not speak any better of the Changer and changee.
Has Goodluck been anything but bare-luck, has Jonthan like the biblical
friend of David been friendly to Nigerians...We might as well change the
country's name come October 1st, but it makes little difference.
Do we appreciate Nigeria, if we do not, we do not deserve it, we want the
Nigeria of our dreams, with this and that, with leadership made in heaven
but we have refused to go back and ask patiently what is Nigeria, who is
Nigeria, what makes Nigeria? Today it is all talk about reforms,
anti-corruption, dividends of democracy, yet we forget that these are not
new; no one catches a fish in anger. That Nigeria has gone wrong, should
we also go wrong with Nigeria, and can we not help Nigeria take a new
meaning.
The ordinary Nigerian cannot do everything at once, but we can do
something at once. We cannot start to give a new meaning to this structure
called Nigeria, we have to change it from a Niger area of corruption, an
area of lawlessness, an area of bad leadership to an area of hope, an area
of godly expectation, an area where all and sundry are treated fair and
square.
I end with this encounter, a politician who was charged with profanity for
calling an opponent a bastard: the politician retorted, "When I call him
s.o.b I am not using profanity. I am only referring to the circumstances
of his birth". What is the circumstance of the birth of Nigeria, can
anything be done to bring destiny and fate to conjure up some good for us
all? Time will tell.
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