- Lets Change This..

Lets Change This..

(THIS IS A LENGTHY CRITIQUE, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY & PATIENTLY)

There is currently a wave of change sweeping across the globe, but my focus is on our part of the globe, more specifically in Nigeria. We have also caught this fever of change, with the emergence of various movements, causes, and campaigns for one form of change or another in our country and for our people. One change I have not heard our people bring to the fore front are the names; the name of our country NIGERIA and other important cities like LAGOS and PORT-HARCOURT.

I will be speaking for most, when I declare that I am very proud of the country where we come from, in spite of the difficulties we have had and are still having and the bad press we have had from the western media (our leaders have not taken a stand on this unfortunately). I feel terribly let down that after 48 years of Independence (or is it being In Dependence), we are still hanging on to this name. I hear some of you wondering what is the big deal with the name and why now?

It will become clearer as we come to understand how the name came about and the mindset of the people that named our country, something I believe most or at least some of us are well aware of. The area known today as Nigeria was created in 1914 after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates in by the British and Lord Frederick Lugard was the first Governor-General. It was the wife of Lugard, Victoria Lugard that named our country.

Lady Lugard named the area we were meant to believe by combining the name of the river “Niger” and the word “Area”, but I have now been made aware that indeed she added the last two letter of her name “IA” to form the name. (credits to P.Y. for this information). Some would still be saying so what? Well, when you understand the mindset of these people, then you would understand, why I am advocating a name change. Below is an extract of a writing by Lord Lugard:

……..”he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animal’s placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached…… he will work hard with a less incentive than most races. He has the courage of the fighting animal -an instinct rather than a moral virtue...... In brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy.......Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his ability to visualize the future"
Pg 70 of The Dual Mandate by F.D.Lugard 1926 (credits to T.I. for this information)
Above is the mindset of the people that named our beloved country, and we are still hanging on to it after 48 years. I put it to you that you will not let anyone that does not wish you well or look down on you to name your child, so why should we accept this for our beloved country.
Below is another extract, this time it was Lord Macauley and in this case it was in India but could well easily have been applied to Nigeria.
“I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”
(Please pay special attention to the parts in italics)

Quote from Lord Macauley, reporting back to the East India Company in 1835, (credits to A.H. for this information)

The quote above shows how the British colonialist deliberately set out to undermine people’s rich heritage and culture, resulting in some of the attitudes we find today from people of the former colonies. A plausible explanation of why there might be resistance to the changes suggested from some fellow country men and women.

What I am advocating here is that we embrace our heritage. Not everything that is foreign is good for us; just as not our entire heritage is good. However, we have enough good in our heritage that we can embrace and be proud of. Now, let us re-visit the name given to us “NIGERIA”. It does not say anything about our rich and vibrant cultural heritage, all it describes in our racial grouping. Some might argue that it stems from the river Niger, but go back a little further and we will find that the word “Niger” is a derivative of the word “Negro”, “Negra” or the offensive word “Nigger”. Even in the Bible in Acts 13:1, reference was made to the skin complexion of “ Simeon, who was called the Niger” (In some versions of the Bible the word “Niger” is substituted with “Black”).

Others have effected these changes after colonialism, changing the names of their countries or important cities and landmarks, to reflect their heritage. We have Zimbabwe formally Rhodesia, Zambia formally northern Rhodesia, Burkina Faso formally Upper Volta, Benin formally Dahomey, Sri Lanka formally Ceylon, Ghana formally Gold Coast, and cities like Mumbai formally Bombay, Harare formally Salisbury, Beijing formally Peking, Istanbul formally Constantinople, etc. These people have taken a stand by embracing their heritage, a firm statement to the whole world.

We can also do the same and have done so to an extent in the past. We changed our currency from Pound, Shillings and Pence to Naira and Kobo, we changed from driving on the left hand side of the road to the right hand side of the road, we went from Imperial measurement to Metric (Decimalisation), we even changed the National Anthem given to us, replacing it with a beautiful and better one, as well as toping it up with a Pledge. This shows that we are not a people that are afraid of positive change but we need to go all the way, for it to have the right impact. Let’s not shy away from it.

Considering the vast melting pot of cultures, traditions and heritage which our country is, what name would be acceptable to all or at least most, I hear you ask. Well, that name is SONGHAI (also spelt SONGHAY). The SONGHAI kingdom emerged around 1000 AD and became an empire, expanding farther than the Ghana or Mali empires before it, and brought an organized system of government to the area. It was the largest and most powerful kingdom in medieval West Africa and was around until about 1592. The other great empires of our regions have been taken, namely Ghana and Mali.

LAGOS and PORT-HARCOURT

Lagos was a Yoruba settlement of Awori people initially called OKO and later changed to EKO. This was the name used by the original inhabitants of the place until a Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo; indeed the present name is Portuguese for "lakes". Another explanation is that Lagos was named after Lagos, Portugal - a maritime town which at the time was the main centre of the Portuguese expeditions down the African coast and whose own name is derived from the Latin word Lacobriga. What did the Portuguese contribute to our beloved country anyway, apart from the atrocities they committed in places like Angola and Mozambique? Not a lot I would say. The name EKO is still in use till this day by many of us. Besides, there are various landmarks with this name that will attest to my claim.

And Port-Harcourt founded in 1912 and named after Lewis Harcourt the colonial secretary at the time, after the opening of the rail link to the Enugu coals fields in 1916. Originally inhabited by the Ijo or Ijaw people, one of the largest seaports in the country and exported palm kernel, palm oil, timber, coal, tin, peanuts and since 1958 petroleum. A suggested name here would be PITAKWA (origin unknown), it might even be a made up name, but some of us growing up would clearly remember this name. (credits to T.I.A. for reminding me of this). At least it sounds very African and would seat well with most of us. Any alternative names acceptable to the majority would be better than what we currently have.

For the record, this critique is not an anti European propaganda. I am not implying that every European is bad, just as I would never say that every African is good. I am simply giving our people a well overdue wake up call, and any genuine support from our European, Asian and American friends would be welcome. They should support us, just as we have supported them and their economies for centuries. We have had Europeans like Mary Slessor, who left a positive impact on our people in the Calabar area of Cross River State; she spoke the language, embraced the culture and so is rightly revered by the people, she was even buried there. On the other hand what positive contributions did people like Churchill or Lord Lugard for that matter make to our country? None.

I strongly advocate that the issues raised be addressed by our leaders, specifically the federal and respective (Lagos and Rivers) state law making bodies before our 50 independence celebrations. If not, then the various political parties should include this in their election campaigns for 2011, as it will not go away, if not addressed, especially in this age of the internet.

We are not afraid of positive change and if we want to be taken seriously on the world stage, and stand as an equal member in the family of nations we have to make a bold statement to the rest of the world. We have effected some changes in the past as have been noted, still carrying out some more even to this day at different levels, but all these will be meaningless if we continue to wear the name tag issued to us by our colonial master. We are a nation blessed with intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, scientists, writers, musicians, business people artists, etc; together we can achieve more than we have so far.

LONG LIVE OUR PEOPLE, LONG LIVE OUR FATHERLAND, LONG LIVE OUR FEDERAL REPUBLIC!!!!!!

ARNOLD AMINO K. AMACREE

5TH March 2009 ©

Dear Presidents Around the World