The principle of poetic licence allows the acceptance of Omenclature as the attachment of meanings to events, the same way that nomenclature is a system of naming of things on the basis of correspondence or affinity. Surely, names have symbolic meanings and significance, even though some people would say that there is nothing in a name, since rose remains rose, no matter what name it may bear. Nature of events suggest the names and meanings attached to them.
A British lady, Flora Shaw, a mistress to Frederick Lugard, was said to have coined the name Nigeria in an article she wrote in The Times newspaper in 1897. The name, depicting Royal Niger Company’s territories, was compressed to Nigeria, or Niger area. So it came to be a nomenclature we have borne and cherished as a nation, even though the Royal Niger Company is no more. It remains a tag!
While we may not blame our enslavers and colonisers for all the ills we have borne in the past and present, it is pertinent that we bear certain issues in mind. Among such issues is the fact that colonialism had a deliberate propensity as well as an audacity to denigrate the people of colonised territories. Such denigration manifested in the changes of local and traditional names and places. A proud Kunta Kinte was forced to bear the name Toby and Port Harcourt named after an alleged rapist, as an image laundering therapy.
Recent suggestion about changing the name of Nigeria deserves some fair hearing, with no bias or bitterness. Rather, such a change is a deeply-felt need because, the name evokes unpleasant memories. Not many historians emphasise the truth that serious atrocities were committed against the communities in West Africa before and after the abolition of slave trade. Colonialism and evangelism which followed thereafter were not only image-laundering activities, but also another phase of an old propensity. There was a picture of savage tribes!
While a change of name may not obliterate the inhumanity and hypocrisy associated with colonialism and imperialism, it may have some symbolic or psychological effect. The fore-fathers of the people bearing the name Nigeria were not consulted when the name was coined, neither did they associate any pride or meaning with the name. Expeditionary forces by the Royal Niger Company resulting in the “capturing” of various communities were associated with acts of brigandage and brutality. The memory remains!
There is a need to re-examine some past bonds, practices and inheritances which lie as burdens on our memories and mindset. True development includes liberation from forced impositions such as names and alien practice. Let it not be forgotten that enslavement of the Black race by alien groups arose from a long-held belief that inferior races should be “liberated by force from state of savagery”.
Such-forced liberation of “inferior people” from their pathetic state of savagery and docility was seen as a civilizing or missionary activity. The stereotype or mindset arising from such belief system still persists in the modern time under the common name of racial bias, and in various guises. During the American War of Independence, a courgeous Black soldier took over command of a battalion from a cowardly White commander, and achieved greater success. That marked the beginning of change of attitude towards the Black race. It is a slow process!
Othello, the Moor of Venice was hired by the Venetian state to command its army in Cyprus. It was based on the same colour prejudice that Iago, a crafty mercenary, plotted to ruin Othello after he married Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator. The Moors of olden days were semi-black people of Arab origin and very courageous and strong.
It is obvious that drastic changes are taking place in the affairs of men and nations, demanding the re-visiting of possible lapses and beliefs of past eras. Thus, nations that continue to be rigid and insensitive to the imperative of embracing necessary changes get jolted by sudden events. The fact that the current president of the United States of America was booed recently should remind everybody that the “collective” is greater than the individual.
Collective Nigerians would have expected that leaders of the nation would recognise the enormity of the plight of the masses and then take visible steps to bring succour and confidence. Rather, the news about the president travelling from one country to another for medical check-up blurs the patriotism of Nigerians. Rather than spend public funds on foreign medical vacation, Nigerians would be better impressed if medical facilities here would be improved.
Like the change from Bristish sterling to Naira in 1973, Nigerian monetary system may not have witnessed any improvement; there was a satisfaction of dropping an alien name. There may be no harm in bearing an English or Arabic names as a result of what we had inherited, a number of national leaders, including late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had changed their first or surnames. Such changes are meant to reflect the pride of having indigenous names whose meanings and significance are closer to be bearers.
Therefore, the suggestion about changing the name of the country to reflect indigenous meaning and reality is proper, deserving attention. Ghana which used to be called Gold Coast bore a name reminiscent of exploitation and commercialism. Without casting aspersion on the Royal Niger Company of old and its activities, any name reminiscent of the old colonial ideology deserves to be considered for a change. A name may not be jinxed, but the memory which a name evokes can bias the mind. Nigerian leaders rarely recognise the antics of their old predators and enslavers.
Dr. Amirize is a retired lecturer at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.

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