Nigeria is what it is today because we want it so, we can change it if we choose. Change requires action and it starts with changing oneself. We can change the whole world, if we all change ourselves. We need to change from being indifferent. According to Albert Einstein, “the world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” When good men do nothing, evil shall surely prevail.
In order to achieve a desired change, we need to move from talking to acting. A talk cannot move an object, only an action can do. An action is a finished product of a dream. We need to dream dreams, we need to plan, we need to believe and we need to act in order to have a ‘change we can believe’. There can be no plan without a dream as there can never be a successful action without believing.
A dream gives a clear vision of the future. As yesterday was the birthplace of today, a dream is the birthplace of the future and a dream is the mother of an action. Benjamin Disraeli asserted that “action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
In about three months, Nigeria will 49 years old as an independent nation. Many years with very little to show economically, politically and otherwise. In these years, the landscape of our history has been dominated mostly by challenging stories like corruption, civil war, wasted resources, military coup, ethnic violence, leadership failure, lack of infrastructure, brain drain, 419, Niger Delta palaver, indolent leaders etc.
Our potential remains only a potential. Our challenges endure but fail to paralyse us, they're supposed to help us discover who we are. According to Harriet Beecher “when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn,”
Through it all, we have kept our sanity, we see life the way it should be and not the way it is. In our defeat, we dream victory. In our despair, we chose hope which make every good thing possible. Our God-given inner strength gives us courage to carry on and continue to be hopeful. Our dream is fast becoming a reality, we can see it at the corner, we can smell her fragrance, we can hear the elegant steps of her feet in quiet and we are nostalgic of the arrival. Even when all seemed bleak, we chose to overcome fear, overcome uncertainty, overcome peril, overcome injustice, overcome threat while continuing to avow to ourselves that life with all its troubles can be good hence ‘suffering and smiling’ that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always a bright tomorrow to cover the sad yesterday.
In the midst of these negativities, I still have positive dream for fatherland. I have a dream that my fellow countrymen will rise to defend the country of their fathers to give reasons for hope to their children as Nigeria shall stand tall, rise and be reckoned with in the comity of great nations.
I have a dream that my people shall coexist harmoniously; communal rivalry, religious intolerance and clash shall belong to the past, Niger Delta shall see peace and prosperity again and the Hausas, Ibos, Yorubas, Ijaws and all other tribes shall be one another’s keepers.
I have a dream that my country shall no longer depend on what is under the feet of her people but what is up in their heads. Natural resources shall no longer be the mainstay but agriculture, industrial production and services.
I have a dream that our sons and daughters will leave the countries of their birth in Europe and America and ask after the country of their ancestors which they shall be proud to call theirs.
I have a dream that every vote of the electorate shall count; from the half-naked woman protesting in Ekiti, to the covered Purdah in Sokoto, from the powerful in Abuja to the ordinary man in Zaria, from the market man in Aba to the businessman in Yola, from the student in Ibadan to the professor in Nsukka and from the urban man in Lagos to the ‘natural woman’ in Koma.
I have a dream that our Moses shall lead us out of the wilderness of poverty and from the Red Sea of corruption, our David shall slain Goliath who is feeding fat on the nation’s commonwealth, our Elijah will command fire on all the prophets of Baal holding the nation down and our Samson shall cause havoc in the camp of those squandering and pilfering our resources and the marauders we see today, we shall see them no more.
I have a dream that Nigeria will be ruled by men of noble character who are prepared to take us to the promised land and no more animals in human skin (apology to Fela Anikulapo Kuti), no more by the dumbest, no more by the weakest, no more by the sick and no more by the reluctant presidents. The days of the indecisive government are numbered.
I have a dream that our democracy will be democratic, our constitution will be constitutional and our Aso Rock Presidential Villa shall cease to be Ass hol* Rock Villa.
I have a dream that our leaders shall know that leadership is a call to service and not a call to be bosses, our executive will no longer be executhief, they will not only wield power but also generate power such that everyone of us can turn to the corner of our rooms and say let there be light and there shall be light.
I have a dream that the legislature shall make laws for the benefit and protection of the all and not only to increase their own salaries and allowances. The shall know the difference between constituency allowance and personal allowance.
I have a dream that the judiciary shall be judicious and no more pervert the law, they shall look unto the constitution and laws of the land to judge cases and not towards Aso Rock Villa and they shall prosecute and not persecute.
I have a dream that INEC will be truly independent of the executive, The Police shall not be agent of the oppressor but friend of the people. They shall gracefully perform their duties without asking for ‘egunje.’The military shall defend and not invade our fatherland, the civil and public servants shall serve their fatherland wholeheartedly without filching the public funds and Attorney General shall no more assault the constitution.
I have a dream that the poor masses shall no more be guilty until proven innocent, they shall join the high-ranking to be innocent until proven guilty. The prisons shall no more be filled with petty offenders while the major thieves are power brokers who dine and wine in the seats of the government.
This is my dream for fatherland, it is your dream and our dream for motherland. If it is our dream, then we must sustain it to reality. This change’s real! Dreaming may be easy, action may be difficult but putting a dream into an action is the most complicated thing in the world but with God on our side, our dream shall come to be.
Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime. W.E.B. Du Bois
The time to act is no other but now. We do not need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. If we fail, our dream shall be dream and our vision shall be vision and our world shall remain the same. Certainly, the cost of our action shall be huge but the cost of inaction shall even be more. There can never be any gain without pain.
Those who profess to favour freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. Frederick Douglass
As charity starts from home, our action shall start with the people closest to us. Let us educate the people in our families, neighbourhood and grassroots of their inalienable rights. No one shall sell his voting right for a bowl of porridge.
We shall encourage and support the good people among us especially the youth to go into politics and for elective positions, if they fail, the bad ones whose affinity for power is inexhaustible will continue to dominate the political climate. Voting and being voted for; are not only our civil duties but also our constitutional rights.
"The ball is now in your court...Election is still two years away...What is wrong in identifying now your candidates and beginning to mobilise support for them...Why can't you invade your homeland...Use your mobile telephones now to mobilise the people and guard democracy... the way Barrack Obama used the Internet technology to mobilise the youths to strengthen democracy... Mobilise the youths to guard the ballot boxes from start to finish...Defend the vote, nobody is going to do it for you..." Prof. Wole Soyinka.
We shall foster the unity of all progressive groups and protect our destiny against the ‘do or die’ policy of the incumbent, organise mass action against any breach of our collective will. No passive people can expect a change. We have talked, we have praised, we have criticized, we have waited but we haven’t acted. We must act and now is the time.
This is a call on all good people of this great Nation! A thousand words are not as effective as one action. A thousand good intentions are not as good as one action. In recent time, the power in mass action or protest has been more revolutionary than any bloody guerrilla. No government can stand against the power of the masses. Demonstrations by the nationalist group in 2006 caused the ousting of the corrupt prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests resulted in the opening up of China though much is still left to be desired especially in the area of human rights. A mass protest that started from a remote village led to the end of the repressive communist leader Nikolai Ceausescu of Romania and after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, a political opponent and a tainted presidential election The People Power Revolution in February 1986 removed the authoritarian Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines. The recent event in Madagascar and the current protest in Iran are other testimonies to the power of the people. All these shall amount to nothing compared to what shall happen in motherland.
Our dream will take us on a journey for which we do not know the end but certainly, we shall not return to the starting point. Our action shall take us to war with the enemy but our weapons shall not be guns and matchets but all from our intellectual arsenal. Our action shall be like a road in the countryside where there was never a road but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. A change has come!
If you share the dream, spread it.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
This article is also published on the following links
http://pointblanknews.com/artopn1457.html
23 June 2009
12 June 2009
Nigerians And The Title Craze; Proud To Be Called Mr.
Scene1 (Outside the office)
Oteniyark: Good morning Mr. Nwachukwu
Nwachukwu: Point of correction please! I’m Chief Engineer Nwachukwu.
Oteniyark: Can’t an engineer be addressed as a Mister?
Nwachukwu: I don’t know but as far as I am concerned, as the Chief Engineer of our company where you also work, the members of staff must call me Chief Engineer Nwachukwu otherwise I will ignore their calls.
Scene 2 (On the telephone)
Oteniyark: Hello good afternoon, could you allow me speak with Mr. A. Bello?
Yakubu: You mean my dad, Ambassador A. Bello?
Oteniyark: No, Mr. Bello is a pensioner.
Yakubu: Yes, It’s my dad, he was a Nigerian ambassador 18 years ago.
Scene 3 (At a public function)
Oteniyark: It is my pleasure to introduce the guest speaker Mr. Tony Bamgbose who was a member of the State House of Assembly.
Tony: Beg your pardon! I am honourable Bamgbose.
Oteniyark: I also have the privilege of inviting to the high table, the wife of the state governor, Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka.
An aid of the governor’s wife hurriedly jumped to the podium
Governor’s wife’s aid (whispering): Madam is First Lady and must be addressed as Her Excellency, the First Lady, Alhaja Chief Dr. Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka LL.D. Please quickly make the correction!
The above scenes are a demonstration of the title craze that is endemic in Nigeria. Everywhere you turn your face in the society, this craziness is conspicuous and cuts across all segments of the society. It is evident in the workplace and business environment as well as political and religious circles.
We may not be the best in many things but not in inventing titles. If we can bring a bit of the ingenuity with which we invent or combine titles to other positive areas of lives, Nigeria will certainly be a better place and will surely rank among the best places in terms of positive development. Nigerians generate new titles almost with the same frequency Microsoft comes up with security updates for the Vista operating system. I have seen people adding to their names, strange titles like ‘Akobi’ a Yoruba word meaning first born and ‘Aremo’ another Yoruba word meaning next in line for a king’s throne.
Some good people of this great nation seem to extremely abhor being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. It may be out of sheer ignorance of thinking that the titles are for people of little importance and scarce achievement in the society or out of the ever increasing zeal to flamboyantly exhibit all the achievements and identities at any given opportunity or to cover some deficiencies. Mister may not after all be as insignificant as our dear people think and in fact it is the mother of all titles which can be applicable to any highly regarded man. Mister (Mr.) is a conventional title of respect for a man, prefixed to his name and to certain official designations or positions e.g. Mr. Chairman. Likewise, Mrs. or Ms is a title of honour for a woman. Regardless of other titles somebody possesses, the person can still be addressed as Mr. or Mrs without any disparaging feeling. In a place like America, the president is officially regarded as Mr. President but you dare not add the Mr. to the title of our President in order to save yourself of the Abuja wrath, the president must be introduced as His Excellency President Whoever.
A title, according to the American heritage dictionary of the English language, is a formal designation attached to the name of a person or family by virtue of office, rank, hereditary privilege, noble birth, or attainment or used as a mark of respect. A title can be a prefix or a suffix or in some cases embedded in between the names. Prefix titles are pre-nominal letters which are placed before the name of a person as distinct from a suffix titles which are post-nominal placed after the name. A prefix is used in direct address as in Mr., Dr., Chief, Alhaji, Barrister, etc while a suffix is used more in descriptive form and placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, award or honour. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. The order in which these are listed after a name is based on the order of precedence and category of the order. Examples include CEO, SAN, CFR, PhD, MBA, ACCA, retired General, former Senator, Editor in Chief, Commander in Chief, MP etc.
A title can be permanent or temporary. Funny enough most temporary titles have been made permanent in Nigeria. A former senator wants to be eternally addressed as senator. A former legislator will never give up the title of honourable and all of retired generals still bear their formal titles. A permanent title can be relevant throughout one’s lifetime after attaining it while a temporary title may be relevant only for a certain period of time.
A permanent title is a title attained by virtue of one’s gender as in Mr. or Mrs., hereditary privilege or noble birth as in Chief, Prince or Princess, Eze, King, Emir, Obi, Oba or a permanently attainment such as in Pastor, Imam or Alhaji (which is a term of respect used to address a Muslim who has completed one of the Five Pillars of Islam by going on the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca). A woman who has completed the pilgrimage is addressed as Alhaja. Whoever has any of these titles is very unlikely to lose the title rather may acquire further titles. A prince may eventually become a king. Titles resulting from academic and professional qualifications are other forms of permanent title as in Eng, Arch, Barrister and Dr. which is usually used in calling a medical doctors or somebody who has doctorate degree in any other field.
Save for Dr, almost all other professional titles are regarded as workplace titles which are officially applicable in the workplace and related environment. Such titles like Engineer, Justice, Architect and Barrister are used in addressing people at the workplace. Outside the workplace, they are more commonly used in describing people. As demonstrated in Scene 1 of the conversation above, at the place of work, somebody can be called Eng. Nwachukwu while outside the workplace, he is called Mr. Nwachukwu, an engineer but an average Nigerian wants to be addressed everywhere he/she goes with the professional title especially those in the professions regarded as noble. No wonder one hears people addressed as Banker Jide, Accountant Emeka, Surveyor Ahmed, Manager Bala, Pharmacist James, Journalist Segun and other inconceivable Nigerian made titles. The earned degrees and qualification and other awarded titles that suffixed a name can also be permanent. Titles like BSc, MSc, MBA, AMNIM, ACA, FCCA, SAN, LL.D, MON, CFR, GCON, RIP etc. These titles always come behind a name. They may or may not be written after a name. In the Western world, these titles are written only when necessary.
On the other hand, temporary titles are earned by virtue of one’s official position, rank, appointment or election and as soon as somebody seizes to be in the position, the titles should seize to exist. It can only exist in a descriptive way referring to the fact that the person once occupied the position. Titles like President, Governor, Senator, Chairman, Honourable, Professor, Bishop, General Overseer, Chief Imam, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Chief Engineer, Chief Accountant, Attorney General, Minister, Commissioner, General, Brigadier, Colonel, Major, and IG are in this category. Once the title stops to be relevant, all salutation and protocols associated with the position and titles should automatically end. As seen in scene 2, Mr. A. Bello shouldn’t have been addressed as Ambassador A. Bello. It would have been right to say Mr. A. Bello, a former Ambassador. Because we are a people who would not let go of old titles, we believe once a senator is always a senator and most be addressed forever as one, once a general is always a general. Little wonder some governors and ministers are still addressed with the title of senator even after many years of being absent from the Senate. Hilary Clinton will never again be called Sen. Clinton unless she goes back to the Senate rather she can be addressed as Mrs. Clinton, a former senator. All our retired generals still clutch the title like General (rtd) Bala instead of Mr. Bala, a retired General as people like Mr. Collin Powell, a retired US Army General does.
Our desire for titles knows no bound as our people keep the endless invention growing and turning out ‘combined honours’ even when the combinations are senseless. I used to think that this craze about titles are a way of making up for some deficiencies of the protagonist until I found that those who have really achieved in life and who should know much about this are also into it. It is a rat race thing and we know that whoever wins in a rat race still remains a rat. How do you explain the official title of most company heads being referred to as CEO/MD? Is Chief Executive Officer not the same thing as Managing Director? Is this not a tautology? This combination is only meaningful in a company with subsidiaries like the consolidated banks where an individual is the Managing Director of the parent company as well as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the consolidated group which is directly the same as CEO. Virtually all our banks consciously duplicate their helmsmen’s title as CEO/GMD which makes no sense.
The yearning propensity for titles other than Mr. has created a surge in the number of people going on yearly pilgrimage to the holy lands. While most people do out of genuine desire to fulfil the requirement of the tenets of their faith, some are motivated by the new attributable title and status or class. As the Moslem become Alhaji and Alhaja, some Christians who would not want to be outdone also suffixed their names with JP meaning Jerusalem Pilgrim. Funny as it may be, I have read the profile of somebody being referred to as 3 times Alhaji to show he has gone to Mecca 3 times. The quest for titles has created a boom business for our traditional rulers who are flooded with the request of people seeking honorary chieftaincy title. The honorary title used to be offered by the rulers as rewards to well meaning and deserving indigenes who have or are expected to contribute positively to the community but it is now being commercialized. Once you have the price, you will take the prize. The very smart ones don’t even wait to be awarded the titles by any ruler, they fabricate titles and award them to themselves. I have an uncle who became a chief overnight. These titles are being bastardized as some many ‘unchiefly’ people of questionable personality are becoming chiefs by the day. The same thing can be said of honorary doctorate degree where money plays a major role especially in the private universities. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can now buy such titles in the country and also with a few thousands of dollars same can be obtained from a private university in the US or India.
The way people want to outdo one another with titles reminds me of 3 popular Yoruba Fuji musicians in the 70’s and 80’s when the started the title competition. When one became an Alhaji, the others went to Mecca to equal him, when one added Chief, others also went for chieftaincy titles, then one called himself Brigadier General, another called himself full General and the third called himself Marshall meaning Field Marshal and then one went for honorary doctorate to add Dr. to his already vast collection, then another added Professor to his already overblown collection and it went on like that until one of them became a king without a territory.
After acquiring these titles, you’ll see my fellow countrymen displaying their stuff. A single man can combine about 4 or 5 or more titles. A typical Nigerian will be elated to be introduced, addressed or write his own title profile as Honourable Alhaji Chief Dr. Musa Taiwo PhD, AMNIM, MON & CEO/MD. It sounds incredible but take your time to see business cards of some of your friends to understand what I’m writing. Some are not done with common titles anymore and the invent theirs. It is not uncommon to hear titles like High Chief, Otunba, Ozo, Eze, Eze Ego, King (without Kingdom), Yeye meaning mother, Balogun, Iyalode, Akobi, Special Adviser, Consultant, Diplomat, Chief Press Officer, Commissioner etc.
This title wave has not spared the religious circles. It has blown into the Churches and Mosque to the extent that some clergies take offences if their full titles are not precisely mentioned in introducing them to the podium to deliver God's message. The title of Pastor is not even trendy to many anymore. Titles like Reverend, Apostle, Bishop, General Overseer - GO, President etc are more preferred and mostly pastors have the unofficial title of Daddy and their wives are usually Mummy. In some extreme cases, the daddy is qualified such as Big Daddy to differentiate the office and the anointing or sometimes combined with the official title as in Daddy GO. This goes for other officers who want accurate appellation as in Deacon(ess), Elder, Choirmaster etc. The story is the same in the Islamic circle as Chief Imam will never settle for Imam and all titles must be completely spelt out.
In the political circle, the more dishonourable the Legislators become, the more they crave to be called Honourable, the more mediocre the Executives are, the more they lust for His Excellency, the more unchiefly they become, the more they long to be called Chiefs. The title must be extended to their family members as well. The Governor’s wife become the First Lady of the State (as seen in scene 3 of the conversation above) while the local government Chairman’s wife is the First Lady at the local government level as Councillor’s wife is FL at the council level. All States’ First ladies have offices in the State government secretariat with full staff and official protocols notwithstanding that our Constitution recognizes only the national First Lady. All first lady offices at the state level are illegal and an abuse of office by government supporting the office.
Even with this title craze, I am still proud to be Mr. R.K. Oteniya.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
Oteniyark: Good morning Mr. Nwachukwu
Nwachukwu: Point of correction please! I’m Chief Engineer Nwachukwu.
Oteniyark: Can’t an engineer be addressed as a Mister?
Nwachukwu: I don’t know but as far as I am concerned, as the Chief Engineer of our company where you also work, the members of staff must call me Chief Engineer Nwachukwu otherwise I will ignore their calls.
Scene 2 (On the telephone)
Oteniyark: Hello good afternoon, could you allow me speak with Mr. A. Bello?
Yakubu: You mean my dad, Ambassador A. Bello?
Oteniyark: No, Mr. Bello is a pensioner.
Yakubu: Yes, It’s my dad, he was a Nigerian ambassador 18 years ago.
Scene 3 (At a public function)
Oteniyark: It is my pleasure to introduce the guest speaker Mr. Tony Bamgbose who was a member of the State House of Assembly.
Tony: Beg your pardon! I am honourable Bamgbose.
Oteniyark: I also have the privilege of inviting to the high table, the wife of the state governor, Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka.
An aid of the governor’s wife hurriedly jumped to the podium
Governor’s wife’s aid (whispering): Madam is First Lady and must be addressed as Her Excellency, the First Lady, Alhaja Chief Dr. Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka LL.D. Please quickly make the correction!
The above scenes are a demonstration of the title craze that is endemic in Nigeria. Everywhere you turn your face in the society, this craziness is conspicuous and cuts across all segments of the society. It is evident in the workplace and business environment as well as political and religious circles.
We may not be the best in many things but not in inventing titles. If we can bring a bit of the ingenuity with which we invent or combine titles to other positive areas of lives, Nigeria will certainly be a better place and will surely rank among the best places in terms of positive development. Nigerians generate new titles almost with the same frequency Microsoft comes up with security updates for the Vista operating system. I have seen people adding to their names, strange titles like ‘Akobi’ a Yoruba word meaning first born and ‘Aremo’ another Yoruba word meaning next in line for a king’s throne.
Some good people of this great nation seem to extremely abhor being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. It may be out of sheer ignorance of thinking that the titles are for people of little importance and scarce achievement in the society or out of the ever increasing zeal to flamboyantly exhibit all the achievements and identities at any given opportunity or to cover some deficiencies. Mister may not after all be as insignificant as our dear people think and in fact it is the mother of all titles which can be applicable to any highly regarded man. Mister (Mr.) is a conventional title of respect for a man, prefixed to his name and to certain official designations or positions e.g. Mr. Chairman. Likewise, Mrs. or Ms is a title of honour for a woman. Regardless of other titles somebody possesses, the person can still be addressed as Mr. or Mrs without any disparaging feeling. In a place like America, the president is officially regarded as Mr. President but you dare not add the Mr. to the title of our President in order to save yourself of the Abuja wrath, the president must be introduced as His Excellency President Whoever.
A title, according to the American heritage dictionary of the English language, is a formal designation attached to the name of a person or family by virtue of office, rank, hereditary privilege, noble birth, or attainment or used as a mark of respect. A title can be a prefix or a suffix or in some cases embedded in between the names. Prefix titles are pre-nominal letters which are placed before the name of a person as distinct from a suffix titles which are post-nominal placed after the name. A prefix is used in direct address as in Mr., Dr., Chief, Alhaji, Barrister, etc while a suffix is used more in descriptive form and placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, award or honour. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. The order in which these are listed after a name is based on the order of precedence and category of the order. Examples include CEO, SAN, CFR, PhD, MBA, ACCA, retired General, former Senator, Editor in Chief, Commander in Chief, MP etc.
A title can be permanent or temporary. Funny enough most temporary titles have been made permanent in Nigeria. A former senator wants to be eternally addressed as senator. A former legislator will never give up the title of honourable and all of retired generals still bear their formal titles. A permanent title can be relevant throughout one’s lifetime after attaining it while a temporary title may be relevant only for a certain period of time.
A permanent title is a title attained by virtue of one’s gender as in Mr. or Mrs., hereditary privilege or noble birth as in Chief, Prince or Princess, Eze, King, Emir, Obi, Oba or a permanently attainment such as in Pastor, Imam or Alhaji (which is a term of respect used to address a Muslim who has completed one of the Five Pillars of Islam by going on the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca). A woman who has completed the pilgrimage is addressed as Alhaja. Whoever has any of these titles is very unlikely to lose the title rather may acquire further titles. A prince may eventually become a king. Titles resulting from academic and professional qualifications are other forms of permanent title as in Eng, Arch, Barrister and Dr. which is usually used in calling a medical doctors or somebody who has doctorate degree in any other field.
Save for Dr, almost all other professional titles are regarded as workplace titles which are officially applicable in the workplace and related environment. Such titles like Engineer, Justice, Architect and Barrister are used in addressing people at the workplace. Outside the workplace, they are more commonly used in describing people. As demonstrated in Scene 1 of the conversation above, at the place of work, somebody can be called Eng. Nwachukwu while outside the workplace, he is called Mr. Nwachukwu, an engineer but an average Nigerian wants to be addressed everywhere he/she goes with the professional title especially those in the professions regarded as noble. No wonder one hears people addressed as Banker Jide, Accountant Emeka, Surveyor Ahmed, Manager Bala, Pharmacist James, Journalist Segun and other inconceivable Nigerian made titles. The earned degrees and qualification and other awarded titles that suffixed a name can also be permanent. Titles like BSc, MSc, MBA, AMNIM, ACA, FCCA, SAN, LL.D, MON, CFR, GCON, RIP etc. These titles always come behind a name. They may or may not be written after a name. In the Western world, these titles are written only when necessary.
On the other hand, temporary titles are earned by virtue of one’s official position, rank, appointment or election and as soon as somebody seizes to be in the position, the titles should seize to exist. It can only exist in a descriptive way referring to the fact that the person once occupied the position. Titles like President, Governor, Senator, Chairman, Honourable, Professor, Bishop, General Overseer, Chief Imam, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Chief Engineer, Chief Accountant, Attorney General, Minister, Commissioner, General, Brigadier, Colonel, Major, and IG are in this category. Once the title stops to be relevant, all salutation and protocols associated with the position and titles should automatically end. As seen in scene 2, Mr. A. Bello shouldn’t have been addressed as Ambassador A. Bello. It would have been right to say Mr. A. Bello, a former Ambassador. Because we are a people who would not let go of old titles, we believe once a senator is always a senator and most be addressed forever as one, once a general is always a general. Little wonder some governors and ministers are still addressed with the title of senator even after many years of being absent from the Senate. Hilary Clinton will never again be called Sen. Clinton unless she goes back to the Senate rather she can be addressed as Mrs. Clinton, a former senator. All our retired generals still clutch the title like General (rtd) Bala instead of Mr. Bala, a retired General as people like Mr. Collin Powell, a retired US Army General does.
Our desire for titles knows no bound as our people keep the endless invention growing and turning out ‘combined honours’ even when the combinations are senseless. I used to think that this craze about titles are a way of making up for some deficiencies of the protagonist until I found that those who have really achieved in life and who should know much about this are also into it. It is a rat race thing and we know that whoever wins in a rat race still remains a rat. How do you explain the official title of most company heads being referred to as CEO/MD? Is Chief Executive Officer not the same thing as Managing Director? Is this not a tautology? This combination is only meaningful in a company with subsidiaries like the consolidated banks where an individual is the Managing Director of the parent company as well as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the consolidated group which is directly the same as CEO. Virtually all our banks consciously duplicate their helmsmen’s title as CEO/GMD which makes no sense.
The yearning propensity for titles other than Mr. has created a surge in the number of people going on yearly pilgrimage to the holy lands. While most people do out of genuine desire to fulfil the requirement of the tenets of their faith, some are motivated by the new attributable title and status or class. As the Moslem become Alhaji and Alhaja, some Christians who would not want to be outdone also suffixed their names with JP meaning Jerusalem Pilgrim. Funny as it may be, I have read the profile of somebody being referred to as 3 times Alhaji to show he has gone to Mecca 3 times. The quest for titles has created a boom business for our traditional rulers who are flooded with the request of people seeking honorary chieftaincy title. The honorary title used to be offered by the rulers as rewards to well meaning and deserving indigenes who have or are expected to contribute positively to the community but it is now being commercialized. Once you have the price, you will take the prize. The very smart ones don’t even wait to be awarded the titles by any ruler, they fabricate titles and award them to themselves. I have an uncle who became a chief overnight. These titles are being bastardized as some many ‘unchiefly’ people of questionable personality are becoming chiefs by the day. The same thing can be said of honorary doctorate degree where money plays a major role especially in the private universities. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can now buy such titles in the country and also with a few thousands of dollars same can be obtained from a private university in the US or India.
The way people want to outdo one another with titles reminds me of 3 popular Yoruba Fuji musicians in the 70’s and 80’s when the started the title competition. When one became an Alhaji, the others went to Mecca to equal him, when one added Chief, others also went for chieftaincy titles, then one called himself Brigadier General, another called himself full General and the third called himself Marshall meaning Field Marshal and then one went for honorary doctorate to add Dr. to his already vast collection, then another added Professor to his already overblown collection and it went on like that until one of them became a king without a territory.
After acquiring these titles, you’ll see my fellow countrymen displaying their stuff. A single man can combine about 4 or 5 or more titles. A typical Nigerian will be elated to be introduced, addressed or write his own title profile as Honourable Alhaji Chief Dr. Musa Taiwo PhD, AMNIM, MON & CEO/MD. It sounds incredible but take your time to see business cards of some of your friends to understand what I’m writing. Some are not done with common titles anymore and the invent theirs. It is not uncommon to hear titles like High Chief, Otunba, Ozo, Eze, Eze Ego, King (without Kingdom), Yeye meaning mother, Balogun, Iyalode, Akobi, Special Adviser, Consultant, Diplomat, Chief Press Officer, Commissioner etc.
This title wave has not spared the religious circles. It has blown into the Churches and Mosque to the extent that some clergies take offences if their full titles are not precisely mentioned in introducing them to the podium to deliver God's message. The title of Pastor is not even trendy to many anymore. Titles like Reverend, Apostle, Bishop, General Overseer - GO, President etc are more preferred and mostly pastors have the unofficial title of Daddy and their wives are usually Mummy. In some extreme cases, the daddy is qualified such as Big Daddy to differentiate the office and the anointing or sometimes combined with the official title as in Daddy GO. This goes for other officers who want accurate appellation as in Deacon(ess), Elder, Choirmaster etc. The story is the same in the Islamic circle as Chief Imam will never settle for Imam and all titles must be completely spelt out.
In the political circle, the more dishonourable the Legislators become, the more they crave to be called Honourable, the more mediocre the Executives are, the more they lust for His Excellency, the more unchiefly they become, the more they long to be called Chiefs. The title must be extended to their family members as well. The Governor’s wife become the First Lady of the State (as seen in scene 3 of the conversation above) while the local government Chairman’s wife is the First Lady at the local government level as Councillor’s wife is FL at the council level. All States’ First ladies have offices in the State government secretariat with full staff and official protocols notwithstanding that our Constitution recognizes only the national First Lady. All first lady offices at the state level are illegal and an abuse of office by government supporting the office.
Even with this title craze, I am still proud to be Mr. R.K. Oteniya.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
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