Grammar of titles and naming in English (II)

But what cracks me up big time is the Nigerian practice of prefixing “Mrs.” to a combination of married women’s first names and their husbands’ first names. For instance, Mrs. Gloria Fulani, whose husband is known as John Fulani, could be addressed as “Mrs. Gloria John.” I’m myself a “victim” of this ignorance. On my […]

But what cracks me up big time is the Nigerian practice of prefixing “Mrs.” to a combination of married women’s first names and their husbands’ first names. For instance, Mrs. Gloria Fulani, whose husband is known as John Fulani, could be addressed as “Mrs. Gloria John.” I’m myself a “victim” of this ignorance. On my second daughter’s birth certificate, a Nigerian doctor wrote my wife’s name as “Mrs. Zainab Farooq”! Well, this practice owes its existence, again, to the absence of an established last-name culture in Nigeria that I talked about last week.

It’s noteworthy that in conventional British English, Mrs. is traditionally only used with a woman’s husband’s first and last names (e.g. Mrs. John Fulani) rather her with a woman’s first name and her husband’s last name (e.g. Mrs. Gloria Fulani) unless she’s a peer’s daughter (which would cause her be addressed as Lady Gloria Fulani). This is now becoming outmoded because it’s decidedly chauvinistic. Similarly, in British society, women used to be addressed by their last names only (e.g. Mrs. Fulani) if they were servants or criminals.

And in modern British and American English, it is grammatically wrong to use “Miss” or “Mrs.” along with other titles, so that a woman doctor can’t be called “Dr. (Mrs.) Gloria Fulani.” Choose only one title. Of course, in a society like Nigeria where women rightly have a need to flaunt both their professional achievement and their marital status, not to talk of our obsession with titles, this rule will never be obeyed.

Abuse and Misuse of Titles

Our “big” men and women have adopted the habit of taking on Western titles whose histories and sociological content they have not a scintilla of awareness of. The most abused Western titles in Nigeria are “Sir” and “Dame.” (I will write a full column on the origins and uses of “dame” in the coming weeks). In British culture, a “Sir” is a man who is honored by the Queen or King of England for chivalry or other personal merit. A “Dame” is the female equivalent of a “Sir.” But there is a certain famous “Dame” we all know in Nigeria who is only just now learning to shed her Okrika rusticity, who murders the English language with a ferocious glee, and who couldn’t possibly have been knighted by the Queen of England, the symbolic custodian of the English language. But she swanks her “Dameness” nonetheless.

Other popular British titles are “Lord,” “Lady,” and “the Hon.” (short for Honorable). Lord and Lady are used with the first name for the sons and daughters of dukes and marquesses: e.g. Lord John; Lady Elizabeth. But they are used with the last name elsewhere. Similarly, “the Hon.” is used with the first name for the children of viscounts, barons, and life peers and peeresses, and for the younger sons of earls. E.g. The Hon. William Adams.

In Nigeria, however, “the Hon.” title has been hijacked by vain politicians and is now prefixed to the names of members of the Federal House of Representatives, ministers, commissioners, chairmen of local governments, and councilors of wards. Not wanting to be outdone, members of the Nigerian Senate have invented a hitherto non-existent title that they call “Distinguished Senator.” These days, people just call them “Distinguished,” as if the word “distinguished” were a noun!

It is also now fashionable to ignorantly prefix the adjective “executive” to every position in Nigeria. But “executive” is prefixed to a post only when it is necessary to differentiate it from a “ceremonial” post. For instance, during Nigeria’s First Republic, there was a “ceremonial president” in the person of NnamdiAzikiwe who had no substantive powers. Substantive powers resided with the Prime Minister.

So when Nigeria adopted the American presidential system in the Second Republic, it became necessary to prefix “executive” to the name of the president to show that, unlike in the First Republic when the president had no executive powers, the elected president had executive powers. It is totally pointless to prefix “executive” to the names of governors, chairmen, etc. since we never had or have ceremonial governors or chairmen in the past or at present. This also applies to such titles as “executive director,” “executive editor,” etc. The “executive” is called for only if a company has non-voting directors or if a newspaper has an editor who exercises no real editorial decision-making powers.

“Excellency” (often preceded by “Your,” “His” or “Her” is another title of honor that is used uniquely in Nigeria. In most countries, it used only for presidents, vice presidents, state governors, ambassadors,viceroys, Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops, English colonial governors, and the Governor General of Canada (who is still symbolically an English colonial governor because he is the representative of the Queen of England in Canada. In Nigeria, it is also used for wives of presidents and state governors.

Although America’s first president used “His Excellency” as part of his titles of honor, it has now fallen into disuse.I have never heard any American president addressed as “His Excellency.” Out of America’s 50 states, only about 13 officially call their governors “His/Her Excellency.” The American First Lady is never called “Her Excellency.” Americans also don’t use “His/Her Excellency” for their ambassadors; the use “the honorable.”

I also find it curious that our attitude to Western titles is as influenced by our own local traditions as our local traditions are influenced by our understanding of Western titles. In the north, for instance, “Alhaji” and “Malam” are always prefixed to people’s first names alone—or with their first and last names combined but never with their last names alone, unlike in the West where courtesy titles are prefixed to the last names of adults.

However, our journalists now habitually mix and confuse the Western naming convention with the Nigerian naming practice, so that it is usual to see a “Musa Labo” addressed as “AlhajiLabo” on second reference in news reports. But it is “Musa” who went to Mecca and earned the title of “Alhaji” for himself, not his dad or granddad, “Labo,” who is probably not an “Alhaji” himself. Same applies to the title “Chief” and its many local variants in southern Nigeria.

This is particularly awkward for women because their earned titles are attached to their husband’s family names on second reference. Referring to Hajia Fatima Abdullahi as “HajiaAbdullahi” or a Chief Stella Okereke as “Chief Okereke” on second and subsequent references in a news story is downright misleading. It should be Hajia Fatima and Chief Stella.