What’s in a name?

For some time now the newspaper industry has been in the doldrums. Financially imperilled by rising costs of newsprint, wages and other business inputs they have also been hit by falling sales. Two major factors are responsible for the drop in sales. Firstly, today’s public increasingly prefers news to be presented in “sound bites” and […]

For some time now the newspaper industry has been in the doldrums. Financially imperilled by rising costs of newsprint, wages and other business inputs they have also been hit by falling sales. Two major factors are responsible for the drop in sales. Firstly, today’s public increasingly prefers news to be presented in “sound bites” and news flashes which keep people abreast of headlines without the time consuming business of reading lengthy detailed stories with careful analyses.
Secondly, the impact of the online media where irresponsible sensational reporting has become the order of the day. On-line publications serve up a far more appetizing menu than the staid printed press which follows the time honoured path of responsible journalism where words are chosen carefully and libellous statements avoided. In truth Nigerians prefer to read that a high-profile politician is a “thief” rather than the less sensational but truer statement that he or she has simply been charged to court for “allegedly” facilitating the misappropriation of certain monies. Bloggers and their like who feed like vultures over the carcasses of newspapers, are increasingly having a field day and making a profit from basically doing nothing. In this situation newspapers have been forced to rely less on their cover price, and more on income from advertisements. 
As long as Nigerians continue to celebrate death with pomp and pageantry, newspapers will continue to receive their fair share of obituary and final burial rites adverts. However the number of such publications pales in comparison with the volume of pages paid for by governmental agencies who habitually use multiple pages to display unsorted lists of names and other important information which is muddled up in presentation! Although this revenue stream has become a life saver for the press, it has its drawbacks. It impinges upon press freedom in as much as newspapers which vehemently oppose government policy run the very real risk of financial ruin if they are boycotted in this lucrative market.
Thankfully for the independent press there is a new boom in newspaper advertisements. On a daily basis papers are printing multiple pages of classified adverts listing changes of name.   Changing name is nothing new in Nigeria. From time immemorial, our newspapers have carried a few advertisements informing the public of a change of name. In the past such classified adverts consisted of a few inconspicuous columns or a quarter page in which newly married women informed those whom it may concern that they now wished to be referred to by their marital name. But things are totally different now as thousands of Nigerians are currently processing change of name. This large increase has been credited to the whole issue of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN). Unfortunately for so many Nigerians the BVN make no allowance for transposition of names. Therefore Albert Adams cannot be the same person as Adams Albert.
Bank customers paying the price for opening accounts where their names are transposed aren’t really to blame. In the old days children were taught that they had a first name and a surname. Back then if you asked a child his or her name, she was likely to say for example “Susan Okadigbo”. These days she is more likely to call herself “Okadigbo Susan”!  Today’s youth have grown up to believe that it’s correct to place your family name before your personal name. As a result they don’t pay much attention to forms where they are asked to list their names in a particular order. At the end of the day it’s understandable that such people may list their names differently on different occasions.
What is incomprehensible is the number of people who have been using two completely different sets of names! A typical example is an advert in a recent paper which reads “I formerly known as James Peter Williams now wish to be known and addressed as John Friday Okosun. Banks and the general public please take note. All former documents remain valid!” Why on earth would anyone use several names to carry out legitimate business? Oddly enough there are parts of the nation where family names are guarded jealously, while in other parts two people born of the same parents will have no names in common.  While there are some parts of the nation where unnecessary importance is attached to titles.
There are other parts where a man called General, Justice, Prince, Admiral, Commander, Chief or Captain has never been a Judge, in the army, or of Royal decent, but was simply given the name by his father. Surely, if we can change our names so easily then we are facilitating fraud. If we respect our parents the way we should, then there is no reason we should call ourselves by anything other than the names they gave us.