Nigerians have been noted for their undisguised love and craving for honorary and traditional titles. This crave is pursued with passion by many Nigerians. The general notion is that persons bestowed with such titles have distinguished themselves and are of impeccable character. This, afterall, may not be the case anymore as ‘cash and carry’ syndrome may have eroded the values. BLESSING UKEMENA investigates the reasons behind the crave for titles.
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For most Nigerian elites, getting an honorary title is a desirable ambition. The reason behind this is unclear, but may vary from person to person. It could be an honorary degree or a chieftaincy title, it seems to be a thing of prestige and people just want to be known and addressed by these high sounding? titles. It is believed that most people who crave titles have enough wealth to adequately feed their ego and self esteem.
Senator Enyinnaya Abariba in an interview said, “the penchant for the honorific has gone to ridiculous extent and it goes to show that we have a sense of inferiority which continues to grow everyday”. In recent times, it is quite rare to find a man who has acquired a good amount of wealth and yet still goes with the simple prefix of ‘Mr.’ attached to his name. It is usually, ‘Dr,’ ‘Chief,’ ‘Honourable’ and so on and so forth. This situation then begs the questions, do the bearers of these titles actually merit them? Why is it so important to be known as a ‘Chief,’ ‘Dr’ or ‘Honourable?’
It is a well known fact that most persons answering the title ‘Honourable’ are not of noble character. LEADERSHIP SUNDAY investigated why these titles are so important to the average Nigerian. Chief Ifeanyi Eweani, a director with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism stated that the true Igbo man wants a title because it shows that he is a true son of the land. “The ability for a man to desire a title shows that his heart is close to home. Those who do not care for titles are those that were born in the township and therefore do not appreciate the essence of these titles”, he said.
He meanwhile expressed his disappointment at the way these titles are now acquired, stating that in the past, a titled man was a man of integrity and kindness that has positively impacted his community. “Even those that are not rich but are highly esteemed were the people that got these kind of honours and titles, but today, any man that was born and bred abroad and decides to come to his village once in ten years, and? gives his village king a lot of money is automatically given a chieftaincy title. That is why you see some undeserving persons being addressed as chief this and chief that,” he said.
Higher institutions also dish out honorary degrees to those who they feel are deserving of them. In the month of November, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was given honorary degree from the University of Benin which was well deserved, considering the efforts he had made to restructure the banking sector since he took over. This is an avenue to recognise those contributing positively to the society; but are all those that receive these honors truly worth it? Even ministers of the gospel have taken up the trend of including varied titles to their names.
There are some notable men of God who, despite their success in the ministry still have the simple prefix of ‘Pastor’ attached to their names. Many others would rather include such titles as ‘Reverend Doctor’, ‘Right Reverend’, His Most Right Reverend Doctor. Some of those that have received national honors would not be introduced until the abbreviations, CON, GCON and such others are mentioned in line with their names”.?
Speaking with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, Mr. John Adedokun, a pharmacist, said it was ridiculous that some pharmacists would want to include the abbreviations ‘Pharm.’ to their names during introductions outside the workplace. He added that the crave for titles is a Nigerian thing. “Like in the Yoruba land , I can tell you that titles are given according to family inheritance.
Like some people who go by the name ‘ADE’; they are of royal families. If there is a titled man in the family, he can only give it to his blood relation and not just any body. They can also be part of the decision making process in their community, unlike those who just give plenty money to their Oba and are given titles. Those are just ceremonial and cannot be involved in decision making process in that community. Those are the ones that can be transferred to any person and not necessarily a family relation.”
The renowned writer, Chinua Achebe made a strong point by turning down the honorary title of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) recently bestowed on him by President Goodluck Jonathan. In his opinion, the administration had not solved the problem of corruption and security plaguing the country and particularly his home state of Anambra. It was reported that the late Odumegwu Ojukwu had refused a chieftaincy title because the word ‘Chief’ rhymes with ‘Thief.’
This is a point of reference, emphasising that Nigerians should be more concerned with those matters that are more important and stop chasing shadows. Every other day, there are reports of corrupt politicians parading themselves with the title of ‘Honourable’, even after they shamelessly engage in corrupt activities. Oftentimes, they perpetrate these acts without any sense of guilt and those that are not yet caught do it with impunity.
Mrs. Susan Ideme, a lawyer, says, “taking a chieftaincy or Honorary title is not a bad thing. It used to be a thing of prestige to have a title, be it honorary or chieftaincy. But I believe that whenever a person is given these titles, he should be more conscious of himself and what he does. Today, you find that any politician that wins a local government election can just go to his village and get himself a chieftaincy title in addition to the prefix honorable. And what do you have next? He starts to bear ‘Honourable Chief’. You now hear something like Chief Honorable James and John”.
In her opinion, “Getting a title is good but it is not important.” She stresses that, “Nigerians should instead,? focus more on matters that affect the next person, check how to better the lot of their neighbours.” Ideme adds that: “??? Having a title does not make someone better than the person without one. What matters is how each person has positively affected the lives of the people around him or her. Nigeria will not progress with titled men and women but rather with people that are sincerely ready to make this country a better place to be, now and for future generations.