THE METAPHYSICS OF NAMES AND REFERENTS IN IGBO CULTURAL MILIEU.

BY OSONDU JUDE THADDEUS (THEOLOGY SOPHOMORE, BIGARD MEMORIAL SEMINARY, ENUGU) PRELUDE Without over-stressing the obvious, culture is the totality of a peoples modus vivendi. This incorporates the customs, language, food, names, thought pattern, dressing, beliefs, traditions, sociopolitical system and allied peculiarities of a particular group or dispensation. Thus, there are many windows through which one can do justice to any critical appraisal of a given culture. Here, we shall survey the Igbo culture via her pattern of names and referents. BACKDROP OF NAMES AND REFERENTS IN IGBO CULTURAL MILIEU The Igbos of South-Eastern Nigeria have, not for slight reasons, been linked to the Hebrews (Iboos) Israel. Common traits like nomenclature, language, similar fate, marriage, circumcision, child rearing, religiosity, funerals and other cultural links have been studied to prove the Hebrew descent of the Igbos (Iboos). Part of their cultural similarities, though not limited to only the Igbos and Hebrews, is their system of names and referents. The bible, which is the most exhaustive and authoritative documentation of the Hebrew life, culture, religion and history, is replete with innumerable demonstrations of the value of names and referents. Right from the creation accounts, we see Adam performing the Divine injunction of assigning names (cf. Gen. 2:19-20). By this Divine authority, man comes to share in Gods sovereign act of creation, in His collegial Let us... (cf. Gen. 1:26). Man becomes a creator by participation, a creaturecreator, a co-creator with God. This is a sharing in Gods divinity. This value attached to a name made the Hebrews understand that the name conferred on something does not simply end at the level of auditory value, but actually makes the thing what it is. By so doing, therefore, God made Adam allocate not just a name to what he had created, but also their intrinsic function, dignity and destiny. Thus, a change of name also means a change of function, dignity and destiny. Abraham (Gen. 17:5), Sarah (Gen. 17:15), Bethel (Gen. 28:19), Jacob (Gen. 32:29) and other figures that experienced a serious change of dignity or destiny all had their names changed also to correspond to the new status. Even the giving of names to mere infants or places, ab initio, reflects a symbolism that goes beyond superficial rhetoric. Moses, Samuel, Ichabod, the three children of Hosea, John, Jesus and countless other names in the bible accentuate the truism that names go beyond the merely physical. The Hebrews were very conscious of the religious meaning of their existence. This trait is rooted very deeply in the Igbos who always attach metaphysical interpretations to even apparently insignificant occurrences in life, not to talk of this invaluable part of mans being names and referents. THE IMPORT OF IGBO NAMES AND REFERENTS Therefore, for the Igbos and a good number of other peoples of the world, names and referents are not conferred arbitrarily or detachedly. The Igbos especially attach religious, cultural, psychological, situational and experiential meanings and undertones in giving names and referents or titles to

persons, places and things. In the Igbo cultural milieu, names and referents are, more often than not, contextual, expressive of the occasion, mood, tension, celebration, calamity, intention, emotions, aspirations, expectations, events, achievements, attributes or beliefs of both the namer and the named. They denote the identity, function, character and properties, as well as contain much information about whom or what is referred to. From the foregoing, we have tried to establish that for the typical Igbo, there is more to a name than the sound. Simply put, the name indicates the personality or explains the essential features of what is so named. Hence, it is not unusual to have phrases, clauses or even whole sentences as names and titles. For instance, we encounter Igbo names and referents such as Kelechi Thank God, Chimdiuto my God is sweet; Chilaka God decides; Chukwuka God is greater or superior; Ofoka justice is greater; Nkiruka the future is greater; Enugwu/Enugu Hill-top; Chimeremeze God made me King; Chile God, see (my plight); Onwubiko Death, please; Umuoda Descendants of Oda; Ndigbo People of Igbo race; Ndidi patience; Chukwudi God exists; Ugwumba the Dignity of a tribe; Ekwutosi do not slander; Asoluka do not fear (unkind) utterances; Adaeze Princess; Agu lion; Igwe iron; Ebubedike the aura of a hero; Obidiya her husbands heart; Onwanetiriora the (benevolent) moon that shines on all and sundry; Chidubem God, lead me on; Obumneke Am I the one who creates?; Maduabuchi man is not God; Ndubuisi life is first; Ogadimma it will be well; Chima God knows; Ngozi blessing; etc. A close examination of Igbo names and referents reveals the deep significance of naming people, places or things appropriately. Igbo names portray the sentiments and conception of the Igbos. Most importantly, Igbo names reflect the innate religiosity of the Igbos. They largely depict a strong belief in the supernatural, in the Divine, in the hereafter, in the immaterial and mysterious aspects of reality, in the power, judgement and influence of a Supreme Being. Some express pleas, injunctions, functions, awarded titles, gratitude, proverbs, human finitude, resignation to Gods will, experiences, circumstances, hope, conviction or origin of the bearer or the giver. That is why naming ceremonies and taking of titles are important occasions which summarize the persons or the events themselves. Ones position in the family, the context of ones birth, ones philosophical orientation and other details can also be deduced just from the name alone. CULTURE COLLISION Furthermore, no culture is so rich that it cannot receive anything and no culture is so poor that it cannot give anything. No culture has it all such that it becomes imposed as the universal culture and no culture is so deprived that it must be entirely obliterated. There is always room for interrelation and mutual enrichment of cultures because culture is dynamic, not static. Thus, one may hear of inculturation or acculturation as the case may be. So one may have some exchange of certain elements among various cultures like Bigard culture, Igbo culture, African culture, European culture, American culture, Christian culture, Islamic culture, football culture, etc. Hence, when different cultures meet, there may be some initial culture shock, tension, superiority, conflict, misconception, suppression, assimilation, in the absence of proper enlightenment, appreciation, tolerance, understanding, resolution, acceptance and adaptation.

An example could be seen in the advent of the White Missionaries and colonial masters to Africa. Many aspects of our cherished culture were hastily condemned at face value as pagan, devilish and barbaric. Even our native names were not spared this degrading onslaught. Our godly indigenous names were rejected for the reception of the sacraments, an appalling situation unfortunately still in vogue in some places today. Insofar as the name was not English, it was not worth mentioning. Perhaps, English names were the password to heaven. They preferred names of saints, forgetting that if Christ had insisted on names of saints as criterion for Baptism, there would be no Christians or saints today. They also forgot that the saints were bearing these names before they were acknowledged as saints and then their names became saints names. They forgot, too, that in their home, they accept much more secular names. Now, it is encouraging to note that religious Igbo names are being accepted in most places for Baptism. Every Igbo name is a statement and could be a good point of intensive reflection and intimate encounter with the Divine. In conferring names and referents, the Igbo man yearns for the spiritual, the ethereal, the unchanging, the vital force. FINAL ASSESSMENT Having studied the Metaphysics of names and referents in Igbo cultural milieu so far, we have now understood the intrinsic meaning of Igbo names and titles. Igbo names are well-thought out, welldefined and well-intended. They reveal the theological, philosophical cum socio-physical world view of the Igbos. They tell a story. They inform, instruct and inculcate values. They represent a culture. They are a veritable source of reference materials for African Philosophy, especially Igbo Philosophy and Metaphysics.