It takes a village to name a child

“It takes a village to name a child” is a book on the subject of African child naming ceremonies. The author Chinazor Onianwah, a Nigerian journalist and blog-owner based in Washington DC had facilitated several child naming ceremonies in local churches until he was persuaded to write a book about it to reach those who may not readily have access to him. But rather than piece together notes from previous child naming ceremonies, Chinazor explored the need for a child to have a naming ceremony based on his Nigerian upbringing. He states that "a child naming ceremony is the celebration of the bestowment of identity, culture, heritage, faith, family, community and wealth upon a child." He explains that for a ceremony to be a joyous occasion it does not have to be financially burdensome and parents must avoid strict adherence to dates and times for the ceremony. He emphasized that the ceremony must be held at the convenience of the family, friends and community.
According to the author every child naming ceremony must involve the immediate family members, friends, and members of the community in which the family resides. The members of the community may not necessarily be known to the family to attend the ceremony. They are part of the child’s life and directly or indirectly, they are involved in the child’s upbringing.
The ceremony often involves the Kola nut communion - the presentation of the kola nut, the blessing of the kola nut, the braking of the kola nut and the offering of the kola nut. Libation also features prominently during the ceremony to pay tribute to the ancestral spirits of the child. The highlight of the occasion is the actual naming of the child. Compared to Western culture, there is no limit to the names of an African child. As the book noted, it is not uncommon for a child to have over ten names. According to the author, that was an indication of how many relatives are involved in the child’s life and often times the child responds to different names that he or she is called by different relatives in the same household.
The author also used the election of Barack Obama as the first Africa American US President to explain in the first chapter: What is in a name like Barack Hussein Obama? He says some individuals are driven by a need to make a name while others try to live up to their names. But he humorously wondered what was in a name like Hitler?
Excerpt
“On October 14, 2007, few months after Barak Obama announced his candidacy in the US Democratic Presidential race, a biographical article appeared in Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine about Dr. James Watson, the American molecular biologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, saying he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa as all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really.” He went on to say, “Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when “testing” suggested the contrary. He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade. Dr. Watson’s statement was not a coincidence. Rather it was the harbinger of a slew of negative attacks directed at candidate Barack Obama.”
“Many in the media denigrated his middle name, Hussein, because it is of Muslim origin linking him to Muslim fundamentalists. They dismissed his candidacy on the basis of his racial identity. Is it a coincidence that at a time when Islam and the West are at loggerheads, a man with a Hebrew name, Muslim name and African name will arise preaching the gospel of unity of all people? Or could it be the fruition of Martin Luther King Jr. prophesy, “that one day America will judge a man not by his skin color but by the content of his character” for the position of the President of the United States of America?
The night Barack Obama stood to address the world on his victory as the first African American to win the US Presidency; he was standing against the backdrop of hundreds of years of a racist belief that blacks are inferior to whites. It did not begin with Dr. James Watson. It began when the decision was made to go to Africa for slaves to provide free labor for the development of the new world. This notion of blacks as inferior to their white counterpart reached its apogee when European governments led by Great Britain in 1877 through 1931 embarked on a vigorous campaign to promote the colonialism by displaying indigenous people in the nude in cages and claiming that the savages needed to be civilized."
Yes. It is against this backdrop that, Barack Hussein Obama, against all odds won the election to become the first African American US President and to fulfill Dr. King's dream and also quell the notion that his name, ancestry, community, culture, faith, family, heritage, legacy and intellect is inferior to that of any other race or ethnicity.

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