Reconstruction Vol. 12, No. 4

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Effects of Globalization on Awki Names: A Sociolinguist Overview / Udoye Ifeoma Emmanuela

Abstract: Globalization has become an issue of international discourse from various perspectives. The westerners see globalization as the best thing that could ever happen to man, especially to Africans. They believe that globalization will improve Africa’s total way of life particularly in the area of poverty reduction. To Africans, the negative impact of globalization has aroused many researches by scholars such as (Enojo, 2008; Udoh, 2007; Akpotor 2005). United Nations 1999 as cited in Enojo, (47) opine that people’s lives around the globe are linked more deeply, more intensely, more immediate than ever before to acquiring the good and the bad things of life. The most badly hit area of human life affected by globalization is culture. Names are part and parcel of culture. Awka people used to pride themselves on the names they bear which often tell stories about them and reflect their thoughts. Unfortunately, globalization has destroyed all the indigenous names bore by the Awka people. Discussions revealed that all the indigenous names have ceased to exist. The people have embraced English names and non indigenous names because they want to keep abreast with new developments thereby destroying their indigenous names.

Keywords

Introduction

<1> The economic, social and political revolution brought about by globalization in the 21st century is believed to have triggered radical changes in all the spheres of life of the ordinary Awka man. Nwankwere, (580) asserts that globalization is exploitative, diseased, similar to slavery, creates inequality and above all, breeds cultural imperialism (Munzali, 31) opines that globalization is “the domination of the world system by the west, led by America in unipolar world where there is no other rival power to challenge its hegemony”. In all, language and names of the west are the most dominant of all the systems.

<2> Onomastics is a branch of linguistics that studies names. (Crystal, 112), (Algeo, 93). Idowu, (30) as cited in Alege (79) asserts that “names are invariably a sentence or a clause or an abbreviation of a sentence which can be broken down into component parts”. Onomastics is interconnected to other disciplines since proper names impinge upon many other aspects of life such as History, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Literary criticism, Geography and Cartography. There are two branches of onomastics namely: Anthroponomastics which studies people’s names and Toponomastics studies place names.

<3> Arrival of globalization struck the Awka people like hurricane, the people had many cultures which were displayed in the names they bore. Their belief, philosophy, history, festivals, hopes and aspirations are encapsulated in their names. Makoni and Pfukwa, (199) posit that “names of all kinds are social documents which fix a person’s position in the social relations to other members of society”. They concluded that names are vital communicative resource. Awka names are numerous and reflect all the aspects of their life. The names can be classified under the following categories: market days, gods, love for children, death, sorrow and suffering, philosophy of life, belief in God Almighty, complexion, remembrance and reincarnation, circumstances surrounding the birth, parents financial state, man’s relationship with man, cultural attributes, hopes and aspirations (Udoye, 44). This paper discusses three aspects of Awka names before globalization and after globalization and further examines the challenges that reflect seriously on the identity of Awka in relation to their culture.

Awka Indigenous Cultures

<4> Awka tradition boasts of rich cultural heritage often geared towards entertaining, sustaining and maintaining culture like the Ozo title and festivals organized by the people. Gyekye, (198) states that “culture is the way of life of a people”. Culture distinguishes members of one society from another and are often unique. Culture serves as the peoples’ conscience and modifier of behaviour . Culture is made by man to regulate and guide members of the society. In traditional Awka setting, certain cultures exist such as Ozo title taking and Imoka festival. A feast day is a day to worship the named god and also is a day of rest. Onwa Nvu “first month” “Egwu Imoka” is the most glowing of all the feasts. Imoka saved the Awka people from inter-commuity war through the shriek made by the black monkeys which alerted the people. This singular action by the monkeys made the people to dedicate the monkeys to Imoka hence they do not kill monkeys. History revealed that it is a symbol of Imoka. Offodile, (99) asserts that Egwu Imoka is celebrated on the first Afvor market day following the 21st day of the moon. The feast lasted for 5 days. During the celebration, nobody dared to go to the farm or do any type of work. Imoka detests people who undertake any type of farming or other type of activity that will tarnish the image of Awka during its celebration. For this reason, he visits them with fire which usually burns their houses. Besides another fascinating festival is that of Ede Ozo. Ede- Ozo is a cocoa yam feast in honour of Ozo titled men. Ozo titled men are seen as symbols of dignity, honour and respect. In fact the Ozo title taking is the most expensive and prestigious of all the titles in Awka and it is not an all comers affair. No wonder, Offodile, (17) observed that in the twelve calendar months, there is always a feast in every month which is observed as public holiday. Every feast in Awka is celebrated on Afvor day except Chi which is celebrated on Oye day. This can be summarized in the table below:

	Awka Calendar	Feast	Month
1.	Onwa Nvu	Egwu Imoka	May
2.	Onwa Ibo	Onwa Ukwu	June
3.	Onwa Ito	Onwa Fulu Manfu	July
4.	Onwa Ino	Obubu Amaulu	August
5.	Onwa Ise	Chi	September
6.	Onwa Ishii	Alor	October
7.	Onwa Asaa	Otite	November
8.	Onwa Asato	Owuwaji	December
9.	Onwa Teghete	Ede Ozo	January
10.	Onwa Illi	Egwu Alushi	February
11.	Diokpala Onwa Illi	Egwu Alushi continued	March
12.	Onwa Ogugu Aro	Edenmo	April

Awka Names before Globalization

<5> Awka names were a summary of their culture. Culture infuses a certain level of pride in a man. It serves as a link between the past and the present. Cultural values are inculcated in language, festivals, traditions etc. Awka names are symbolic and the people attach great importance to their names. Before a name is given to a child, certain observations are made such as the child’s background, family history, situation surrounding the birth, religion of the child’s parents and the festival or market day the child was born on. Names are therefore not just tags, but are vehicles used to understand cultural activities the people have. The names that existed before globalization were: names relating to succession, names relating to market days, and names relating to Ozo title names which are discussed below.

Names reflecting succession

<6> Awka people believe so much in continuation of life. Male children are legally eligible to continue the life and lineage of the family. A male child who succeeds his father is entitled to all his father’s properties including the house the father lived in before he died. Succession is mainly by seniority. However, when the eldest son dies before his father, the second son automatically succeeds. In a situation whereby a woman is unable to bear male children, the woman can marry another woman who could be impregnated by anybody in an attempt to bear male children. All the children born by the woman belong to the man and are entitled to succeed the man. Although the people attach great importance to male children, women are given rights such as inheritance. An unmarried woman is entitled to a plot of land from her father’s estate. She is also entitled to farm in the community land. Another interesting privilege given to the Awka woman is that when a woman gives birth out of wedlock, the child automatically becomes the legitimate child of her father and becomes part of the man’s male children. It is important to point out that although such a privilege is given, Awka people frown at such behaviour. Some of the names that reflect male succession are:

Names Meanings

Nwajiobu		My child holds my lineage
Obuada		May my lineage not fall
Nwokeabia		A son has come
Nwobukaibeya		Lineage that is greater than others

Names reflecting on Market days

<7> Traditionally, the Igbo’s have four market days which make up the week. Mbabuike (60) is of the view that the market days are the names of the gods who rule over human beings. In conventional Awka setting, the four market days formed the week. Each of the market days have a guiding deity that looks after the market and the four market days were spread in different locations in Awka. The market days are : Eke, Oye, Afo and Nkwo. Eke market had Udo as its guiding spirit and was located at Amikwo, Oye market was established at Nwelle in honour of Okanube, Avbo was located at Umudioka, Ovbuvbe was its guiding deity, the fourth is Nkwo located initially at Umuromma but later moved to Amachalla in honour of Imoka. These market days’ names are reflected in the names the people bear. However, during naming ceremony, if all the names given to the child are not significant, the parents of the child usually gave the child the name of the market day he/she was born on. The market days names are as follows:

Names Meanings

Nwank woodinma		A child of Nkwo is good
Ekegboo		Let Eke solve it
Ekemma		Eke day is good
Nwugoye		Beautiful girl of Oye
Nwaoyeokaebede		A child born on Oye day. Ebede is a market
Nwafuoka		A child born on Afvor market day.

Names reflecting on Ozo title

<8> Ozo title is the most prestigious, expensive and respected title any Awka man can take. Ozo titled men have rights, privileges, duties and codes of behaviour. The title is the closet an Awka man could get to be a king. Before the coming of the white men, Ozo title holders held judicial and executive responsibilities. The title is a sign of coming of age of an individual. Some of the names are as follows:

Name Meanings

Nwauduozo		Child whose father is preparing to take Ozo title
Nwaozo		A child of Ozo title
Udeozo		The glory of Ozo title
Ozoekwe		This title is richly deserved

<9> Having looked at Awka names before globalization, the preceding discussion will focus on Awka names in the face of globalization.

Awka Names in the Face of Globalization

<10> As Awka culture interacts with one another, there are bound to be impacts. Impacts could be positive or negative. Globalization has given rise to global culture and global culture has had negative impact on the names Awka people once bore. All the cultural values once cherished by the people had been given up for globalization. English names now occupy a place pride. Invariably, English has become the global language. Language is a potent vehicle for transmitting cultures, values, norms and beliefs from generation to generation. Udoh, (195) states that “language is a medium of both storage and transmission of aspect of our cultural heritage”. When a language is not patronized by greater number of people, the culture is bound to be displaced. This is in line with what Abdulraheem as cited in Lawal, (12) opine that “Nigerian youths have been culturally colonized because they are now imitating the consumption patterns of the Europeans, their language with no regard for the local culture”. This suggests the reason why succession is no longer practiced. In fact, children insist that their parents should disown them and if the parents did not yield to the pressure, they become intolerable and may abscond without keeping in touch with the parents. Many on the other hand, force their parents to sell their family house and in turn, travel outside the country to find greener pastures with the money made from the sale. For some, they refuse to get married therefore will not procreate. Women no longer have a place in their father’s compound. If a woman is unmarried, her brothers would frustrate her so that she will leave the family compound and will not have a share in her father’s estate. If the woman dared give birth to a bastard, her father would quickly disown her. Yusuf, (254) opines “that value systems are no longer what it used to be, as those valued area of their lives are been abused by modernity. Cultural norms are thrown to the dustbin”.

<11> A closer look at the market days which were once used by the people to count the days of the week has been abandoned. Although Eke and Nkwo markets are still in existence, they are better to be called international markets. All the respect and spirituality which made up these markets are no longer recognized. The youths do not know the stories behind the market days and why the people of old took pride in even answering the names of the market days. This development is unfortunate, because culture sharpens the behaviour of man. Fafunwa (1991) as cited in Okeme (34) asserts that:

A people with no knowledge of their past would suffer from collective aamnesia, groping blindly into the future without guide posts of precedence To shape their course. Only a thorough awareness of their heritage allows them to make their public decisions as they take their private ones.

No wonder Akoh, (234) says “the pride of any nation is its culture”. Awka’s pride was once on Ozo title taking, sadly, the wind of globalization has blown away such a rich culture especially among the younger generation.

<12> The fashionable names in this era of globalization which do not tell the stories of the people and may sometimes be considered “meaningless” are Jennifer, Lynda, Jenny, Stephanie, Maureen, Hope, Wisdom, Redemption, Love, Favour, Oscar, Will, Gold, Patra, etc.

Recommendations and Conclusion

<13> This paper revealed that to a large extent a good number of the Awka names have disappeared with the advent of globalization. It is therefore evident that globalization has impacted negatively on the customs and traditions of Awka people in relation to their names. All the cultures which distinguished the people from others have been eroded by globalization.

<14> There is need for a rebirth, revitalization and popularization of these names through massive enlightenment campaign, sensitization and awareness using the media, and films.

Work Cited

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