If the proposition of Human Right Writers Association(HURIWA) should see the light of the day, the name ‘Nigeria’ may be scrapped for a yet-to-be specified name . This move which is being projected by the Human Right Writers is said to be one of the solutions to the challenges facing the country, as the name ‘Nigeria’ which, according to the group, was imposed on the country Lord Lugard’s girlfriend (Flora Shaw), has made Nigerians a laughing stock before the world.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of the group while urging the National Assembly to consider a name change, stated that the name ‘Nigeria’ is one the reasons many people refer to the country as a zoo. The comrade who made the statement at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday said:
“Another proposition I want to make is about the name ‘Nigeria’. In amending the constitution, the name Nigeria should be scrapped. It is a foreign contraption given to us by a girl from Briton.
“None of our ancestors gave us that name Nigeria. Are we saying that we don’t have …we in HURIWA can give the National Assembly one hundred names if they are looking for a name to give Nigeria.
“Nigeria is not our name. Nigeria is a name that was imposed on us by…don’t look at it like I’m talking down on the girl, a girl who sat down somewhere after taking a cup or two of ogogoro (local gin) and just said, ‘Nigeria’ and we just accepted it.
“My father was not there. Our ancestors were not there. So how can we accept a baptismal name that was imposed on us? You cannot name a child in its absence. Did any Nigerian give Britain the name ‘Great Britain’?
“We cannot continue with a name given to us by a girl who came from Britain to visit her boyfriend and sat somewhere and say Nigeria. We should first of all reject the name Nigeria and carve a name for ourselves.
“Other countries all over Africa decided to do that some of them they gave Gold Coast and they rejected it because we’re not doing slave trade here. They carved a new name for themselves.
“We’re all aware that most of the countries in Africa changed their names, so why not we change ours. Let’s change this name. This name has become problematic to us.
“That’s why a mad man is somewhere saying Nigeria is a zoo. Maybe once we change the name, they’ll stop calling us zoo. We’re no longer in the zoo.
“When someone keeps calling you a zoo if you don’t take the time you’ll start behaving like someone in the zoo. So let us change this name Nigeria.”