With the recent survey, which shows how many Nigerians now want to be identified with either one superfluous prefix or the other for self-glorification, it is becoming increasingly evident that Nigerians are crazy over titles and prefixes, Davidson Iriekpen writes

A story was once told that at a function in the United States of America where the then President Barack Obama and his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan were in attendance, the US Ambassador to Nigeria was asked to introduce the US president while the Nigerian Ambassador to the US was asked to do the same for the Nigerian president.

While the US Ambassador simply introduced the US President thus: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama, his Nigerian counterpart said: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the President, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President (Dr.) Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).”

The above display of verbosity and superfluity vividly shows how crazy Nigerians are with titles and prefixes. Society has come to an era of the glorification of personalities, where titles are affixed to their names. The craze cuts across ethnic groups, religious persuasions, academic achievements, and social strata.

Who does not know that the President of the US is equally the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the most powerful leader in the world? But this wasn’t mentioned anywhere or bragged about.

Years ago, a majority of the people placed little or no premium on the prefix to their names. They were content with being addressed simply as “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Miss.”, “Ms.” as the case may be, leaving the titles to the academics and professionals like medical doctors, soldiers, and others. This was at a time when the country was in the firm grip of military governance.

 The situation, however, changed with the coming of civil rule. The politicians, especially public office holders who had unlimited access to public funds, became stupendously rich.

Hence, they began to seek ways to advance their new status and ego. They were no longer satisfied with the appellation of Mr. or Mrs., which was also cheaply available to every Nigerian. Thus, they began to approach traditional and religious institutions for all kinds of titles, prominent among which were the chieftaincy titles.

These days, there are a plethora of titles ranging from the common to the absurd. These are titles like: Apostle, Professor (academic, honorary, and self-acclaimed), and Dr., even when the person is a native doctor, otherwise known as Babalawo or herbalist. There are others like Pastor, Evangelist, Barrister, JP, Alhaji, Alhaja, Bishop, Archbishop, Arole, Aremo, Otunba, Dame, and Ambassador, Double Chief, High Chief, Chief (Dr.) Sir, Chief (Mrs.), Professor (Mrs..), among many others.

In the Nigerian Senate, for instance, there is “Distinguished” added to a senator’s prefix, while the House of Representatives has “Honourable” as a prefix to each member’s name, even though the conduct and behaviour of some of these lawmakers are far from being distinguished or honourable.

Though these titles are reserved for individuals who have distinguished themselves in a given community, the monetary power of the political and business classes has changed the norm. As a result, these chieftaincy titles were bestowed on the “highest bidder” while the scope was expanded to accommodate as many as would be able to “pay” for them.

Nigeria copied its presidential and federal system of government from the United States. In America, there are no words like “His Excellency,” “Her Excellency” for the first ladies or deputy governors, and “Executive Governor” for the governor, even though governors are the chief executive officers of the respective states. But in Nigeria, governors get angry when these titles are not used for them. Even local government chairmen these days are addressed as “Executive Chairman.” Sometimes, a governorship aspirant or candidate who is not sure of victory is addressed as  “His Excellency” to massage his ego.

It is not only the politicians who are guilty of this. The fad cuts across societal spheres, including the religious circle. There are pastors, senior pastors, apostles, evangelists, and senior apostles. Many churches have reverends and very reverends, bishops, archbishops, and general overseers.

Among the Yoruba, you find many men with the Otunba and Omoba titles, while many of their women are armed with the title of Yeye.

Among the Igbo, there are endless Igwes and Lolos, and Odogwu, Chief, etc, while Hausa men with the title of Sarkin abound in almost every state of the federation. It is commonplace to find individuals with three or more titles affixed to their names and several suffixes.

The honorary academic titles awarded by the universities, which used to be value-driven and given in recognition of rare achievements in society, have also been bastardised. The universities, especially those that have been bitten by the bug of avarice with little or no regard for high standards, now bestow such honorary awards on murderers, drug barons, morons, and other unscrupulous persons, thereby negating the whole essence of the honours which should, normally, be conferred on those who had played prominent and positive roles in the affairs of society.

The craze for titles was made worse by some local musicians, especially those of the Fuji genre, who ascribe academic titles to themselves as a way of proving their superiority or invincibility in the face of competitive wrangling.

The supposed originator of Fuji music, who had been engaged in a war of words with another who was laying claim to the same title, downplayed his original title of “Alhaji” and took the title of a “Dr,” probably to drive home the fact that his claims were true.

But in his reaction to the claims of the fuji originator, his arch-rival, in his album released shortly after, dubbed himself a “professor” and while the altercations between the duo persisted, he went ahead to add “master” to his professor appellation after which he was known and addressed as “professor master.”

Some also used “General”, “Commander”, “Barrister”, and “King” as prefixes.

Now, it appears most Nigerians have been infected with the craze for titles, especially the academic ones.

The quest for worldly titles among the clergy has reached a frightening and alarming dimension these days. Many men of God, particularly those of the Pentecostal Christian faith, flaunt strings of titles that are incomplete without academic titles. Examples are: “Prophet Evangelist (Dr.),” “Bishop (Dr.),”  “Most Superior Leader Evangelist (Dr.),” “ArchBishop”, etc.

While some of these people wrote dissertations leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in divinity, theology, and in some secular fields, many others who had not been to the four walls of a university decided to include such of their own free will.

Hence, it didn’t come as a surprise when, recently, a popular preacher in Ibadan, who had since been addressing himself as a “Dr” among other titles, apparently got tired of it and dropped it for the appellation of a “professor.”

The professionals are not left to this malaise. It is common these days to see titles such as Barr (Barrister), Arc (Architect), Pharm (Pharmacy), Surveyor, and Engr. (Engineer) whether the person is a roadside mechanic, generator repairer, or an electrician.

Many have argued that people do not need to be addressed as such, whether they have anything to show for it or not. Overseas, they hear John James, PhD. But in Nigeria, it must be Dr. John James, PhD.

They believe that most of these prefixes are driven by envy, pride, and unnecessary self-glorification.

Recently, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) issued a directive banning individuals from publicly using honorary doctorate or professorship titles, warning that violators would face public exposure and possible legal action.

In an official statement, the commission emphasised that the practice is damaging the integrity of the country’s academic system. It condemned the use of such titles as “unethical and misleading,” adding that it is undermining the value of legitimate academic qualifications in Ghana.

GTEC, which said its warning came amid increasing concerns over the proliferation of so-called “degree mills”, unaccredited institutions offering honorary degrees in exchange for money, with no academic requirements, further explained that the “rampant and fraudulent” display of honorary titles is eroding the significance of genuine academic credentials such as PhDs and professorships, which are typically earned through extensive research and peer-reviewed accomplishments.

“This notice goes especially to politicians, businessmen and businesswomen, men and women of God, and any other category of persons to desist from officially using the honorary doctorate and professorship titles in their everyday life,” the statement said.

Not a few are calling on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to emulate GTEC to force universities and other institutions to either moderate or curtail the way and manner they award honorary degrees to politicians and other members of society.

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