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offoaro@africaaidswatch.org Washington DC, USA

CHIEFS, DRS. PHDS, ALHAJIS AND ALHAJAS

had believed that people with the Alhaji honorific were a special kind of people. (Dr. Adegbite, please do not place a fatwa yet I will discuss Christians later) I thought they were a people of high talents, a kind of professionals revered for their special skills and great acquisition of special skills. Most of the Alhajis I knew growing up in Lagos of the seventies were men of substance, especially landlords, caretakers, tailors, entrepreneurs and in fact musicians. They had artificial gold teeth, drove big cars (such as Volvo and Toyota Crown) and those of them who could not, at least bought themselves, motorcycles. They had many wives and homes in different parts of the town. They were well respected. A man's name or woman's name for that matter may just be "Alhaji" or "Alhaja." For style, effect and affection, you could also be a 'haji or a 'haja, depending.

If Nigeria's first prime minister, the timber of northern Nigerian politics was an Alhaji and the Sadauna of Sokoto Sir (Dr.) Ahmadu Bello was also an Alhaji then all alhajis, I reasoned must be men of circumstance. I was right. One international boundary away, another Alhaji, named Ahmadu Ahidjo held sway and reigned supreme in the Cameroon. Who knows, judging the geographical proximity between the two nations, Ahijdo could have been a Nigerian. But for the plebiscite placed by all conquering European powers, he might as well have been a Nigerian from the North East. Almost all-important political or private sector office holders in Nigeria of the age had the Alhaji honorific before their names. In the Nigerian News media, particularly the Daily Times, Alhaji Alade Odunewu (ALADE) and Alhaji Babatunde Jose, were icons and role models. Then there was Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister whose musical prowess as exhibited in his brand of Juju consolidated my belief that all Alhajis WERE a special kind of people with special skills. In fairness, before him, there was Alhaji Haruna Ishola, who drove the biggest Mercedes Benzes in town - all income derived from his brand of music named Apala. His classic number, "On my way to London ko si eni rara, the was no trouble ni ilu Oyinbo was party goers favorite

Since coming of age, I have wondered why other important men and women of Islamic faith do not append the Alhaji honorific. Why do we not have an Alhaji Muoamer Khadaffi or Alhaji Hosni Mubarak, for example? Why does Yasser Arafat not have that kind of appellation before his worthy name and why does his fierce fire eating pretty wife not bear Alhaja Sufa Arafat, Why? Have they not visited Mecca and Medina which is a stone throw away from where they are? Why do the kings of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Iran and Iraq not bear the Alhaji honorific? Certainly Alhaji Saddam Hussein would have been cool. Why is the Alhaji craze a native of Nigeria? May be, because Nigerian people, like the nation itself, are in constant search for acceptable identity. Shouldn't a people be a mirror image of a nation? In the Nigeria of the seventies and eighties, most appointed or (s) elected officials were either a Dr. so, so and so, a chief so and so or Alhaji so and so. But as time went on, it became even more degrading to have only one title attached before one's worthy name. Alhajis and Chiefs who were successful very in easy acquisition of wealth began warming their respective ways into the cash strapped hearts of university administrators who in turn began to dole out honorary doctorate degrees. So, instead of a man being only an Alhaji or a common Chief, he could also be Chief Alhaji Dr, all in one. Like a man enrolled into the US army any Alhaji or chief in Nigeria from then began to "BE ALL YOU CAN BE".

Remember, being an era marked and epitomized by unbroken succession of military rule, military personnel wore their military epaulettes with arrogance and addressed themselves accordingly. Corporal Joe Umoru went by the name "Corporal" and Sergeant Dogo was simply known as "Serge." His superiors all were known by the military ranks dangling from their shoulders. Any oversight in paying appropriate compliment was considered insolent and punished accordingly. Always. With military precision!

That must now explain why every PhD holder in Nigeria wants to be recognized even when he got it at Saturday college or most recently, through the internet. If the women flocked around military rulers because of their ranks and nearness to power, why must a scholar who had burnt the mid night oil not crave for commensurate recognition? The pages of most newspapers in the land are festooned with individuals parading titles that are in most cases longer than their real names. In other democracies, titles help men, get their feet into a house, it does not sustain. What sustains is relevance and sustained intellectual prowess. Check the records of www.Nigeriaworld.com for example, how many PhD's started the journey of opinionated commentary with us. How many are now left. Most of them that came early were only eager to publicize their PhDs. Most of the time, their lines of reasoning and presentations, stank. They wrote pages upon pages of incomprehensible stuff that you began to feel they had other motives. In fact, they did.

I have a complimentary card sitting right here on my desk that announces the rank of a Nigerian prospective political office holder. It goes like this, Chief, Dr. Hon. Engineer A.S.K Jacobs (alias ASK JAY). By Jove, were he not a Christian, he would have struggled to make room for his Alhaji title.

Ironically, in this morbid craze for title grabbing, the Church, the holiest of all holy places has not been spared. Church ministers transform bishops over night and promote their subordinates into the next ranks accordingly. Nature, you know abhors vacuum. Now to keep the record straight, it was the Salvation Army of yore who promoted their members recklessly that with time they produced more generals in their rank than did the whole of allied forces during 2nd world war. Wole Soyinka's Brother Jeroboam, the articulate hero of Christ crusade was a product of this class. He was a General.

Yesterday morning, like every morning since the era of the Internet, I rushed through the Op-ed columns of major American Newspapers. I was searching factiously for by-lines that begin with honorifics such as we see daily on the pages of Nigerian newspapers.

As I have religiously done in the past 12 plus years of my sojourn in America, I have read the Washington Post, the New York Times, the LA Times and occasionally, the Wall Street Journal on the web. I have come across great by-lines, which I started reading even as a kindergarten writer. Such by-lines like that of George F. Will of the Newsweek magazine, Michael Kinsley formerly of the Washington Post now of the Slate Magazine and the occasional writers as Henry Kissinger. Other than Kissinger who goes about with the honorific of Dr., neither Michael Kinsley nor George F. Will has bothered to attach their PhD appellation. They are PhDs who would rather their work speak volumes on their behalf. Who would believe that M.O. Ene who comments very intelligently on the www.Nigeriaworld.com site is a PhD? Why does he not write MOE Ene, PhD? And who can believe that Rudolf Okonkwo, the cerebral scholar of our time is not a PhD. Why is he not a chief or borrow, the doctoral honorific. The reason is clear, when you are clear minded and articulate, high sounding honorific become secondary. Made my point?