A DICTIONARY OF EGGON NAMES By Ezekiel A. KUJE (EKUZHE). A DICTIONARY OF EGGON NAMES By Ezekiel A. KUJE (EKUZHE). First Edition Contain over 34,000 words Names in Phonemes Names and Meanings Cross word References Foreword By Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike (Former Minister of Education, Visiting Professor to Tansian University) Published by Perfecter’s Ventures International Reg; No: 2061677 A DICTIONARY OF EGGON NAMES: All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic, mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without specific permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review. First Edition Copyright 2010 Ezekiel A. Kuje (Ekuzhe). 0802 873 2546, 08094511095, 0802 737 9619. Email: kujesonae @ yahoo. Twitter: @Ekuje NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA CATALOGUING -IN - PUBLICATION DATA KUJE, Ezekiel Ayuba. A Dictionary of Eggon Names. 1. Names, Personal-Eggon (Nasarawa State). I. Title. CS 3080.E26K96 AACR2 929.409’66953 ISBN 978-978- 078-459-1 2010 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A Dictionary of Eggon names is available at special discounts for bulk purchases, for sale promotions, fund raising or educational purposes. Typesetting E. A. Kuje Cover Concepts E. A. Kuje Design + Publishing: Perfecter’s Ventures International P.O.Box 10903 Garki-Abuja. No: 01 Kuje Street, Destiny way, Kabusa, Abuja F.C.T. 0802 873 2546, 0802 737 9619, 0809 451 1095. Email: kujesonae@yahoo. dictionaryofeggonnames@yahoo. Printed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ADVISORY BOARD Dr. H. K. Ayuba (Professor of Environment) Dr. David Crozier (PhD.) Dr. (Mrs.) Mary Ango (Professor) Dr. Victor Dugga (Profesor of Arts) Dr. Amali Idris (Professor of Linguistics) Hon. Philip Adgidzi (Dip Linguistics (UI) BED, MA (UK) Dr. Bran Benedict Max (Professor Emeritus) Mr. Matthew Kuju (Editor in chief of Eggon News) Mrs. Martha Awadzi Kigbu (Transcription of names into phonemes) Acknowledgements I hereby with deep sense of respect appreciate the contributions of these persons Mrs. Lenah Ezekiel A. Kuje (my wife) for constant encouragement, prayers and understanding. When I had to leave her with little money at home and have to travel for weeks conducting research in villages. My Parents, Rev and Mrs. Ayuba Kuje for sowing the seed of knowledge into my life. Mr. Talia Ezra for assisting me with the first laptop I used to carry out the research work. Mr. Israel Wade who further helped me with the second laptop when Talia relocated. Dr.Samuel A. Anjugu of King Clinic, Mopol junction Nyanya / Mararaba for encouragement and support to buy a laptop, athough I ost it to rubbers at gun point right in my house. Mrs. Esther Enna and family of late Mr. Enna the first Eggon graduate whom this book is partly dedicated to for quick understanding of the vision and prompt support given to the project. Mr. Solomon Akpavan and Mr. Kefas Embugus for names contributions. Evang. Adams Bawa and his wife Mary for opening the door of their house any time of the night or day for me to come in, also assisting with some materials. Mr. Arubuta a one time H.O.D. Dept. of Agric. C.O.E Akwanga for ensuring his aged father provided me with meanings of some of the names. I appreciate the team of advisory board for their relentless efforts looking into the manuscripts of this book severally out of their tight schedules. I also appreciate the good initiative of Mr. Matthew Kuju the founder and Editor of Eggon News, whose effort stirred my passion to seek to know a lot about Eggon culture and for his enormous contributions to this book. I cannot forget the entire community of Maha village, in Kokona Local Government Area, a unique village in the local government; it is my immediate socialization cycle that imbibed in me the love for Eggon culture. DEDICATION This Dictionary of Eggon Names is dedicated to some notable white Christian missionaries like late Rev. Ivan Dawson Hepburn who first brought Christianity and western education to Eggon land. To some pioneering Eggon Christian converts among whom were Mr. Auta Otsanyu, Mr. Adgazu Envualadu and a host of others who accepted and encouraged the growth and spread of Christianity and western education in Eggon land, particularly, Mr. Adgazu who was seemingly the first Eggon teacher in Eggon land. This work is also dedicated to late Mr. Stephen Agum Enna who pursued western education with great passion and became the first University graduate in Eggon land and urge Eggon youths to pursue education with all their commitment for the betterment and development of Eggon land. Sadly for the Eggon people, the ugly hand of death had deprived us of this young man who had vision and zeal to help develop Eggon land on 27th February 1982. Lastly this book is dedicated to the efforts of the host of Eggon Scholars out there. God bless your efforts. CONTENTS Advisory Board Map of Nigeria indicating Nasarawa placement Acknowledgements Dedication Contents Foreword: Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike (Former minister of Education Visiting Professor to Tansian University) Geographical location of the Eggon ethnic group About early missionaries in Eggon land About the Eggon first graduate Special tribute to the Eggon missionaries and first graduate Keys to dictionary entries PART ONE 1.0 Origin of names and culture 1.1 Origin of names 1.2 Culture PART TWO 2.0 Dictionary of Eggon names 2.1 Introduction to the use of Eggon names 2.3 Some Eggon adapted names Conclusion APPENDIX 1 List of contributors of Eggon names APPENDIX 11 List of interviewee General Bibliography FOREWORD BY Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, PhD Former Minister of Education, Visiting Professor to Tansian University. I am quite pleased to write these few lines about A Dictionary of Eggon Names as presented by the author, Mr. Ezekiel A. Kuje (Ekuzhe) whom I have met only a few times at poetry reading sessions organized by the Abuja chapter of the Association of Nigeria Authors. (ANA) I am an amateur onomatology, one who has more than a passing interest in the study off names- their origins and meanings –for over thirty years now. It all started in the United States of America during my student days. Apart from doing a study on the structure and meanings in Igbo Names, a monograph which was published by the international studies Unit of the State University of New York in 1972, I also published a book on the subject: A Handbook of African Names, Three Continents Books, and Washington DC, U.S.A. in 1976. This has since been reviewed, augmented and revised in 1994 by the editor. I did not only write out of pure Cultural nationalism; I wrote also to provide a reference materials for many African Americans of the time who were in search of Africans who took pride in answering English, French or Portuguese or even Arabic names to demonstrate that there is nothing to be ashamed of in answering authentic African names which our erstwhile colonial masters had denigrated and referred to as barbaric or pagan. The Eggon people live mainly in the present day Nasarawa State where it is, according to the author, the major ethnic formation. Nasarawa State was created in 1996 with Lafia as the State Capital. Although the bulk of the Eggon people resides in Nasarawa they are also found in their numbers in Kaduna, Niger, Taraba, Plateau, Benue States and Abuja FCT. They were part of the larger Kwarara Empire of old. There are in this collection over one thousand names, and most of them are personal names. They are either masculine or feminine names, with a few no-gender specific names. As in many African communities these names reflect circumstances of birth or denote the aspirations, hopes or fears of the parents during the birth or before the birth of the child. Personal names, in particular tend to capture these circumstances and sentiments. The role of a language in cultural preservation and analysis is highlighted by the author in this study. He devoted some time to analyze the Eggon language (the soul of the Eggon Culture) in detail, which language falls within the Bantu group of languages. He also laid emphasis on the correct pronunciation of words and names. Many names in the book are followed by their phonetically pronunciation to help the reader to correctly pronounce them. There is also something supernatural about Eggon names. The Eggon believe you are what you answer. Thus Eggon names can signify success or failure. Says the author:’ People bear different kinds of names in life the either promote or demote them; on the other hand one’s names can affect him or her life positively or negatively; it can earn one favour or disfavour” Eggon philosophy of life belief the saying that “there is nothing in a name”. The book rather affirms the notion that there is a lot in a name. And some of the prescriptive ethics that are behind the naming system in the Eggon community are to be found in some other Nigeria communities. For example, as I observed in my book, “Igbo names are sometimes direct personal statements, in the form of messages, attacks, warnings appeals or answers directed to friends, enemies, rivals or ill-wishers. Quite often they point to difficulties in marriage or to some other social frictions...” Eggon names do not differ significantly from this observation. The point to be made therefore is that African names serve specific social functions. They are not mere labels or tags with which individuals are associated or identified as in some cultures. The influence of the Church in the naming system of the Eggon people is well documented in the book. The Church helped in the codification of the Eggon language which has also helped in the preservation of some aspects of its Culture. But it also hastened its Cultural decline because the Church insisted that only Children named after Saints or Martyrs were eligible for baptism. The author pleads with the Clergy, the Eggon elites, mothers and Artists to arrest the decline of their Culture and language by appreciating the beauty in their names and in their Culture. Ezekiel A. Kuje did not fail to mention some of the challenges he met while trying to put this book together. They include the apathy of several of his people towards the use and development of their indigenous language; the commercialization of information and knowledge by a certain class of people in the rural areas for whom everything is money. This category of persons tends to hoard information and would not release this unless they are bribed or compensated in one way or the other. Luckily these challenges did not deter the author from pursuing and realizing his objectives. We therefore commend this effort, especially for his perseverance in this self inflicted assignment which is truly a labour of love. It is my hope that Mr. Kuje will continue to investigate much deeper into Eggon names and Culture in order to reveal its abundant richness and values which will benefit, not only similar studies, but add value to our overall development efforts. The book pays special tribute to the pathfinders of Eggon society, especially to Stephen Agum, “who opened the floodgate to University education” in Eggon land. He also commends the missionaries especially the late Rev. Ivan Dawson Hepburn who died prematurely at the age of forty seven for his “great vision, passion and dreams for Eggon land”. I recommend this study to all lovers of African Cultures, especially researchers in the field of onomatology, philosophy and anthropology. It is indeed a welcome addition to the study of African names. Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, PhD Former Minister of Education Nigeria Abuja, September 15, 2009 Sorry have to stop here. LOOKING FOR PARTNERS TO PUBLISH THIS BOOK AMONG OTHER BOOKS WRITTEN. KINDLY CALL 08094511095, 08028732546 TO PARTNER. THANKS
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