Nigerianness and Misrepresentations of Names and Signatures: Should the Colonized adopt the English-Language Naming Conventions?

Abstract

History has it that the British once colonized Nigeria, South Africa, and India amongst others. South Africa and India, to a very great extent, have standardized their naming system while Nigeria is yet to standardize its naming system even though it is a common practice for Nigerians to start with their surnames or last names. Name arrangement and misrepresentations have become a problem for most Nigerians and this has escalated to a national problem. The work, therefore, adopts the quantitative method of investigation using questionnaires and interviews as instruments for data collection to get first-hand information from judicial workers and non-judicial workers alike. The responses ewceived from the respondents were further descriptively analyzed to ascertain the truth of their assertions. From the investigation carried out, the findings show that lack of consciousness and proper education, among other things, are largely responsible for name and signature misrepresentations in Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommend that the Nigerian government and principal stakeholders of the various organizations should organize sensitization programmes often. However, most importantly, Nigeria needs to standardize its naming system for proper placement and recognition in the world.