Bad name!
Nigerian dogged by disappointments for bearing ‘Adolf Hitler’
•It is a burden I want to let off, he says
By Funmi Adewoju
Saturday, September 20, 2008

Living index

It is a common all over the world to give name to a child as a unique identity after birth. The origin of such identity varies from continent to continent and from place to place. In Nigeria some children are named after their paternal or maternal parents and background or some deities worshiped in the family while some are named based on religious beliefs and characters. It is not also uncommon to see some named after heroes as appreciated by individual parents; such is the case of one court orderly, whose paternal desire to adour a hero gave a name that often leads him into frustrations. He has begun to consider a change of name.

Sometime in August after a court session at the Magistrate Court in Sagamu Ogun State he walked up to Saturday Sun which was represented at the court that morning by this reporter and demanded to know how much it will cost to publish a change of name in the paper. The following discussion ensued
Court orderly (CO): You said you are from the Sun News paper?

Saturday Sun (SS): Yes.
CO: How much does it take to publish change of name in your newspaper?

Sun: N3000. Why, do you want to change your name?
CO: Yes I have already changed my name; I want to publish it to authenticate it.

SS: really what is your name?
CO: Adolf Olotu.

SS: What is wrong with Adolf Olotu that you want to change?

CO: Okay, my original name is Adolf Hitler.
SS: Adolf what? Please stop the joke.

CO: I am not joking that is my real name, the name that my father called me when I was born.
SS: Why, are you related to Adolf Hitler. Did you originate from Germany or something?

CO: Na so, my sister, we are not in any way related to Adolf Hitler, we don’t have anything to do with Germany o; my father just named that.
SS: Why now, did you ever ask him why?

CO: Yes, he said his own father named him Hitler because he was born after the World War II, and being a soldier at that time he adored Hitler, and gave birth to my father after he returned from the Nazi war. When he grew up he also became a soldier and he fought during the civil war after which he gave birth to me as the first son and he called me Adolf. Maybe to them Adolf Hitler means war.

SS: Do you know the man called by that name; do you know the meaning of Adolf Hitler?

CO: I have read about the man, and I know Adolf means ‘noble’ in Germany.
SS: Well you are partially right, Adolf means ‘noble wolf’ and Hitler means “hutte or heed” in Germany. You know the animal called Wolf? That means you are reduced to an animal who lives in a hutte. (laughs).

CO: God forbid.
SS: But much more, the original owner of that name was a tyrant, who held the whole world to ransom during the war. However, what had been your experience bearing that name?

CO: Oh! It’s been tough and so frustrating, it makes people think of me otherwise. Although the name makes me popular, but I don’t think I enjoyed the popularity beyond my primary school days. I remember I used to have a lot of friends in those days and I was in command but when I had to write my common entrance exam everything around me began to change. When the invigilator found out my name he separated me from my colleagues thinking I was going to play some pranks. When I entered College of Education the same thing happened and my lecturers always took special interest in observing me more closely.

I started hating the name then because it does not give me a free hand. People always expect me to behave negatively and when I do positive things they express surprise.
It has also caused me misfortune in the past; there was a time I wanted to travel out, everything was ready but when I appeared at the Embassy, my name attracted unusual attention and my visa was denied. Then it pained me so much that I resolved to change the name.

SS: So, have you changed the name now?
CO: Yes I removed the Hitler, which is my father’s name and chose my grand father’s name - Olotu. That’s why I said my name is Adolf Olotu. If I don’t tell you, you won’t know its just that my documents have not been changed.

Thus, Saturday Sun found this Niger Deltan Adolf Hitler, who attracts attention every where he went and his name is mentioned is not finding life rosy by just being popular with his name and being suspected to be mischievous in every circumstance he finds himself. But the question remains can changing a name alone bring the desired change and breakthrough in a man’s life’s Saturday Sun met some men of God to give answer to this. Excerpt.

Yes, name can influence the bearer, opinions say
An opinion poll conducted by Saturday Sun on this mater and what a name could mean to the bearer turned out a conclusion that name means more than just a nomenclature. Therefore, a good name means good to the bearer and vice versa.

Change your name when it attracts evil –Okwuobi (cleric)
The Correspondent for Assist News Service, USA and Ordinand, St. Paul’s University College, Awka (Anglican Communion) Pastor Paul Okwuobi said, it is important for people to change their names if it’s attracting evil to them. In an Internet conversation, he said: “Names are important. They tell our stories our prayers and expressions of expectations.

In the Bible, God changed Jacob (Supplanter, one who deceives) to Israel (he struggled with God). Jabez saw that his name was not favorable and he prayed that God should change his lot (not necessarily a change of name) God changed Abram (father of exultation) to Abraham (father of multitudes).

Somewhere in the Old Testament Abigail pleaded with King David to forgive Nabal, her husband. She pointed out that Nabal does foolish things because his name dictates such. Consider for a moment what tremendous change, for good, that would have become Nabal’s lot if his name was different. From Christian point of view it is important to change names that attract evil into our lives”.

Name is the prophecy of a man’s life –Aina (cleric)
Reverend Albert Aina, the senior pastor of SAABO Foursquare Gospel Church in Lagos revealed that though change of name is important when experiences are bad, it is much more important to prayerfully do so. He described name as the prophecy of a man’s life and examined the various circumstances that may lead to a man’s change of name. According to him, a woman may have to change her name to her husband’s name after marriage, or remarriage, a person may have to change his name to that of his mother’s second husband if circumstances demand so.

However, he stated that some spiritual instances can also make one to change name. “In individual cases, it has been observed that people that come from deity worshiping background tend to have some bad experience that befalls them because of the names they bear. Name is what determines what happens to one; In fact, name is the prophecy for the person bearing it. That woman in the Bible said; “...as his name is so is he”. So also, name tends to set the pace of what somebody will become.
Moreover, the Reverend said some people don’t change their name but they change the circumstances that surround it. Drawing inference from Jabez experience also, he said although Jabez’s name means sorrow he did not pray for a change of the name but for the circumstances that surrounded it to be changed.

He advised that whenever a change of name has to be done because of unpalatable experiences it must be done spiritually.

Not just enough to change name –Opeolu (cleric)
Pastor Opeolu, the Senior pastor of His Grace Church Ogere, Ogun State shares the same opinion and said it is not enough to just change a name, one need to take some practical spiritual steps with it and go through deliverance.
The depth of one’s understanding of what Christ did for man for and the world will determine what informs real change of name.