THE MEANING OF THE NAME AKAWA

Every society owes a child the responsibility of integrating him/her into her norms. The absence of this integration will lead to lack of perpetuation beyond a single generation and as such culture will be non existent.

The onus then is for every African to transmit its culture in all ramification of our existence. Western ideology should be adapted into our society not to take over our culture.

Language is a major content of our culture and as such all we do should reflect the language we speak. The names we give our children go along way to display the level at which they will be accepted and integrated into the society.

The name AKAWA is a Kimap name that means the Lord has answered.

Thus, as a father, below are reasons that informed my decision of given my child the name AKAWA.

It is the pride of every African to have his first born a male child, in order for him to be heir; I prayed that my first born should be a male child and the giver of all things, God, hearken to my prayers and answered my plea, hence, to reciprocate what He has done, the name reflect His gesture to me.

Secondly, I want my child to be identified and integrated into the culture of the great Kimap tribe, which I belong to, never for him to waver from that, but to go with it where ever he goes within and even beyond the shores of this country as an identification mark.

Lastly, I want to him to grow up with the knowledge of where he comes from and having it with in him that he owes the tribe a duty to serve them with his endowed potentials.

Suffice me to echo the words of Malinowski in 1943 that observed that

“The young African of today has to make a living, and in this he has two worlds, as it were, to depend upon. He belongs to neither of these fully and completely that is, after he has undergone the process of European training for he become through that partly alienated from pure tribal tradition, but never completely adopted into the white community”.

The opined words should never be the desire of the contemporary Amo man, as we are popularly call, lets all rise to the challenge of making sure that we produce a refine generation that will uphold the culture of  Kimap.

By

Abalas Daniel Gata

(Akawa’s father)