Mummy - I don't know whatever reason I was called that name but that was what the neighborhood know me for.
Aunty daddy- This was what my dad personally called me. I had often wondered if I was actually his auntie. Well if I was actually his auntie he wouldn't be treating me like a little child. I got to a point that I decided not to make a big deal out of it and enjoy the name while it lasts.
My real name is Amarachukwu and it means the grace of God. Amara means Grace while Chukwu means God. My friends and the school environment was where I was known with this name. There is an aura of grace that comes with this name that can never be ignored. I was 12 years old when my dad stopped calling me Aunty-daddy thus started addressing me with my real name. There are two ways my name is being called depending on the purpose in which I was being supposed.
If I am in trouble for doing something wrong, I will be called by my full name ; Amarachukwu.
When I am being a good girl and everybody's favourite, I will be called; Amara.
There is no different whatsoever but just the tune and for someone to actually call your name in full in Nigeria then you are definitely in trouble.
My grandmother on the other hand has her own name for me. She named me ANWURIKA meaning HAPPINESS IS THE GREATEST but i have often wondered why because i was told that I was a cry baby from birth. Could it mean that she named me the opposite of what I was exhibiting? I later saw the video tape of my dad's Chieftaincy title celebration and I was just few months old then so I thought to myself; this must be the reason behind the name.
It was indeed a moment of happiness and great celebration in my village, kinsmen and my entire family. Chieftaincy title was a very big deal in igbo land and was very sacred too. The whole of ikenga village accompanied my father to the king's palace for the coronation. They came back with loud ogene music with dancing and jubilation. The kinsmen even have a uniform for the celebration. There was enough to eat and drink. This would have made my grandmother a very happy mother judging from their background. The husband was a very poor man and they can hardly eat three square meals a day. She work on people's farm to be able to feed her children when her husband died. She wouldn't have imagined that one of her sons would oneday be wealthy enough to be even made a chief in the village.
So this was how my name Anwurika was conceived.
Unfortunately I never like the name because it sounded so local and so did my English name. I was a city girl and the names were a nightmare. I was so grateful that she was actually the only one that got to call me by that name and since I only visit the village few times in a year I decided to let it pass. As for my English name MAUREEN i had wondered who suggested that name to my parents. Maybe that was the name in vogue then but then again who answers Maureen ?.
