The practice of giving a name to a new baby is as important as giving birth to the child. Different tribes and religions hold it in high esteem to name their newborns after a stipulated period of time. We would be taking a look at the Igbos who originated from the Eastern part of Nigeria. The child rites can take up to 40 days after a child is born as different processes and activities come to play in naming a child.
Igbo naming ceremony is one of the Igbo birth rites1 . The others include: the cutting of the placenta and the umbilical cord, the seclusion and the pu
rification as well as the circumcision rites. Both boys and girls are involved in this practice although circumcision especially for the girls is performed at a later age to come closer to their puberty rite
An academic research work by Chinwe Nwoye Department of Political Science and Sociology, The University of Dodoma, Tanzania.conducted an Interview with elders from Ihiala community showed that it is a ritual that is grounded on a proper time perspective since from information accruing from the present study it cannot be performed immediately the child is born. For example, according to one of the Ihiala elders interviewed, Chidi (Oral Interview, 10/8/02) making a point that was concurred to by others in this regard, noted that “the naming ceremony ritual is not performed immediately the child is born. It must wait till the 12th day or three Igbo weeks (Izu-nato) of the child’s birth.”
He explains that the reason for this is related to an Igbo myth that every new baby must first be given sometime to weigh and choose if s/he really wishes to stay. That is, whether he/she wishes to be incorporated into the human community or if s/he desires to go back to where s/he came from. Although we know that babies are not able to engage in this process, this rationale was built into the Igbo myth explaining why the Igbo naming ceremony is not conducted immediately after birth.
In line with this myth, according to Chidi, when a child dies before the 12th day after birth and therefore could not be named, it is a sign that s/he has decided not to stay but has chosen the option of departure to the world of the unborn children. On the other hand, surviving up to the 12th day of birth is an indication to the members of his or her agnate community (umuuna) that s/he has weighed and has chosen the option of membership in the human world. Consequently, according to Chidi, the IbaNwaAfaceremony commonly takes place on the 12th day from the day of the child’s birth.
This space gives enough time for the parents to believe that s/he has given them sufficient signal that it does not intend to die, that s/he has come to stay. Commenting on this same issue of why the delay of the naming till the 12th day of the child’s birth, another interviewee, an elder Ezebuein oral interview (15/6/02) from Nri community explained that this is traditionally done to find out whether s/he would give some extraordinary manifestations of the kind of trait or characteristic s/he is made of.
That is, whether s/he has some supernatural powers with which s/he might be identified. According to Paul (Oral Interview, 15/6/02), another informant in the study, such period of waiting for possible significant manifestations from the baby does not only involve a type of passive waiting for the signs. It also involves the act of consulting the diviners or fortunetellers (IgbaAgu) 2 in search of who is behind the child’s earthly journey, in terms of his or her destiny spirit (OnyeUwa). As Paul put it, “the value of waiting for significant signs from the baby is to find a suitable name for the type of being s/he manifests”.
More information collected under this theme will be further clarified below under the preparation stage of the formal structural process of this ceremo
ny. A focus group discussion with women from Nri and Ihiala communities produced an interesting gendered response to the whole question of why this ceremony has to wait till the 12th day of the birth of the child before it could be conducted. Thus in the view of one of the women discussants from Ihiala community Uduaku (Oral Interview, 22/6/02) speaking as a representative of the rest in this regard,
observed that this waiting is calculated to give the mother of the baby some time to heal and recuperate from the aftermath of childbirth. And as the women group from Nri, represented by Akukalia (Oral Interview 15/8/02) put it, this delay is necessary to enable the mother of the baby to be in a position to heal completely before she can be in a position to play host to the agnate (umunna) community during the naming ceremony.
The above responses suggest that in the view of these women, the eleven days distance from the day of birth to the appointed day of the naming ceremony g
ives the mother of the new born that necessary restful period. This is essential to enable her to participate fully in the planning and the social aspects of the ceremony. This includes the tasks of receiving guests, monitoring the proceedings and ensuring that everything goes well at the occasion.
These indications mean that INC can be described as a typical example of an African social drama that can be broken into three tier time components namely the period of separation, the period of transition and the period of incorporation (van Gennep, 1969). In this regard, the period of separation covers the period from conception to the birth of the child.
This marks the time of breach between the child and his or her peers in the world of the unborn children. The period of transition, encompassing the time from birth to the 12th day of the child’s birth, stands for that period when the baby strictly speaking is neither fully human nor merely a formless spiritual guest in the world in the manner of his or her peers in the fore-world of children. The period of incorporation stands for the period of the naming ceremony proper. It represents the actual day of the child’s full birth into the human world ascribed with a personal name.
