Continued Disrespect And Dishonesty Towards The Igbo Language

Paul Chika Emekwulu

If you are an EEDC (NEPA) customer you’ll agree with me that NEPA’s estimated billing system is very unfair and not customer-friendly. Because of this I have a chequered history with NEPA.

Here is a little detail.

After paying #344,000.00 in previous bills which accumulated in my absence having been outside the country, I decided to suspend my service. I decided to suspend my service because of NEPA’s outrageous estimated billing system which to me is evil.

Before suspending my service I was paying an estimated bill of about #6,000.00 a month. Few months after that my bill increased to #18,000.00 a month. Increased tariff was the reason given to me to justify the increase.

I refused to pay the #18,000.00. Rather, I suspended my service and when I did I was advised to apply for a pre-paid meter. I did and it was installed after ten months of waiting time.

Before the meter was installed, my bill was reduced to #17,000.00. I was advised to pay this instead of #18,000.00 I said if #18,000. 00 was my actual bill why should it be discounted? I told them that if #18,000.00 was my actual bill that’s what I would pay. They knew it wasn’t. Because of this I didn’t pay the #18,000.00. They asked me if I would like to go back to a non-prepaid meter customer status. I objected because it looked like going back to Egypt.

Whatever I’ve been paying in electric bill was an estimated amount just like every non-pre-paid meter customer. In order to correctly monitor my monthly electric consumption, I charged my new meter with #2,000.00. So instead of my bill being #I8,000.00 a month it came to just #2,000.00 a month. Have you seen why NEPA’S estimated billing system is an evil system?

In a subtraction without carrying class my standard three teacher taught me that the difference between 18,000 and 2,000 is 16, 000.

The question here is:

Who would have been getting this difference every month? The answer is someone, not me. I waited till zero level before I decided to re-charge the meter with another #2,000.00. The token wasn’t accepted. A subsequent token was also rejected. I complained umpteen times before it was discovered that my pre-paid meter of one month was faulty.

I can hear someone say something like:

“Please if you wouldn’t mind. All along you’ve been talking about NEPA, NEPA, NEPA. I’ve never heard you say one word relating to Igbo Language. Where are we going with all this?”

He or she also wants to know what NEPA’S estimated billing has to do with disrespect and dishonesty towards the Igbo Language.

If you are the one, what I’m saying to you and others like you is this:

“Please be patient and just continue. Your time will not be wasted. I promise.”

The same person is also saying this: “From a particular previous writing of yours you were able to convince your readers, including myself that the Igbo Language has something in common with traffic lights. Are you also this time saying that NEPA’S evil and unfair estimated billing has something in common with Igbo Language? Is that what you are saying too? I don’t understand. Please explain.”

Thank you. My answer is no, the two don’t have anything in common. I’m just robbing Peter in order to pay Paul. I’ll soon make my point and you’ll see where we are going with all this. That time everything will start making sense to you. By the way your patience is quite appreciated and please, let’s continue for the end is in sight.

I was rightly advised to apply for a prepaid meter replacement. I agreed and left. When I got home I changed my mind for some reasons.

I changed my mind because I remembered that we live in a totally unjust corrupt system – a system where some, if not most drivers disrespect the traffic lights by proceeding when the light is red as well and there is no difference between red and green.

I also remembered that we live in a country where election violence, vote buying and other forms of continued dishonesty define democracy.

I also remembered we live in a system where people write “Okonkwo” and call it “Okonkwọ”, a system where people spell Igbo words in English and pronounce in Igbo.

I also remembered that we live in a system where the police, and other security agencies are busy extorting money from road users instead of respecting the rule of law.

I also remembered that we live in a system where anything could happen to my application. My application may not reach the proper destination. If it does, it may not receive proper attention or the response could be unduly delayed.

Now, my generator which is supposed to be an auxiliary source of power now became the main source of power. Because of all this, I decided to pay for a totally new pre-paid meter. This took me to NEPA’s office sometime in September 2022.

When I came in another customer was being attended to. I quietly sat down waiting for my turn. First come, first served – a policy some of us don’t care about. Few minutes after, the customer was asked what his last name was. Immediately the NEPA official started to spell the name in English. On hearing that I became uncomfortable. Spelling an Igbo name in English (utilizing English alphabets) is metaphorically evil (cannot be confessed to a Catholic priest for those who are Catholics).

The Jewish-American philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Albert Einstein said that the world is dangerous not because of those who do the evil but because of those who don’t do anything about it. With this in mind, and in addition to the fact that what was done was a sheer disrespect and dishonesty to Igbo Language, I decided to do something.

After the spelling and in the midst of still handling the customer’s case and looking in my direction, the NEPA official asked:

“How can I help you?”

Before answering his question I said:

“Can I say something?”

I explained to him that what I had to say has nothing to do with my response to his request.

“Go ahead,” he said.

Reading his countenance he never felt that something was wrong with what he just did. He felt that he did justice to an Igbo name that should have been spelt in Igbo instead of in English. This is just one of the ample ways we individually promote the anglicizing movement, at times knowingly and at otherh times unknowingly. This takes place in high and low places throughout Igbo land among Igbo Language native speakers. The NEPA official sounds like someone losing interest in Igbo Language. There are many of such people and they exist among the old as well as the young.

Let me tell you something:

Losing interest in or disrespecting the Igbo Language or any native language or mother tongue is not a pre-requisite (requirement) for being fluent in or gaining mastery of the English Language or any other foreign language. It doesn’t matter whether the foreign language is German, Dutch, French, Russian or Chinese etc.

So, I said to him that what he just did was a case of spelling in English and pronouncing in Igbo. That is wrong. You don’t spell in a particular language and pronounce in another language.

Using a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, k. . (English, actually Latin alphabets) to spell or write an Igbo name, place or thing and coming back to pronounce the same with a, b, gb, ch, d, e, f, g, h, gh…(Igbo alphabets) is not only dishonest but evil and therefore, has to be seriously discouraged not only among the young but among the old as well.

It needs to be said that because of the similarity between most letters of the English and Igbo alphabets, we don’t have the right to spell Igbo words as in English and end up pronouncing same as in Igbo. Doing so is pure disrespect and sheer dishonesty towards the Igbo Language.

He was proud to say that he spelt in English because English provided another choice.

I said, “But you don’t have a choice. It is an Igbo name. You have to spell it in Igbo.”

The customer maintained sealed lips throughout the conversation. He smiled in admiration when the NEPA official made a remark saying that his (the customer’s) surname looks like the only pebble on the beach. With a wide grin on his face, this was proudly confirmed by the customer.

Initially when he was done with spelling the name in English, I told him to pronounce it in English. He has to because he spelt in English. He was robbing Peter in order to pay Paul. Is that not dishonesty? Yes, it is. That has to be discouraged not sometimes but at all times such occurs.

Now, the English alphabets are 26 in number. In Igbo Language, the consonants Q (q), C (c), and X (x) are non-existent. Of course, this includes upper case letters as well. What this means is that there are no words in Igbo Language such that any of these three can be used in their formation. When these three are taken out, whatever left (23 of them) are common to both English and Igbo Languages.

The alphabet forms gb, ch, gh, gw, kp, kw, sh, nw and ny, nine of them in number are called digraphs. These, in addition to ọ, ụ, ị, and n with a bar on top make up the 36 letters of the Igbo alphabets.

The surname sounded like Ọkpakụ. While spelling the customer’s surname (last name) I heard him say the letters “kp.” (k+p) as in English. immediately I knew he was referring to one of the digraphs in Igbo Language.

That, among others attracted my attention. At that moment I knew I had to take action. I also knew it was time to give him a lesson on the anglicizing movement generally and a lesson on digraphs specifically. Unfortunately, NEPA office wasn’t an appropriate place for such a lengthy lesson.

Here is what the lesson would have looked like:

“GB (gb)” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in English.

“GH (gh)” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“GW (gw)” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it as in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“CH (ch)” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“NY (ny) ” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“NW, (nw) ” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“NY” (ny) is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“KP (kp) ” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

“SH (sh)” is an Igbo alphabet. You don’t spell it in English and pronounce it as in Igbo.

This now becomes a splendid opportunity to point out that the letter combinations “OR (or)”, “EH (eh)”, “AH (ah)”, “OH (oh)”, “UH (uh)” etc. aren’t dịgraphs and therefore, not alphabets, which means they cannot even be compared to gb, gw, ch, gh, kp, kw, sh, nw, and ny (In Igbo Language we’ve 9 digraphs and not 10 or more). That further goes to explain why writing Igbo names, places and things such as Anakọ as Anakor, Ejiọfọ as Ejiofor, Okonkwọ as Okonkwor, Ukpọ as Ukpor, Afọ as Afor, Nkwọ as Nkwor, Ume as Umeh, Mba as Mbah, Ugo as Ugoh, Metụ as Metuh etc. All these different cases are absolutely wrong and unacceptable.

This is another form of the anglicizing movement which some of the Igbo Language native speakers take for granted. Is it not time for us to realize that we need to have a standard, otherwise, some people will be expressing themselves in Igbo Language to fit personal taste as some are already doing.

Added to other forms, this form of anglicizing movement is clearly, among others, sending a lot of messages and of course none is good.

Here is one of them:

My experience with the NEPA staff and many others has come to convince me that the Igbo Language native speakers are hell-bent and busy comparing the Igbo Language with English Language and maybe others. As we do this and continue to do so, one thing will continue to be clear and it is this:

“Languages are like butterflies in the wind. Some fly higher than others. Each flies the best it can. Each is beautiful. Each is different.” Why compare one against the other “

Speaker’s of every language should be proud of their language and stop the comparison.

Here is another one:

If languages were to be products displayed for sale, some of the native Igbo Language speakers will pay for the Igbo Language only as much as the vulture is ready to pay for a carcass (dead animal). This isn’t interesting at all.

If disrespect and dishonesty towards the Igbo Language were to be a crime (and they are, though metaphorically), punishable under the law, financial institutions, churches, advertisers, graphic designers, businesses, politicians, the media (radio, newspapers and magazines etc.), authors, printers, academic institutions, and of course individuals will be serving different prison sentences depending on the severity of the disrespect and dishonesty. .

My dear people, it is time we value our language and say: “Enough is enough”, we are taking our language back. If the time is not now, I don’t know when.

Igbo Kwenu, Igbo Kwezuenu. Igbo ga-adị o. Daalụnụ o!