Good question, I have been trying to figure this one out for a while. However, I do not think it is limited to Nigerians. I had an experience on the East Coast with an African-American woman. I had just met her and the person who introduced me to her, gave her name, in both of our presence, without any titles. I acknowledged her and she gave me a very rude and very curt response, “it is doctor to you,” she said.
I didn’t lose a beat. I told her in that case, you will need to address me as “doctor as well.” She has a doctorate in philosophy I have a doctorate in law. Now what? Needless to say, she checked the attitude. Ain’t nobody got time for that mess.
Nigerians, however, do take their own to a whole different level. “Deaconess Madam Sister Chief” and the list goes on. In fact by the time they finish just the title alone, you will be completely exhausted. So, why are Nigerians so obsessed with titles? Is it a sign of an inferiority complex?
-Uduak
Photocredit: This is Africa
“I’ve always found (many) Nigerians’ obsession with titles something of a curiosity. There are the flamboyant titles flaunted by men. It’s quite common to meet a Nigerian man who introduces himself as Chief Dr. Sir So So and So. The bearer of that string of titles apparently wants those who meet him to know that he, one, has what’s often called a traditional title; two, that he earned a medical degree or doctorate (or, quite often, bought one); and, three, that he’s a knight of the Catholic or Anglican Church. Then there are the female variants. One example: Dr. Alhaja Chief (Mrs.) This and That. The woman who adorns herself with those titles would want you to realize, a., that she earned or bought a doctorate; b., that she’s a Muslim who’s made the pilgrimage, at least once, to the Islamic holy site of Mecca; c., that she has—according to a favorite Nigerian word—“bagged” a so-called traditional title or several, and, d., that she’s married. It goes without saying that the woman’s husband boasts an even larger harvest of titles. Few Nigerian men would marry a woman who “out-titles” them!
I don’t know whether other Africans have a similar fascination with titles. If they do, I doubt that it’s to the same degree. Nigerians, I suspect, hold the world championship in the craze for titles. . .”
This is Africa has the full story.