Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
It is not a joke. The writer and journalist of Ivory Coast, André Silver Konan as well as some of his fellow countrymen do not put up any more with their western names. The author proceeded on Friday to the launching of the project of valorization of the Ivory Coast and African names. For André Silver Konan, time has come to rehabilitate the African names.
Up to now, Africans find no problem in bearing western names. But this could well change with the project of constitution for a directory of native names. « This project that we thus introduce aims at establishing 366 Ivory Coast first names in all languages of the country, with their meaning and their origin. We so hope to establish before the end of the year 2014, the calendars of names Abbey, Agni, Baoulé, Bété, Dioula, Dida, Ebrié, Gouro, Lobi, Tagbanan, Sénoufo, Yacouba, etc. », indicated André Silver Konan to APA.
Far from willing to create new names, Silver Konan however intends to breathe new life into the forefathers who made history of Ivory Coast and African peoples. « Our generation has the power and the duty to rehabilitate our African names. It is time for Africa to write its own History rather than undergoing it« , he insisted.
One of the advantages of these typically African names will be the preliminary knowledge of their meaning. The bearers of these names will also be easy to identify in their origin.
Original text by: Roger ADZAFO
