An Islamic cleric told me of how he got his
English surname ‘Jackson’, even though it
wasn’t his original surname. I wanted to
know if the Islamic cleric is from Lagos
state, or was it the popular ‘was your fore-
father a slave / did your forefathers convert
to Christianity and change their name’…..,
fairly tales or something entirely different.
This is what the Alhaji said.
He was born sometime in the late 1940s, as
Jamiu Adewale, with Adewale as his
surname. He so much wanted to get an
education, and so came over to Lagos to
live with some relatives.
He finished his primary school at an Islamic
primary education school in Lagos state
and decided to look for a job, etc. By the
time Nigeria got its independence he was
almost 20 years old and had completed
educational requirements equivalent to
‘secondary school’ education. He nursed a
desire to go to Britain, and work. Simply
called ‘Britain’ then, it was ‘the place to go’.
And if one just went to Britain for just one
week, it was ‘a change of levels’ as far as
social status and exposure was concerned.
According to Jamiu, jobs in Britain were
usually advertised at the British port in
Lagos state, and anyone with enough basic
education who was interested could just go
there, fill a form and wait. Besides,
preference was given to youths who ‘read
more than primary-6’. By and by, he filled up
an application form and waited. According
to Jamiu, ships that take workers to and fro
came only in September of every year, so he
had to wait until the next September to see
if he would be going anywhere. A major
requirement however was finance: each
traveller had to have some money(the
amount, usually published at the British
port) to last them for an initial 2-weeks
while they settled down in Britain. Mr. Jamiu
says the journey itself was free.
Soon, he got information that he had been
selected and should get himself ready for
travel by the next September.
When the d-day dawned, he gathered all his
savings, proceeded to the port with all the
documents he had. The port officer looked
at his documents, counted all the money he
had with him, gave it back and told him to
keep it safe in his pockets. The port officer
could not pronounce the Jamiu part of his
long Yoruba name, besides he also had a
middle name, besides his surname – so he
(port officer) just crossed as much as
possible out and wrote ‘Jackson’ instead.
Jamiu said he protested, but the officer just
waved him off, told him to go board the
ship, while he started attending to
someone else. That’s how Jamiu was
changed to Jackson.
Watch Out For Part 2


www.njuwo.com/2015/03/how-nigerians-got-english-surnames-part.html?m=1

Culled from my blog http://njuwo.com

On the ship, Jackson met other Nigerians,
made friends and a couple of them who
weren’t first time travellers helped the
newbies to settle down in Britain. At his
place of work in Britain, Jackson said he
protested again that his name was wrongly
written, and he wanted to be called Jamiu
instead of Jackson, but he was referred to
whatever ‘correction’ had been made in the
documents – as final.
Jackson said he met other ‘blacks’ who all
bore English surnames like ‘Bingo, John,
Robinson, Johnson, Jack, Peters, Peterson,
James, Jackson(the most popular), etc’, who
were from Nigeria and different parts of
Africa.
Jackson said he could identify Nigerians
only after listening to who spoke / couldn’t
speak local Nigerian languages. These
‘blacks’, after exchanging notes discovered
their names have been changed: wrongly
written, mis-spelt, corrected, etc., by port
officers wherever they were coming from –
and turned into English names because
Oyinbo man could not pronounce whatever
local names they originally had. In fact,
Jackson said “the oyinbo man would just
look at all your names, and perhaps think of
one English name similar to any of your
Nigerian names – and immediately make
corrections(with the new correction as
your surname) without your approval”.
After a year and half of work, Jackson’s
boss called him and a few other blacks and
gave them a promotion, informing them
that they were ‘intelligent’. They were told
they must begin evening school – which is
to be a condition for their continued
employment. This was to be at the expense
of the company(a television assembly
company) they were working for in Britain.
Jackson said the company was very strict,
their bosses even checked their notebooks
and asked information from school
authorities to make sure everyone was
studying, and not just playing-school.
Jackson remembers at least eight to ten
other Jacksons in his own class, and there
would always be an argument with
teachers and students, as each person
demand to be called his own name instead.
They had to sort out the Jackson issue by
numbering themselves Jackson-1, 2, 3…
Three years soon passed and he finished
his University education(Engineering). All
the while, Jackson said he hoped whenever
he returned to Nigeria, he would throw
away his Jackson name and assume his
correct name. Unfortunately, when he
graduated and was to return, all the
documents he got from school, place of
work, travel papers etc, all bore the name
Adewale Jackson, where Jackson was the
surname part. At the time he graduated, his
company had opened an office in Nigeria,
and so he was given a transfer. When he
got to Nigeria, he said he applied for name
change, etc., but that all the letters he wrote
back to his school through the British port
were never replied.
Nigerian authorities also refused to change
his name.
Watch Out For Part 3


www.njuwo.com/2015/03/how-nigerians-got-english-surnames-part_29.html?m=1

Culled from my blog http://njuwo.com

About three years later, he was to go to
America for a Masters degree. He again
traveled as Adewale Jackson. In America, he
met and married an Oyinbo woman and
had to give his children a surname.
As he could not give them a surname
different from the one on his travel papers,
he had to leave the name-change issue
alone. That’s how the Jackson name stuck.
Alhaji Jackson lives in Nigeria with his
family. His children are all grown ups and
have their own families.


www.njuwo.com/2015/03/how-nigerians-got-english-surnames-part_34.html?m=1

Culled from my blog http://njuwo.com

Visit my blog http://njuwo.com for more Nigerian revealing stories like this one you have just read, thank you.

lalasticlala, Seun, Ishilove, Obinoscopy, Mynd44 i think this is worth the front page.

Love my name....Richard Benson

ukgreat:
Love my name....Richard Benson

Hmm! How did you get it?

My friend answer Daniel David. Another is George favour

My first and last name is so English that whenever I go for an appointment they always ask which is my first name and which is my last name. I school in the UK. My village bears an English name, and 96% of the population bears the name as their surname.

njuwo:
Hmm! How did you get it?

my name is richard my dads name benson....we bear our dads first name as our surname THE BENSONS

Wow.... nice story.

ukgreat:
my name is richard my dads name benson....we bear our dads first name as our surname THE BENSONS

ur own good o! My ancestors name is still my surname. I don tire for d name sef.

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I am proud of my Igbo surname, english surnames is for people with no regard for their heritage. No tribe in Nigeria have english surnames it is adopted names most especially niger delta people

So Michael Jackson was Yoruba Hnmmmmm

chibyksveejay:
My friend answer Daniel David. Another is George favour

Do you know how they got their English surnames?

martyns303:
My first and last name is so English that whenever I go for an appointment they always ask which is my first name and which is my last name. I school in the UK. My village bears an English name, and 96% of the population bears the name as their surname.

This is surprising! Which village are you from?

ukgreat:
my name is richard my dads name benson....we bear our dads first name as our surname THE BENSONS

THE BENSONS. Sweet for a TV show.

FriedPlantain:
I can proudly say I am one of the guys up North North with English names. My surname is Plantain and my first name is Fried, so my friends call me FriedPlantain.

Here in Warri, we call you Idodo. Are you a brother to CookedPlantain?

Vince77:
Wow.... nice story.

You have an English surname?

Vince77:
ur own good o! My ancestors name is still my surname. I don tire for d name sef.

Is the name too heavy to pronounce?

brightlomo:
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Your can also whatsapp this no. 08060396376. Thank you.

Honourable, is like you miss road. This is not 51 Iweka Road Onitsha.

njuwo:
Is the name too heavy to pronounce?

noooo... The name has just three letters o!

Ucheosefoh:
I am proud of my Igbo surname, english surnames is for people with no regard for their heritage. No tribe in Nigeria have english surnames it is adopted names most especially niger delta people

How did you know it is most especially Niger Delta people that bears English surnames?

clefstone:
So Michael Jackson was Yoruba Hnmmmmm

Micheal Jackson was Yoruba?

Vince77:
noooo... The name has just three letters o!

Is the spelling hard?

njuwo:
This is surprising! Which village are you from?

Harry's Town, that's where late Marshall Harry is from. As you can see he bears the surname too.

njuwo:
How did you know it is most especially Niger Delta people that bears English surnames?

Where else in Nigeria can someone bear James Manager? or, is this on another level?

cool. i'm Richard Michael. but still use my tribal name #Oluwatosin

njuwo:
How did you know it is most especially Niger Delta people that bears English surnames?

Check some of their surnames especially Bayesla people

ok