Naming Public Institutions After A Person

WHAT is behind naming someone after a public establishment such as a school, a clinic, a church building etc? The question is awakened by the current trend to name public institutions particularly schools after individuals.

Naming or renaming practices are universally supported. But I firmly believe it always gives meaning when a person whose name is used has a historical link in the establishment or the development of the public institution to be named.But when a name ‘picked’ sounds strange to the immediate community where the institution is located, or has no link whatsoever to the day to day activities of such an institution, such as a successful nurse to a clinic, a driving force or a retired/diseased teacher to a school/library, a saint or bishop to a church building, then the naming or renaming becomes awkward and weird.Traditionally, you do not want to name a child after a stranger. When the character of the person named after an institution has no correlation with the primary business of an institution, then people start asking about all sorts of things in search for relevancy.In the business world, a person can pay a price to be named after a building for marketing purpose. Such prices are made public as they contribute to the development of a building and to a business in question.This, when publicly accepted, is what we call transparency. The University of Namibia being a leading example, has recently named its lecture rooms and laboratories after some business personalities and institutions as a way to raise funds. Such practices are publicly known and the public is encouraged to pay for naming given an ethical motivation.My cautions towards the naming practices of public institutions are as follows: Those involved with the leadership of public institutions must be careful when facilitating the naming practices as such practices have historical and memorable implications. Naming and renaming when not carefully handled can be divisive and therefore selections of names must be democratically handled.Where possible, three to four names must be identified and motivated and debated openly within the said community before the community can democratically select one of them. This does not mean that there will be no unanimous names in some communities. The line ministries, to which the institutions belong, should be involved in providing guidelines or demand to ask how the process of naming was handled by the immediate community. Naming and renaming of public institutions should at least refer to some fundamental principles. The principles could be loyalty, honesty, perseverance, hard work, commitment, genius, or proficiency. People to be named after public institutions should be iconic, pioneers, founder or co founders, exemplary and publicly tested role models. Finally, naming or renaming should not be bulldozed onto the grassroots. Instead, the grassroots must be fully involved, and their voices must be heard. The practice should not be used to divide communities but to harmonize them into historical events into the future. Members of public involved in the naming and renaming of public institutions must understand the consequences of carrying the blame in future. Let the legacy of those living and fallen legends whose names are democratically and transparently named after public institutions prevail.NdapwaBy email