Hon. Dr. Chief. Emperitus.Mr. so so and so

Ha! Titles....I really don't know what there is about titles that Africans are crazy about. Through the academic, religious and political fields, there are all manors of titles that people either adorn on themselves or are given by others. In Ghana, if you don't have any title at all, at least you find others calling you sister, aunty, brother, uncle, mummy or daddy. There is an unwritten taboo to call an elder person by the first name.

Some people cannot even introduce themselves without adding their titles. "Hi, my name is Sister Akos" or " I am Hon. Dr. Mensah" or " I am Mr. Owusu". Is that title on your birth certificate? If no why do you insist your name must be prefixed with the title?. It has even gotten to the point people who no longer hold political appointments cannot let go of the title 'honorable' but rather add 'former' to it making it 'former honorable'.

Even at work places we see people having titles such as 'MSC attempted' or ' PHD in progress' attached to their names. At most companies you have to call your supervisors Sir/Madam. I never got to experience this because the managers in my company were mostly young abroad returnees and insisted that we communicated on first name basis.

Even people add the title of their occupations to their names. Mr. Lawyer......., Mr. Accountant..... , Engineer .........etc

At the churches we have the Ministers, Reverend ministers, Prophets and Prophetess, Messiahs, Deacons, Elders, Fathers and combinations of two or more of these titles. You would have committed the greatest sin if you forget to add the title(s) of a person when addressing them.

The most interesting is the ones who accumulate titles in different fields. His excellency,Honorable, Doctor, Colonial, Emeritus all for one person. Seriously doesn't it get suffocating?

Over in here in America, I hardly hear people imposing titles on themselves, and most people introduce themselves with only their first name. Even the elderly people prefer you call them by their first name only. I don't know the actual value having so many titles add to your life, apart from the perceived/forced respect from other people.

I find that imposing such titles on oneself sometimes creates a bridge between you and others. It does not make you very approachable and sometimes instills some fear in others. As for me, I am very happy with my first name, and I would like to be as jovial as possible with other people, so no titles for me. If for anything my certificates would be enough to prove me adequacies.