Aww, found this interesting report on Ynaija and decided to share, enjoy!
A lot of people say there’s a story behind every name. Perhaps they’re right.
A couple of years ago, many Nigerian parents named their sons
Goodluck while things dramatically shaped up nicely for Goodluck
Jonathan. Nancy and Bimpe are two mothers who did this too. Now they
tell their story.
“I had my son in 2009,” says Nancy. “My husband was very sick at the
time I was pregnant and our son’s birth coincided with his recovery. So
he named him Goodluck and I supported the decision.”
“When Goodluck Jonathan became the president the following year, it
was a pleasant coincidence. I thought it was a good omen, that my son
too was going to have good fortune in future and that things will turn
out well for him. I thought he too will rise high in life even if he
doesn’t become the president.”
Bimpe says, “I had my son in 2010, the year Goodluck became
president. It wasn’t originally my idea nor my husband’s. My father gave
him the name. He said to me and my husband, ‘You can see what’s
happening in the country. You can see how Goodluck has risen to the top
and how things have turned out in his favour. My grandson will be like
that. My grandson will be Goodluck.’ So we stuck with the name.”
President Goodluck’s rise to the presidency was inspiring — and
cinematic. He started from an obscure background and became the deputy
governor of his state, Bayelsa. Then Governor Alameseigha was removed
and he got bumped up to be governor. Soon, while he was about his
business quietly in Yenagoa, he got picked to be Umar Yaradua’s running
mate at the 2007 presidential elections. Then they won that election and
he became the vice president.
Yaradua became terminally ill along the line and eventually passed
on. So Jonathan got bumped up again to succeed the late president. That
was how he became the president without a single vote in his name. No
one saw that coming.
Quickly, he earned the Nigerian people’s respect. His popularity shot
up. From the east to the west, people just loved this new president who
wears a hat and seems to have a history of good fortune. It soon became
fascinating to have a child named Goodluck.
“You know that moment when you meet someone at an event and they’re
like, ‘Is that your son, oh beautiful. What’s his name?’ Then you say,
‘Goodluck’, and they’re like “Aha! You named him after our president.’
It was really amusing.”
Nancy says there were several mothers carrying their own Goodluck at
the polling booth she went to vote during the 2011 presidential
election. Needless to say, Goodluck won the election.
Goodluck had made a good first impression and now had the people’s
mandate. But as the insurgency raged on and the bloodshed persisted, it
soon eclipsed his good side and his rating began to drop. Plus the
masses didn’t feel their life was getting better, and they soon became
disillusioned about the president’s good luck.
“People began to react cynically to my son’s name,” Bimpe says.
“They’ll say, ‘Oh, is it because of the president that you named your
son Goodluck? Alright look at what’s happening in the country during his
government and see what he’s doing about it. That’s whom you’ve named
your son after?
“I try to explain to people that we named our son Goodluck before
Goodluck Jonathan even became president, but they won’t listen. It got
to a point that when I enrolled the boy in school, I wanted to change
his name so it won’t attract unwanted attention. But my older children
said I should leave it like that.”
Nancy says, “People think Goodluck is a bad leader. But I think he’s
not. I feel there are many enemies around him who don’t want him to be
there. They want to ruin his tenure. That’s why they’re causing all
these things to happen to tarnish his government.
“I also feel he has bad advisers. He surrounds himself with the wrong
people who don’t advise him rightly. But to me he’s a good man who
wants good things for Nigeria. I still support him.”
So when this generation of little Goodlucks grow up and learn the story behind their name, will they thank their parents?
Anyhow, let’s find out if Nancy or Bimpe has had some special luck in their family since their son Goodluck was born.
Nancy says, “Well it’s not like there’s been some special luck yet.
However, there’s been some progress in the family — and I guess that’s
okay for now.”