Ndu bu isi

Yes, “Ndu bu isi” is “life is first”, not “life is head”, contextually. In Igbo etymology, there are many variables which make translations very difficult and challenging. (You can argue that “head” and “first” are equivalents when viewed from the order of events, things etc (like head, tail), but outside the contexts of body parts. Life cannot be head (the human part) since the head is a subset of life)

For example, “Okonkwo is a fox because he is cunning” could be poorly translated to ‘Okonkwo is “nkita ohia”…’ using the Igbo name for “fox”. If you do that, you will fail in WAEC because in Igbo translation, context matters. The right translation is actually ‘Okonkwo is “mbe”…’ because tortoise is the equivalent of fox in Igbo axioms, idioms and folklores. In other words, everything the English people assign to “fox” in culture, the Igbos give to the “tortoise”. In WAEC, you would be expected to change fox with tortoise in the translation because “fox” is alien in Igbo culture.

That said, the “isi’ in Ndubuisi means “first”. Yes, I want you to know the meaning of my name. The full unwritten form is “Ndu bu isi uwa” [ life is the first thing in anything we do or plan to do on this earth]. That is why some mothers will call their sons named Ndubuisi “Isu uwa”, acknowledging the absolute superiority of life to all visions and earthly aspirations!

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