Koliko Street

Read by LHA

By Kofi Akordor

THE middle-aged woman chose a strategic place on the dusty road serving as a street in a developing part of the town and pitched a makeshift structure to start her business of frying yam, cocoyam and plantain.  The locals call it ‘Koliko’.
It did not take long before members of the community identified her as one of those who satisfied their food needs from the afternoon till late evening.  Her shrill voice advertising her business would cut through the din of the area at periodic intervals.
Auntie Dede and her spot became important and permanent features on the landscape of the area. With time, it became normal for residents trying to describe the location of their houses to friends and relatives to use Auntie Dede’s Koliko Spot as reference point.  It was a matter of telling them to look out for Auntie Dede’s Koliko Spot and then follow other directions.
Of course those who may be unlucky to follow that direction on a day Auntie Dede was not at post would have themselves to blame.  Local tro-tro and taxi drivers could not fail to notice new developments.  ?????Passengers would be asked whether they are going to Auntie Koliko, as the place became known, and so the street which now has lights and has been tarred.
So the endeavours of a middle-aged woman to raise money to fend for herself and her family has given a community a name and without any naming ceremony, that street gained permanent place on the map of the city as Koliko Street.
Today, there are many streets, junctions and landmarks in Accra, the capital city, and other major towns in the country that acquired their names in the same pattern as Koliko Street. It just takes somebody’s fancy and  then a street, a community or even a whole town is named after a person, a drinking or eating spot.
This situation has become the naming culture in our cities and towns and the local authorities seem impotent in their attempts to ensure sanity in street-naming the country.  In Accra in particular, the practice has become so pervasive that most  streets, roads and communities have lost their official names.
For example, there was once a street in Accra called Cantonment Road.  Somehow, some people with their strong taste and fascination for foreign things and names reasoned that since the activities on the Cantonment Road are similar to those of another street in London, it was only desirable that we name ours after the one in London.  That was how Cantonment Road in Osu, became Oxford Street without ceremony.
It has been many years now since that unofficial name change but the city authorities have not made any efforts to clear the air.  So, while on the map of Accra, there will be nothing as Oxford Street, on the ground, there is nothing as Cantonment Road.
In some jurisdictions, names of places, especially in cities and major towns do not just spring up.  They are thought of and chosen carefully because names have their historical and national significance.
Many people will open their mouths wide and ask whether there is any place in Ghana called Kokoedzor.  They will, however, tell you they know or have heard of a place in Accra called Mandela.  The original name of Mandela is actually Kokoedzor and those who have land documents prepared for them with regard to that area will attest to this.
Today, many communities in the Accra and Tema metropolises have developed fanciful names that are quite different from their original names.  They are too numerous to mention but a few are Middle East and Lebanon near Tema, where the early soldiers who returned from peace-keeping duties in the Middle East acquired plots of land for their housing projects.
We are all too familiar with Rawlings Park, the Boom Junction and HIPIC  Junction which are not official names but have become more or less official names of those places.  But should we continue giving names to places in our national capital and other major towns like this?
Our city authorities and other agencies such as the Department of Town and Country Planning have a responsibility to ensure that we do not leave the naming process in the hands of a few individuals and groups. 
The world is shrinking fast and one of the advantages of this phenomenon, especially with the introduction of the GPRS is to make location identification easier.  We will be cut off from this explosion of technological advancement if we continue to name our streets in a haphazard manner.
Auntie Dede only started to fry Koliko to earn a living but she has entered the history books as an ordinary woman who has given a street a name.  Welcome to Koliko Street.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com