When picking out a name for your baby, you want it to be the coolest one yet. Nothing common, something with a deep, profound meaning and friendly enough to keep your kid cool and popular when they grow older.
However, it has been said a thousand times over that names have power. It's probably why we made such a fuss when Tanzania elected Magufuli Pombe as their President.
Gospel singer Eko Dydda seems to have gotten the memo. He named his babies Keepitreal Favour Dydda (5-year-old son) and Amblessed Wisdom Dydda (Daughter aged 3).
No, this is not a drill. He actually did it.
Speaking at an interview with one of the local dailies his wife, Galia Cynthia Sylvia Dydda, said that, "We did not want to give our children names that would align them to any tribe. I left the task of naming our children to him and I was totally ok with the names he came up with... I believe there is so much power in names. The sentence names are a name like any other."
Eko also changed his name legally from his birth name to Eko Dydda in 2015 and you can blame it on his passion for national peace and unity.
In 2010 Eko Dydda started a peace campaign dubbed Tunabadilisha. This was inspired by the post elections violence in 2007 when he nearly lost his head in Mathare slums. During this period when tribalism and war were strife in the country, Eko was ganged upon by a group of five men who demanded that he speaks in his mother tongue to save his life. Born and bred in Nairobi, Eko wasn't able to do so and nearly got his head chopped off. His saviour came in the form of an old man that spoke sense to the delinquents.
Eko Dydda and his wife also run a trust named Ghetto Champions that brings together over 200 football teams from various parts of the country to compete for prize money. This is meant to bring together the youth and promote community spirit. His wife says, "Through the trust, he has empowered youth in the slums by buying car washing machines, mikokoteni and tanks to create jobs for them.
Would you call your children such names? Let's chat below.