By Vincent Kalu
Chris Okenyi was doing very well in business until about two years ago when his business suffered setbacks. He was unable to meet up with repayment of bank loans obtained to import some electronic gadgets from China. Since then, he has been struggling to make ends meet. To make matters worse, late last year, his father died, aged 85.
Okenyi broke down in tears, inconsolable. Those around him couldn’t understand why he was weeping a river of tears. With the dismal life expectancy in Nigeria, they thought 85 years was quite a long life for his dad. He should, rather, be celebrating his demise, many thought. There was, however, a different reason for the tears.
Though Okenyi loved his father, his tears had to do with how to meet with the traditional rites involved in his burial. Aside from being an Ozo title holder, which, in Igbo culture, confers one certain privileges in the society, his dad belonged to other cultural associations. Hence, the funeral rites would cost a fortune.
Okenyi might not be the only one overwhelmed by the high cost of burial that leaves the living impoverished at the end and the dead happier in the grave.
As we have seen several times, the bereaved families have had cause to dispose or mortgage some of their movable and landed properties just to carry out funeral ceremonies. Some people may even borrow money to carry out an elaborate funeral ceremony, but may find it very hard to invest half of the money into economic and productive ventures.
Burying the dead varies from cultures in Nigeria and according to religious beliefs. What it costs to bury the dead in the north among Muslims isn’t the same thing down south among the Igbo and Yoruba. Besides, the taste of the family may contribute to the high cost of funeral services.
Lagos is a peculiar case in the country. Dying here stresses the family of the deceased both financially and physically. For instance, for mortuary services, N50, 000 is required for embalmment and a daily deposit is N2, 000. It is for this reason that people from the South-East and South-South make haste to take their corpses home immediately, where cost of mortuary services is cheaper, with embalmment costing between N12,000 and N15,000 for initial deposit, while payment for daily storage is N100.
Transporting a corpse out of Lagos doesn’t leave smiles on many bereaved faces. Paying for a motor hearse doesn’t come cheap, especially if the journey goes a bit far. From Lagos to Edo State, one has to pay about N85, 000, while N95, 000 is required if it’s heading for Delta. For Anambra from Lagos, it’s N120, 000; to Imo, N135, 000; to Abia, N155, 000; to Akwa Ibom and Cross River State, N175, 000.
In Lagos, there are also the challenges of interment at the various cemeteries. There are vaults and temporary places. Cost of vaults goes up to one million depending on the cemetery. In Victoria Garden Cemetery, the cost of the vault is up to N3million. At Atan Cemetery, a temporary place is about N50, 000; while a Permanent Place is N400,000; vaults range from N1.5 million to N2.5 million, and it is higher at Ikoyi Cemetery.
“Temporary Place,” Saturday Sun found out, is a shallow grave where, within a very short time, the decomposing body is exhumed and destroyed with chemicals to pave way for other corpses, while “Permanent Place” stays, and you obtain Certificate of Ownership (Cof O) from the local government.
When you add up what is spent on the dead from the hospital documentations, mortuary services, including embalmment, motor hearse, casket, etc, as well as cemetery services and entertainment, the cost of dying is even higher than living. Due to the exorbitant cost of a befitting burial, some families in Lagos may decide to just inter the corpse and then take enough time to raise funds for the ceremony. This cuts across ethnic groups and cultures.
Paying a storage fee of N2, 000 daily gives about N60, 000 a month, which is more than a Grade Level Four salary of a Nigerian civil servant. For a family that has already spent so much on medical bills, spending more on mortuary services in Lagos may be hard.
Mr. Chima Okoro, Chief Welfare Officer of Ohafia (Abia State) Improvement Union, Lagos Branch, said his community was initially keeping their dead in the mortuary until they were ready to take it home. But now, they don’t want to continue to bear the unnecessary financial burden of going to a mortuary to pay a huge sum for mortuary services that we can get very cheap at home. “Instead of paying N50, 000 for embalmment and N2, 000, daily storage, we take the corpse home and pay N12, 000 for embalmment and N100 for daily storage. The corpse will be there until the family is ready. Even in six months, the cost of daily storage is less than N20, 000,” Okoro said.
Why can’t they take the corpse home instead of burying it in Lagos and save cost? The respondent said it wasn’t the culture of the Igbo to bury their dead outside their homes. Even if the person died and the body was not seen, he said, something must be used as a symbol to represent his corpse and bring it home for proper burial.
The experiences of different Lagosians vary on how they buried their family members, friends and colleagues. Chikadibia Okeogu, who buried his mother at Ogbaru in Anambra State, few years ago, said if a woman dies in that community, the Umuada (daughters of paternal kindred) would, for some days, gather at the home of the deceased. In the morning, they would be served with a very rich beverage for breakfast, and thereafter retire to their respective homes, assembling again in the evening to order a well prepared supper.
According to him, it didn’t end there. On the burial day proper, they demanded other things and called the children one after the other to come and inform them that their mother was dead; the same they did for the daughters’ in-law. This is monetised.
In some parts of Igbo land, traditional burial lasts up to three days from the day the deceased was interred. Each of these days, one group or more would come for condolences where elaborate entertainments take place. In most parts of Igbo land, a son-in-law is expected to go to the home of his late father-in-law with a live cow, wrappers, drinks and other items.
In Nnawfia community in Anambra State, for instance, the cost of burial is not as high as Ogbaru in the same state. According to an elder, Ezeugo Muodozie, if your mother is dead, you don’t just go to inform her paternal family that she had passed on, but “you first inform them that she was sick and was in the hospital. On the second day, you inform them that it is getting better. On the third day, you break the news that she has died.” They will demand a live cow from her children, and other things. The ceremony, he said, is according to your strength, as the burial is just one day, but you must do the burial in a way that you must be reckoned with in the community.
Among the Ibibio in Akwa Ibom, it also costs a fortune to bury the dead. Joe Osom told Saturday Sun the culture varies from local governments. Before the burial, you have to go for consultation, especially, “as my mother was from another local government area, with goat, wine and hard drinks, beer and other drinks to the immediate family. Thereafter, they would summon you for another meeting with the extended family. When that is done, the date for the burial will be fixed. You will provide a goat for the land where she would be buried, even if it is in your compound. If the father of the woman has died, you have to give another goat, and also another goat to the village. If they pity you, they may collect about ten goats. If the woman happens to be the first daughter of the family, you have to budget more than N2 million, including entertainment.”
Mr. Osom warned: if you are the type that hardly visits home while alive, the corpse will cost a fortune to bury in the village. “For the family to be safe from expenses, it’s advisable to bury the corpse where the deceased lived and declare that he has disappeared and couldn’t be traced,” he suggested.
In Onicha Ukwu, Delta State, Josfyn Uba, who just buried a parent, said the cost was high, but that it depends on families. The traditional aspect, she said, must be fulfilled not in part. Here, goats, chickens and assorted drinks are compulsory for certain rites.
She said: “If it is a woman, she would be taken to her father’s house for burial; she would not be buried in her husband’s place. In this instance, her husband’s people do not have much to do; it is her children who shoulder the responsibility of the burial.
“If it is a man, there are about four or more places that you have to present live goats. The husband of the first daughter must present a goat. A cow is optional, but, these days, it has become a norm to slaughter cow(s) for entertainment.”
For Muslims, it doesn’t cost much to bury their dead, since the issues of mortuary and embalmment, casket and hiring of motor hearse are mostly ruled out. However, during the eighth day prayer (Fidau) of the dead, the Muslims of the South do elaborate ceremonies that cost a fortune. During this time, huge sums of money are spent on cows, mobile cooling vans to chill drinks, partying, Aso-ebi (uniform), gift items, etc.
However, Omoniyi Saludeen said, Islamically, there is no serious financial implication even during the eight-day prayer, as what you are enjoined to do is to pray for the soul of the deceased; thereafter, depending on your financial muscle, you can fry Akara and distribute to people, or you may cook food and serve. “So those that slaughter cows for entertainment is just traditional, it is not Islamic. It has to do with the culture of Yoruba people; it is more of a culture than a religious injunction.”
Saludeen, however, said, in Yoruba culture, funerals had become an opportunity to showcase the financial might that the departed was survived by wealthy children; so they throw lavish parties. “You choose a particular day for you to host people; you invite everybody, both relatives of the deceased. Going to inform this person or that person with drinks or anything over the death of one’s parents is out of courtesy; I don’t think there is any aspect of Yoruba culture that says you must go and see this or that relations before you bury your parents; it is a matter of courtesy, not culture,” he said.
In parts of Edo State, burial expenses are also so high that some families find it difficult meeting up. Donald Esele said the family spent a fortune burying his father. He noted that, if some of his siblings weren’t well off, it would have amounted to borrowing to meet up with the expectations.
The Egbe (the paternal kindred), Saturday Sun learned, conduct the traditional burial ceremony. “They came with a long list of what we should provide, which included goats and other things. The items on the list were so much that we asked if we could monetise them so as to cut the actual cost of bringing them physically, but they objected and insisted that we must fulfill all the items on the list,” he said. Having met up with the expectation of the traditionalists, “we came to entertainment, where we spent a fortune, as we had to kill two cows and buy drinks. You know, in Edo, if you don’t kill a cow to bury your parents, you are seen as not having buried them. It is not traditional, but that is what civilisation has brought to our people.”
He stated that they had to spend much to buy high grade lace materials for Aso-ebi for the family, though each of the children bought for his or her family. This Aso-ebi and the cow and even renting cooling vans, he stressed, are a creation of civilisation, and are not traditional; but you have to play along to show that you are not the worst affected by the economic hardship in the country.
Also, Bayo from Omido, Irepodun council of Kwara State, told Saturday Sun that his family had to spend a fortune, because their father was both a traditional chief and a member of the Anglican Church.
According to him, since their father was a traditional chief, the family had to cook elaborately for the traditional chiefs, the Obas-in-Council and the Oba for three days before the burial. On each day, they must see and weigh the live goats that would be used for the cooking. The essence of examining the goats was to make sure that the family didn’t just take goats and slaughter them.
“Having done with the tradition, we were now saddled with the church burial, which started with the wake and the funeral church service, where elaborate entertainments were also done.
“Live band was hired for both the wake and the reception. We had to kill cows for entertainment. In line with Yoruba culture, we spent money on Aso-ebi,” Bayo said.
A socialist, Victor Gbenga, wondered why Nigerians should elevate funeral ceremonies to the level that it has become a burden to them. He noted that “it shows we don’t think in this part of the world. What we should put into productive ventures, we spend it on burial ceremonies. This is a crass mentality. The irony is that what we spend burying some people who died at the age of 70 may be more than what was spent on the person from his or birth.”
He, therefore, called for a change of attitude, arguing that these great nations Nigerians say they want to meet up with don’t think in this direction.
Prince Secha Uwaoma, an architect, argued that it was not compulsory for a family to do an expensive burial ceremony. According to him, the watchword is to cut your coat according to your cloth. “I buried my father in grand style, because I have the resources. If I weren’t endowed, I would have done as my strength could have carried me, regardless of what people would say. So, I blame those who are inflicting unnecessary pain on themselves in the name of befitting burial.”
Hon Bulus justified the expenses thus: “If it is for our parents, they deserve that, because they laboured to bring us up and whatever it would take to send them home gloriously should be done.”
It is against the background of reducing funeral cost to nothing that the Catholic Church in Nigeria, some years ago, came up with a policy of burying their dead members within one month, devoid of elaborate ceremony. It also barred wakes. This policy, in some cases, seems to be observed in the breach. Even Anambra State under the immediate past governor, Willy Obiano, barred elaborate burials, but that has also been observed in the breach. Until Nigerians review the high cost of funerals, the living would continue to pay a huge financial price for the dead.