From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
A burial is a ceremony that honours the deceased. It can be an elaborate ceremony or it might be a simple affair.
The rich and the poor always strive to give a befitting burial to the deceased to usher him or her into the afterlife and prevent the person’s spirit from haunting relatives and other survivors.
Burying a loved one in Nigeria varies. Funeral rites differ according to community traditions and religions. In some places, and among some Christians and traditional religion adherents, a whole week is set aside for the burial rites for the deceased, while some set aside between two and four days.
These days, burial ceremonies are becoming more demanding and expensive, and people are beginning to cry out.
While some would rather bury their dead in a simple coffin, many these days would insist on expensive caskets for their dead. Some even bury the deceased in imported caskets.
Some have also buried their loved ones in cars, the cars serving as caskets for the deceased.
For instance, in 2021, a popular native doctor, Chief Simon Odo in Aji, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, who died at 74, was reportedly buried in a car. The brand new BMW SUV which one of his sons bought for him served as his coffin.
The deceased allegedly had 59 wives and over 300 children and grandchildren. One of his children reportedly promised to buy a car for him, but the man died before the car was delivered. Instead of putting him in a regular casket, he buried him in a brand new BMW SUV.
But in the Moslem faith, burying the dead is usually different. The dead are always buried swiftly while ceremonies are usually completed with relatives in a very simple way.
Some have argued though that the most befitting honour is to provide people with care and attention while they are alive. Others say that traditional funeral ceremonies should be simple and dignified, while taking into account socio-economic realities.
Some people feel pressured to sell valuable assets, including shares and family land to give their dead a “befitting burial.”
In the South East, the bereaved family is not only heartbroken for the loss of a loved one, but there are anxiety and worries on how to meet up with the exuberant and rigorous burial rites as tradition of the people demands.
Entertainment of sympathizers, which is always elaborate and production of burial brochures and souvenirs are some of the capital intensive areas of burial in the South East.
Burial programmes and brochure alone could cost between N5million and N7million for a high class burial while souvenirs cost about N10million.
To meet up with the customary mandatory demands, bereaved families most times sell off family’s inheritance like land and other property to meet up with buying of cows that cost between N1million and N2million each depending on the size and species, goats, wrapper, bags of salt, kegs of palm wine and sponsoring flamboyant entertainment for sympathizers which most times leave the family with huge debts afterwards.
One who fails to perform such burial rites for his/her dead parents is always regarded as less human, stigmatized and not permitted to take part in such rites being performed by others. Non-performance of such elaborate, money-guzzling ceremonies is believed to cause setbacks in life.
When John Oroke in Obegu-Aba, Ebonyi Local Government area of Ebonyi State, lost his father, there was no money to meet up with the requirements for the man’s burial rites. Oroke, who is the first son and who is expected to give his father a befitting burial, according to the custom and traditional of the community, was in no financial standing to do the burial.
In Obegu-aba, the burial of a person lasts for four days. Goats, native cows, bundles of wrappers, bags of salt, kegs of palm wine, tubers of yam and other items are compulsory. The items must be presented before the elders and youths of the community, in-laws and relatives of the deceased during the traditional burial rites of the deceased.
Oroke took loans and used the only landed property he has as collateral.
“Burying someone in my place is very expensive, no matter your economic status. We have a culture you must fulfil before burying your loved ones if you are a member of our community. You must present goats, cow, wrappers, kegs of palm wine, cartons of beer and other items, apart from food of different kinds that you must serve those that will attend the burial, which usually lasts for four days.
“Each day, you must cook food that will serve those that will attend the burial and you must also play traditional and Christian songs. You must invite a DJ and traditional dancers in each of the four days.
“So, you can see that it is not a matter of being rich or poor. You must meet up with the requirements and if you don’t meet up, especially on the cow issue, you will not eat a cow used to bury someone when you attend a burial. Otherwise, you will die – no two ways about it. You don’t touch or eat a cow used in burying someone if you did not use a cow to bury your father or your mother. You don’t do it.
“I had to collect loans and used my land as collateral. I was unable to meet up with the time given to me to pay the loan and that my land was taken away from me. This was how I lost my landed property,” he said.
Mrs Ukamaka Okafor, a woman from Ogboji, Ezza Umuhuali, Ishielu Local Government area of the state, who recently performed the rites of her dead parents, called for amendment or total abolishment of some harmful traditions and customs of the people on burials to suit current economic realities in Nigeria.
“There is serious need for amendment of some of these harmful Igbo cultures and traditions to suit the harsh economic realities currently in Nigeria, because it is a punishment in disguise for the living.
“My father died when I was a teenager in Junior Secondary School, so only my eldest brother performed the said rites then. When my mother died recently, the kinsmen insisted I and my younger siblings would not bury her until we were able to perform burial rites for my father who died first.
“We had to sell a portion of our family land to meet up with the demands because we did both first and second burial of our father before the first burial of our mother.
“For the first and second burial of our father, with the exception of unmarried females, each of us presented two big goats, three fathoms of wrapper, two traditional weaved caps, a bag of salt, four kegs of palm wine, two crates of beer.
“Five of us were to perform both first and second burial rites for our both parents and we provided a total of 20 live big goats for approval by the elders, 30 fathoms of wrapper, 20 traditional weaved caps, 40 kegs of palm wine,10 bags of salt, 20 crates of assorted beer, 15 cannon gunshots, among other requirements. Those edible requirements after the rites/rituals were shared among the kinsmen,” she noted.
She noted that after the burials, she became very financially incapacitated that she found it difficult to feed.
“After the burials, I was so broke financially. It became difficult for me to eat because I used all I had for the burials but thank God I am surviving through his mercies”, she said
Sunday Odom, an Abakaliki-based journalist said 21 cows were used to bury his father when the man died.
He disclosed that his father, a titled chief, had seven wives and 42 children.
“When he died, 11 native cows were slaughtered for his burial rites apart from the ones we killed for entertainment. A total of 21 cows were bought from his funerals. These cows were bought by his married daughters through their husbands because in our clan (Izzi), when a man dies and he has daughters who are married, each of the daughters, no matter how many they are, must bring cows for his burial. Then, his son(s) must bring one cow, no matter their number.
“My father had 42 children; males and females. He married seven wives. So, in our own case, all the 17 married daughters of my father brought 17 cows while we his sons brought one cow making 18 cows. The remaining three were brought by his relatives and friends including the former governor of the state, Sen. Sam Egwu, making a total of 21 cows.
“We used 11 for his funeral, some for traditional rites we didn’t do in our family before. We shared the remaining ones. During the funeral, the 11 cows that were slaughtered for my father’s rites were for different traditional purposes/rituals. For instance, a cow was slaughtered for what we known as aba. Aba is a place where a titled Chief is usually kept during the burial rites and the person must be kept on top of it before being buried.
“So, according to Izzi tradition, a cow must be killed before that aba is constructed and it is where the deceased must be kept. A cow must also be killed on the day that aba will be dismantled. Aba is usually constructed with wood in form of a small house. Both the roof and the body must be constructed with wood. Aba was constructed for my father and two cows were slaughtered for the construction of the aba and the dismantling of that structure in accordance with our tradition.
“A cow was killed for his kindred, a cow was killed for his in-laws, two cows were killed for his ajoke traditional title too for men and women folk in accordance with the Izzi tradition, and so many other purposes.
“Before he died, my father pleaded that he should be given full traditional funeral rites since he was a traditionalist. He instructed us not to bury him in a Christian way and urged us to allow the first son of the family to take charge of the burial despite being a Christian and Pastor.
“Because of this, we allowed our first son to take charge of the burial items, including the 21 cows. All of us in our family were traditionalists except that our first son and we were doing our own burial rites in the traditional way while he was doing his own in a Christian way.
“There was a very particular costly and special clothing material we call nkushi that was also used during my father’s traditional burial rites. This material is very scarce in the market, you can only get it on demand. Some people will just cut little piece of the cloth and put inside the grave when they are burying a titled chief because of the expensive nature of the material. If it is done for a deceased, it means that the person has bagged all the traditional honours in Izzi land. Some people after cutting the small piece of cloth and putting it in the grave, sell the full one in the market to make huge profit. But my father had a full one.
“Before he died, he called my blood brother and directed him where he would see that material in his room. He instructed that the whole material should be used in burying him. He knew that a small piece of the material would be cut and put for him in the grave and he didn’t like it that way. That my brother was the third son and he was the one my father gave key to his room. So, my brother rushed immediately when my father died and packed those things.
“Using cows to bury the deceased in Izzi land and Igbo land in general has many significance. At times, you don’t just kill the cow like that. You cut the skin of the cow and hang it on the deceased’s hand and ensured that the deceased wears it like bangle in the coffin before being buried. After the person is buried, the deceased’s kinsmen will then slaughter the cow and share among themselves. In Izzi land, you must touch the coffin of the person that is being buried with the cow skin by following the coffin when it is being carried to the grave. If you don’t do this and do it for another deceased person, you must die.
“If you did not slaughter a cow for your deceased father or mother, and you eat the ones slaughtered for another person, it is instant death. The person must die. Christianity does not solve this one; it doesn’t prevent this tradition. One man died in our place because he didn’t kill a cow for his deceased father. He made it clear that he would not attend a burial until he had killed a cow for his father in accordance with our tradition. A man attended a burial and brought part of the cow meat shared during the burial to him. He ate it and died immediately.
“Using cows to bury the deceased is affecting the economy of people in our clan, Izzi. It makes the cost of burials to be very high. It can make somebody to be desperate; going the extra mile to get a cow to bury a late relative because if the person doesn’t do it, people will be making mockery of him or her. So, it puts pressure on people. It can even make someone to steal in order to get a cow for a burial.
A senior lecturer in Ebonyi State University, who is a native of Izzi clan in the state, Professor Joseph Nkwude described burial rites as guarantees for the peaceful rest of a departed soul.
He noted that in his Izzi clan, it must be performed with cows, irrespective of the economic status of the family, describing it as an age-long culture in the clan. He called for a review in the stipulated requirements to ensure easy compliance.
According to him anyone who dies without performing the said rites for his/ her dead parents would be humiliated.
“The culture didn’t start with us; it’s been there for generations. If a man or woman dies in Izzi clan, it’s a tradition that live cow(s) must be presented for the burial rites by the children and in-laws. If anyone of them fails to meet up with performing the rites, it is now a debt which must be paid.
“It is believed that those rites accord peace to departed souls and non-performance attracts stigma for both the living and dead. Non-performance of these rites attracts death if the person performs for another or takes part in same rite being performed by another.
“To make things easier, if any son or in-law of the deceased is able to provide a cow, then others not able to get one will be traditionally compelled to pay a certain token to the kinsmen, which now qualifies them to partake in the burial rites.
“Any full-fledged man in Izzi clan must be buried with at least a cow, and gunshots, among other things. That is the reason some sell off family land to perform the rites. At this juncture, I call for a review of these cultures and traditions to be easier for all,” he said.
The state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Stanley Ogbuewu said there was nothing bad in giving the deceased a befitting burial. But he noted that the living make things difficult for themselves in a bid to give their beloved ones a befitting burial.
“Igbo culture for burials is not bad. Normally, those animals presented for the rites/rituals are shared by the elders/ kinsmen, so the elders, peer groups, friends, even some family members always influence the family to provide very big cows or goats that will be beyond their financial strength ,thereby making them to sell lands.
“A day-old cow or goats can be used to perform these rites in honour of the dead. One can go to the market and buy only a cow head, goat head and use it to bury his dead parent; the spirits will accept it. Those elders know this truth but they won’t like to talk about it so that enough animals will be slaughtered for their merriment.
“Another major problem here is gluttony. If you know you have not performed the said rites for your dead parent, don’t attend burials. If you must attend, control your appetite and wait to be served. Else, you will die.
“Now I am a Commissioner. If my father was not able to perform the necessary burial rites for his father, I can go now and clear it on his behalf. Likewise in marriage. If he didn’t settle all that is required of him on my mother’s head, I can go and clear it for him now. It’s all about knowing the pitfalls and avoiding them strictly.
“I think the areas that should be amended is keeping the corpse for months in the mortuary to build mansions. Some people do not take good care of their parents but when the person dies they will preserve the body to accumulate huge money for mortuary management, build houses which the deceased never enjoyed while alive even buy gold or diamond caskets. People should take good care of their parents and bury them after death as soon as possible so that their spirits can have rest.
“The zeal to show off, greed and unnecessary stigma from the society push people to conduct expensive burial ceremonies beyond their financial strength,” the commissioner explained.