- Community elders accused of using ‘mysterious death threats’ to extort bereaved families
In a situation where high inflation is eroding the incomes of many Nigerians and deepening poverty across the nation, many bereaved families are still being compelled to undertake expensive burial ceremonies for their departed parents and other loved ones, findings by The Point have revealed.
Stakeholders said some community elders instill fear in the minds of bereaved families by saying that those who fail to present exorbitant items of burial rites risk sudden and untimely deaths.
To this end, burial has become a major project in Igbo land, leading to people spending lavishly on funerals, even though many do this to avoid the anger of the gods or spirit beings.
They said it has become a way of life for lands and other property to be sold to fund burials in the South East just as many people borrow to ensure they give their beloved ones what they term a befitting burial.
For those who have the wherewithal, burial ceremonies are opportunities to flaunt their wealth while others who are poor become more impoverished and heavily indebted after the funeral rites.
In Ebonyi State for instance, the bereaved family is not only heartbroken for the loss of a loved one but filled with anxiety and worries on how to meet up with the exorbitant and rigorous burial rites as tradition of the people demands.
To meet up with the customary mandatory demands, bereaved families most times sell off family’s inheritance like lands and other property at giveaway prices in order to buy some items like cows, goats, wrappers, bags of salt, kegs of palm wine among others for the burial and sponsoring the flamboyant entertainment for sympathisers, friends of the deceased, in-laws, relatives and others for minimum of four days which most times leave the family with huge debts.
It was gathered that anyone who fails to perform such burial rites for his or her dead parents is always regarded as less human, stigmatised and not permitted to take part in such rites being performed by others, else he or she dies mysteriously.
Aside from the threat of sudden and untimely deaths for defaulters, dodgers were also said to risk setbacks in life.
It is traditionally agreed in Ebonyi State, irrespective of religion and political affiliations, that performance of the burial rites accords peace and rest to the dead who will be pleased and in turn, open up doors of progress for the performers.
However, stakeholders condemned traditional practices that place more burdens on poor Nigerians at these hard times.
Speaking with a Senior lecturer in Ebonyi State University, a native of Izzi clan in Ebonyi State, Prof. Joseph Nkwude, he opined that though the said burial rites are guarantee for peaceful rest of a departed soul and for his clan, custodians of the culture should review the stipulated requirements to ensure easy compliance.
“The culture didn’t start with us; it has been there for generations. If a man or woman dies in the Izzi clan, it is a tradition that live cow(s) must be presented for the burial rites by the children and in-laws. If any 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 its non-performance attracts stigma for both the living and the dead. Non-performance of these rites attracts death if the person performs for another or takes part in the 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 who are 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, canon gunshots among other things. That is the reason some sell off family land to perform the burial rites. At this juncture, I call for a review of these cultures and traditions to be easier for all,” the don said.
Narrating her ordeal, Mrs. Ukamaka Okafor, a woman from Ezza clan who recently performed the rites for her dead parents, called for amendment or total abolishment of some harmful traditions and customs of the people to suit current economic realities in Nigeria.
She said, “My father died when I was a teenager in junior secondary school, so, it was only my eldest brother that performed the said rites then. When my mother died recently, the kinsmen insisted that 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 the first and second burial of our father before the first burial of our mother respectively.
“For the first and second burial of our father with the exception of unmarried females, each of us presented two big goats, 3 fathoms of wrapper, two traditional weaved caps, a bag of salt, four kegs of palm wine, two crates of beer. For five of us to perform both the first and second burial rites for our both parents, we provided a total of 20 live big goats, sizes subject to 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 gun shots among other requirements.
“Those edible requirements were shared among the kinsmen after the rites.”
Reacting, Mr. Uchenna Inya who recently passed through ordeals of costly burial ceremony while burying his father in-law called on the Ebonyi State House of Assembly to domesticate Anambra State Burial Law 2019 in Ebonyi State as well as all other states of the South East to remove burdens and excessive pressures on bereaved families.
Inya hinted that the law does not only liberate women from oppressive practices usually unleashed on them during burials, it also stipulates that all the rites must be performed in one day instead of the usual four days.
He added that people have been flouting this law despite that acting contrary to the Act attracts either N100, 000, 00 fine or six months imprisonment or both.
When contacted, the State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Stanley Ogbuewu noted that the said punishment is unleashed on the living by the living because of greed on the part of the elders, zeal to show off affluence and unnecessary stigma from the society.
The Commissioner said, “Igbo cultures for burials are not bad. The living makes it difficult for them. Normally, those animals presented for the rites/rituals are shared by the elders/kinsmen, so, the elders, peer group, 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 sell lands.
“A day old cow or goat can be used to perform these rites in honour of the dead. One can go to the market and buy only 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 merriments.
“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 was required of him on my mother’s head, I can go and clear it for him now. It is all about knowing the pitfalls and avoiding them strictly.
“I think the areas that should be amended are keeping the corpse for many 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 commissioner advised.
