By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Despite the biting hunger in Nigeria that recently peaked with a national warning strike by workers, dying in Nigeria now still comes with a high tag and cost.
Investigations by ThisNigeria show that Nigerians are still spending millions and heavily to bury their dead, whether the economy is in bad shape or not.
From the cost of hiring morgues to the digging of graves, procurement of spaces in cemeteries, hiring of attendants (e.g., pallbearers), interment to social costs such as religious activities, ‘Owambe’ partying to others, it is ceaseless spending as the costs keep rising.
Last week at a public cemetery in the affluent neighbourhood of Obalende-Ikoyi axis on the Lagos Island of Lagos State, it was discovered that the cost of securing a ‘befitting place for the dead’ now hovers between N400,000 and N800,000, as against between N200,000 and N400,000 a year ago.
However, between 2019 and 2023, some sections that cost between N600,000 and N5m now cost between N1m and N10m.
At the grand old, famous Atan Cemetery, located at Moore Road, Yaba, on the Lagos Mainland, a colonial heritage where many nationalists had been interred, people cough out as much as between N500,000 and N700,000 to get a place to finally bury the dead ones as against N400,000 and N550,000 around September 2023.
The situation is more challenging at a private cemetery in Lekki, where you pay by the grades in the vaults, ranging from N2m to N15m, against N1m and N9m before 2024.
At km 45, the site of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), people pay as much, a source disclosed, as N400,000 for a place to bury the dead in the memorial ground.
The cost of burying the deceased in Lekki, Lagos State, Nigeria, varies with the type of burial plot and services chosen. Some approximate costs go thus:
A special three-chamber vault in the Lekki/Ajah axis of Lagos State ranges from N7m to N12m as of January 2024, as against N5m and N9m before 2024.
This facility, which comes in a premium option, includes a gate, tiling, and engraving.
At Ebony Caskets and Vaults, near the popular CMS area, an attendant confirmed during the week that a coffin costs from N400,000 to N15m, as against between N200,000 and N10m in 2022.
The attendant, who craved anonymity, said, “‘It used to be cheaper in the past, but we now have from N400,000 and above.”
According to another attendant, even congested and unkempt burial sites in central Lagos sell for between N25,000 and N300,000 at Matori, Oshodi, as against N25,000 and N200,000 in 2023.
However, at the Obalende’ public’ cemetery, an old man identified as Baba paints a different scenario on burial costs, while, however, reaffirming claims on expensive outings.
He informed our correspondent that what we can call ‘shadow burials’ still hold sway for ‘as little’ as N50,000, explaining that it is the practice where corpses are interred for a brief period before replacement.
“You also have spaces kept at N1.5m for ‘temporary’ spaces. Before, we used to give out graves at N30,000, N20,000, et cetera, et cetera,” he said.
Asked whether, despite the biting economic woes in town, people are still burying in large numbers, he drew his face in surprise. “Of course, people die every day. Don’t bury them now, you go see”.
Another source, a grave digger, on his part, told the correspondent that ‘shadow’ burials may cost as little as N50,000.
‘’Before, you could secure those that cost as high as N15m, depending on the purse and duration, as well as the type of vaulting. This is because some vaults are better prepared than others.
‘’And, in the past, you may have had those at N20,000; N30,000; 50,000,” he said.
When asked if patronage has reduced, he shrugged, saying, “No. People have to be buried, and according to custom, to taste.”
*Nigerians bemoan burial expenditure, morgue, and caskets, among others
There is also the rising list of equally costly ancillary services. For ‘clergy fees,’ if religious services are conducted, you also pay through the nose.
“You pay heavier to secure the necessary documentation to obtain death certificates,” Akanbi Ibrahim, a newspaper vendor, told ThisNigeria.
A socialite on Lagos Island, Alhaja Monsurat Agbabiaka, said there is also a host of ‘indirect costs’ to contend with.
These include items such as ‘productivity loss,’ that is, “the economic impact due to the deceased’s absence.”
*Experiences
A businessman, Etim Daniel, told ThisNigeria that the cost of a funeral was now so huge to the extent of ‘eating deep into one’s pocket.’
Daniel, whose father, Pa Offiong Daniel, was buried in November 2023 in Uyo-Itam in the Itu local government area of Akwa Ibom State, said spent over N17m to bury his father in an economy that is currently sparking protests of hardship across the country.
According to Daniel, because of his family’s affluence, the cost of buying a casket was N550,000, while another N1.8 million was spent on preparing the grave within his father’s compound.
As per his low down, other breakdowns include the purchase of drinks (assorted) at N2.35m, food items at N2m, cows, goats, and tubers of yam at N4.6m, decorations at N750,000, morgue charges, hearse, pallbearers, consultations, security, and others at N5m.
He, however, noted that the funeral costs were huge because, as the village head of Uyo-Itam, his late father needed to meet all the cultural requirements, especially those regarding consultation with the community leaders, before ‘the old man’ was laid to rest.
Considering the current economic downturn, Daniel lamented that the cost would have exceeded N17m if it had been done in 2024.
“I do not think it would have been easy for us to do this now because of the economic situation.
“Even at that, we are still trying to recuperate from the huge expenses incurred during the burial,” he said.
A market woman, Mrs Patience Ejike, described the situation better in a chat during the week when she said, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
According to her, it would appear these days that Nigerians are trying to outmatch themselves in celebrating the exit of earthly living with a regime of costly burials.
The combined destructive effects of the cocktail of woes unleashed on their persona by the absence of cash, biting inflation, and following costly burials often render families set backward, cash-wise.
In an ‘extreme case,’ a state government has had to promulgate a strict law to guide the conduct of burials in its domain and free the citizens from the ‘self-inflicted’ burden of costly internments.
Misery
There are trauma and emotional costs to bear, further widening the scope of the new-found avenue to misery.
Rev. Fr. James Katung, a theologian, tells the correspondent at Keffi Street, Obalende, Lagos, about what he calls the “intangible burden on bereaved families” of increased expenditures on burying the dead.
However, it has been noted that the ‘punishing costs’ can vary based on individual preferences, cultural practices, and the specific circumstances of each funeral.
Additionally, it can be gleaned that additional expenses may be related to the maintenance fees for burial plots and administrative fees.
All are now bleeding the pockets of extravagant families that want to impress in Nigeria with flamboyant burial celebrations.
Some stakeholders at a recent workshop in Lagos note that many funerals are now planned in the cosmopolitan state without considering the essential – the financial and emotional aspects – of the well-being of your family, especially at this difficult time.
This ‘fact’ is readily gleaned from a recent case of a man who died, and the medical consultant who treated him groaned, observing that if the deceased’s family had sent money on time, the man would have survived.
The doctor was flaming on hearing how the deceased’s children turned his burial into a carnival of sorts, spending millions on expensive caskets, food, drinks, souvenirs, and hiring undertakers, among others, “to ensure that the burial is the talk of the town for a long time.”
Psychologists, sociologists, and psychiatrists now agree with the consensus that people and relatives should take care of the living instead of spending so much on dead persons.
A sociologist, Kamal Sodipe, notes that “It is ironic that many prefer to spend millions of naira on burial than spending thousands to cure their sick ones in many parts of Nigeria.”
The trend, he further notes, has been sustained over the years “despite the huge financial burden it places on the bereaved, with many selling the deceased properties or their own to raise money, or even borrowing.”
The focus is celebrating “befitting living” and ensuring decent funerals.
*Role of religious and other bodies
They are expected to import sobriety into the burial process, but it seems they have joined the ring of inflating burial costs, psychologists fear.
A clergyman, Ibrahim Kakanda, who spoke in Zungeru, Niger State, notes that the church, in the past, had always intervened in the high cost of burial.
They did well in the past, he says, but not anymore.
“In the past, some churches and denominations insisted that once a person dies, the burial should be within a month; otherwise, the church would not attend the burial. The church also urged the bereaved to skip wake-keeping and other activities to save costs.
But, often, and in defence of the pastoral, despite the church’s admonition, families defer the announcement of their dead until they are ready for burial.
“This has become a common trend, which the church frowns at, as huge money spent on burial should have been used to keep the deceased alive.”
*Beliefs as the piloting error
“We value our dead, we also believe that the dead should not be mistreated, rather accord them respect, and you cannot do all these when the burial is not colourful enough,” an indulgent family head narrates to the reporter.
In his estimation, “Most families think it will be shameful to bury their dead immediately, or without elaborate celebration, bearing in mind what people will say.”
To give the person what is considered a befitting burial, especially for older people, is pocket-tearing in Nigeria today.
*Action points
Therefore, he said, “Dying is not cheap in Nigeria as burying the dead has become costlier than keeping the person alive while sick.”
As an interventionist undertaking to mitigate the high burial rate in Anambra State, Governor Chukwuma Soludo emphasized that the state burial law promulgated aimed to remove the burden on people with low incomes and liberate women from oppressive practices during burials.
A recent survey showed that, generally, “it is cheaper to bury the dead in the northern part of the country than in the southern part. The least burdened by burial are the North West and North East, with the North Central trailing behind.
That is not the same scenario as in most southern parts of Nigeria, where “the success of a burial is determined by the amount spent.”
In that regard, it is widely considered that the South-West and South-East “spend a lot on burial, while South-South.
Moved by the expensive nature of burial these days, the Anambra State government in 2019 opposed the concept of ‘giving a befitting burial to the dead. ‘
The state house of assembly promulgated the Anambra Burial/Funeral Control Law, which seeks to curb extravagant burial practices and ‘promote public order.’
The law prescribes stringent rules restricting the cost of registering burial ceremonies (which was pegged at N1,500 for indigenous deceased persons as recorded in the state’s statutes.
The law also prevents the erection of billboards, banners, or posters featuring deceased persons in the state. Persons were only allowed directional posters and without prejudice. Those who contravene the provision risk a fine of N100,000, six months in jail, or both.
Other provisions include restriction of mortuary duration, and blocking of streets with parties (except with the permission of the local authority).
Cross-checking facts
A cemetery attendant in Obalende confirmed most of the issues serenading the huge propensity to embark on costly burials by Nigerians these days.
The middle-aged man, who identified himself as Kamoru, concluded by saying, “It is true that they replace corpses in the graves if you have the money, o!’’
An attempt to confirm some of the fees was rebuffed at some cemeteries at the weekend “because you are not ready to buy coffins. The manager said that at one of the leading undertakers in the Lagos Island area, MIC caskets.
“Come back when you are ready to buy coffins, then we will give you all the information you need.”
*Take care of the living instead of spending so much on dead persons, psychologists urge Nigerians
Sociologists and psychologists have berated Nigerians’ tendency to shop for heavy burials. Dr Robinson Ajakaiye, a clinical psychol-
ogist, explains that this is a sign of a malignant disease that society should dispense with. People should be more humane in taking care of the living.
Psychologists, sociologists, and psychiatrists say they are actively involved in providing grief counseling to bereaved families to stop ‘groovy burials.’
“By helping them process their emotions, psychologists can guide them toward healthier coping mechanisms and acceptance,” Dr. Jane Asiwaju, one of them, says.
According to her, the task before them as professionals is to “Educate on burial alternatives, especially to individuals and families about alternative burial practices, and emphasize eco-friendly options and simpler ceremonies that reduce the wastage of funds.”
Another said, “When families face decisions related to burial arrangements, psychologists can offer support, ensuring that choices align with their emotional needs while minimizing cost and environmental impact.”
A consultant psychiatrist, Dr Maymunah Kadiri, identifies three factors—psychological, cultural, and societal — as contributing to the tendency to spend more on burials as illnesses.
She identified death as a cultural event: “In some cultures, a funeral is seen as a significant cultural event that carries social expectations. Families might prioritise investing in elaborate funerals to fulfill cultural norms, irrespective of the financial challenges faced during the patient’s illness.
Socially, she identifies the expectations or perceptions “that a grand funeral reflects the family’s status or prestige. Families may prioritise the appearance of affluence during this public event.”
On the issue relating to the stigma associated with illnesses, she noted, “In some societies, there might be a stigma attached to illness, and families may be hesitant to discuss or seek financial assistance for medical expenses openly.
“However, a funeral is a more visible event where societal norms may dictate certain expectations.
In summary, she lists the issues involved thus: financial resources, cultural beliefs about death, pressure from social comparisons regarding funeral expenses, and lack of financial literacy:
Limited understanding of financial planning or access to healthcare resources may contribute to families allocating resources differently, with less emphasis on healthcare expenses during the illness, as well as delayed acknowledgment of the severity of the illness.
