Costly burials: Profiting from the dead

It is often said that death is a necessary end. But, in today’s Nigeria, the social status of a person appears to reflect in the way such a fellow is buried. This, it seems, has become the motivation for private burial grounds and undertakers in the country, who now invest in funeral homes to profit from the dead, reports ISIOMA MADIKE

The news of his mother’s passing hit Olusegun really hard. As the first son of the deceased, he had to come home from his base in Abuja at short notice to make arrangements for the funeral. Shortly after arriving in Lagos, he went round to inspect the morgues where the corpse would be preserved until burial plans had been finalised.
He, however, was shocked to discover the conditions of the state-owned mortuaries. They were indescribable; overcrowded and largely inefficient. Giving what he saw, he decided immediately that they were not an option.
He then decided to inquire about the services of the private funeral homes. However, for him to keep the corpse in the refrigeration unit of one of the privately-owned mortuaries around Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State, Olusegun had to cough out the sum of N5, 000 daily. In two weeks, the body had incurred a bill of N70, 000 while it costs N20, 000 to embalm it.
Casket and burial space for the interment was Olusegun’s other headache. But, the most troubling was the cemetery. He knew that most public cemeteries are congested, overrun with weeds, short of facilities and usually looted by grave-robbers, who steal valuables from corpses or temper with body parts for ritual purposes.
One of such run-down facilities is the now infamous Atan Cemetery at Yaba in Lagos. Another is the Ikoyi Cemetery, one of the state’s oldest functional graveyards. They are both in decrepit state with pervasive foul stench of exposed graves and human parts strewn all over the dead’s abode. This picture of neglect of the country’s graveyards plus the cut-throat prices of the shoddy services, sent shivers down Olusegun’s spine. Though, there is a new site constructed exclusively for the rich that has become a part of the new-look Ikoyi cemetery. But, it does not come cheap.
The fees for using that select site range between N250, 000 and N25 million. This is minus burial permits, inscriptions on tombstones and annual maintenance, which equally attract special charges. A standard plot for burial, complete with weeds, costs N250, 000 while a space in the more elitist section goes between N2.5 and N25 million.
There is also the Victoria Court Cemetery (VCC), also in Lagos State. It is the first private burial ground in Nigeria. Though quite expensive, many cannot really put a price on what they call giving a befitting burial to their departed dear ones. They often argue that no amount is too much to pay for the facilities the private graveyards offer when compared to the state of the public cemeteries where no one is sure of the security of the corpse.
Perhaps, it is this dearth of quality services that has spawned a rash of private cemeteries and funeral homes across the country, especially in the “Centre of Excellence”. This may have been why Olusegun opted for one of them.
VCC is a scenic graveyard where every self-respecting corpse would elect to be buried, if they had a say in the choice of a final resting place. Even when the living escort the remains of their deceased loved ones, they often cannot help but stop to savour the serene ambiance of this beautiful cemetery owned by HFP Engineering Limited, an Israeli building and civil engineering construction company.
The 25-hectare burial ground, situated in Eputu Village, Ibeju-Lekki local council of Lagos State and constructed in a tranquil environment, is laid on a bed of lush vegetation and luxuriant trees. A church, with several chapels and a mosque convey an added sacred fervor to the setting. There is also a capenters’ yard and kiosks for snacks and drinks among the features of the cemetery in which the Israeli company is said to have invested over N1 billion.
Since the first burial of a Nigerian female oil company employee in 1998, the memorial park has become the toast of many, who are not impressed by the parlous state of most public burial grounds around the country. This discontent of the public with the condition of public graveyards appears to be responsible for HFP Engineering Construction Company’s decision to develop a private cemetery that meets individual and family expectations.
Soon, buying of burial vault in advance became the fad among rich Nigerians. While some see it as status symbol, others view it otherwise, with a plethora of reasons why they prepare their final resting place while alive.
Not long ago, the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, broke his silence to confirm that he had already paid for a burial vault where he would be interred four years ago. The 51-year-old Fashola made the declaration on Sunday, February 22 after inspecting the site of a new cemetery in the Ibeju-Lekki area of the state.
“We are here to inspect a cemetery we often don’t like to talk about, but there is a need for it because the population continues to expand and the Lekki sub-region is growing very fast. We have this strategic partnership now with the private sector and they are going to deliver a cemetery like no other. They will manage it and make the cost also competitive. There will be high, medium and low density vaults for people, who really want to make a statement at their exit,” Fashola, who stunned Lagosians with that revelation, said.
The governor did not stop at that but added that death is an end that will eventually come and as such people should make preparations in advance. He lamented that most people could not access some of the old cemeteries where their loved ones were buried several years ago, adding that, people must plan for their demise the way they plan for success while alive.
However, Fashola is not alone in this. Like the governor, many other men and women of means, have acquired their personal vaults. For instance, billionaire businessman and Globacom owner, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr., had, according to findings, also paid a whopping sum of N200 million to secure a space for his burial spot in a cemetery since 2013.
He bought his at the Vaults and Garden, an ultra-modern cemetery in Ikoyi, Lagos, situated beside Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. This reporter also gathered that the billionaire’s sister, Mrs. Esther Osunade, who died in 2009, was buried in of the most expensive spot at the Vaults and Garden beside one Gboyega, son of another super rich Lagosian.
The cemetery, which was opened on October 30, 2006 by former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has a spot for the rich and another for the “super” rich. A space for the rich costs from N750, 000, while that of the “super” rich costs from N40million. This portion enjoys a lush lawn, balcony, beautiful gate, garden and more space.
MIC Funeral Services boss, Tunji Okusanya, according to investigations, also bought a space at the Victoria Garden City Cemetery at the whopping cost of N250 million before his death. Okusanya met his sudden death along with his son and four men, who worked for him as pall-bearers in the ill-fated Associated Airline plane, which crashed on October 3, 2014 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. He was said to have bought, before then, some part of the Ikoyi Cemetery also.
This, perhaps, many be a pointer to those who do not know that the opulence that separates the rich from the misery of the poor continues even into the grave. This may also be what the consummate English playwright, William Shakespeare, foresaw when he wittingly created an imagery of the social gap between the rich and the poor. He had said: “When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”
Just like Shakespeare, Yaakov Chai, former managing director of HFP Engineering, owners of the VCC Cemetery, said when it was opened for services in 1998 that the company’s services were not for beggars. “What we are offering is a complete deviation from the general cemetery you see around where people bury about six bodies together. This is a private initiative that would allow members of the public to honour their dead ones,” he said.
As if in competition, other businessmen have taking a cue since then, investing in funeral homes to profit from the dead. For instance, MIC is said to be the owner of the Vault and Garden near the seemingly non-performing Atan Cemetery in Yaba. After a successful spell in the business of undertaking, it decided to give the VCC a run for its money in providing excellent funeral services.
It goes to show that the paraphernalia for a funeral is simply endless. Yet, it has somewhat become obvious that the cost of burying loved ones is not for the shallow-pocketed in this clime.
A family who desires a space for its dead at the Vault and Garden may need as much as between N1million and N70 million to actualise the dream. And this, according to findings, excludes the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the cost of other ornaments. The VAT for vault classification is between N50, 000 and N3. 5 million while that of tombstone classification is between N27, 000 and N52, 500. This is the much a family of any deceased person has to part with to make their loved one rest in peace in the beautiful graves.
There is the Single Vault, which costs N1million; Double Vault (which can accommodate two persons both at the base and upper parts) costs between N2 million and N2.7 million. The Special Medium Vault sells for N10million while the Special Low Density Vaults are in three categories. Category one is between N20 million and N25 million and category two goes for between N35 million and N40 million.
The category three is in a class of its own. It is like a gated chamber which, besides lodging the dead person, also serves as a place where family members can sit and chat as they look at the pictures of the departed adorning the walls. In later years, any relation of the deceased can be buried within. Its price ranges from N50 million to N70 million.
Notwithstanding the fees of the vaults, the prices for tombstone construction are separate. They range from N500, 000 to N1.5 million. The Double Vault in both marble and granite are more expensive, while blue pearl granite for half slab is about N700, 000 and full slab, N900, 000.
But, VCC and MIC are not the only ones into this business. They have another competitor in TOS Funerals Limited located at both the Ikeja and Gbagada General Hospitals in Lagos. Although, TOS has no cemetery at present, its area is on mortuary services. Their slogan is to give the dead a dignified and befitting funeral with the claim of providing world-class standard.
It was established by Mrs. Taiwo Ogunsola, who doubles as Chief Executive and MD of the company. TOS services range from provision of customised and top range hearses, pall bearers, brass band, embalmment, storage and funeral arrangements to sale of caskets, decoration of catafalque and condolence tables. This package, of course, comes at an upscale price. According to findings, a Batesville wooden casket cost at least N250, 000. From N350, 000 upwards, one could purchase the steel version, while local wooden ones made to specification go for N100, 000 and more.
Saturday Telegraph also gathered that Omega Funerals perform embalmment of corpse forN20, 000, depending on the condition of the corpse and the location while autopsy goes for N70, 000 if there is a police case involved. Their caskets do not come cheap either. For a locally-produced casket, bereaved families would have to cough out about N200, 000 to buy a two-step casket, imbued with flat top and fixed with a bar handle, and lined with silk material and foam.
There is also a Semi Dome casket with a fixed bar handle, which costs N300, 000. The priciest is the Royal Cedar Dome fixed with a swing bar handle. It sells for N550, 000. Some of the features that make this casket special are the wood it is made of and the use of velvet material as its lining.
According to one of its attendant at the coffin shop, who refused to be named, customers prefer caskets made of mahogany and cedar woods because they are of high quality. “The liking for caskets made with these woods is to show class because not every member of the society can afford to bury their dead in style. Our style of burial is expensive and our target audience is the rich,” he said.
The imported variants of caskets in this shop range between N350, 000 and N1 million for the 18 and 20-inch steel gauge coffins while metal types could go for as much as N5 million. Besides the prices for the caskets, rich individuals also have to part with a handsome amount for a funeral hearse, pall bearers, mobile music band and transportation.
The brands of cars used for the hearse include Volvo, Ford Everest Jeep, Cadillac, Mercedes Benz, Nissan Pathfinder Jeep, R500 4MATIC Benz, Limousine and Lincoln Navigator. The price ranges from N90, 000 to N250, 000. The Benz hearse is the most expensive.
For the pall bearers, about N90, 000 is charged per day. The pall bearers consist of six men, who will not only clean the corpse for the burial but also convey the casket to its final resting place. The same amount is charged per day by the saxophonists, drummers and trumpeters (itinerant band), who will charge the milieu with ear-soothing songs befitting of a funeral. The transportation fee is usually N50, 000 and could be more, if the distance is farther.
However, majority of the affluent also consult the undertakers to handle services ranging from embalming, cremation, security, placing of obituary announcement in newspapers, printing of burial posters and programme booklets, catering, renting of canopies, chairs and tables, and the purchase of burial plots. A casket seller on the popular Odunlami Street, Lagos Island, who declined to be named, told this reporter that the poor cannot afford the prices of these services.
National chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Okey Nwosu, said there is nothing wrong with choosing a private or public cemetery to bury one’s loved one. “Where you bury your loved one is a matter of choice. It is not a waste of money if you choose to bury your loved one in a private cemetery, if you have the money,” he said.
But, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, a security expert, has identified security as a key reason why people choose to bury their loved ones in private cemeteries. He said the unwholesome practice of hoodlums pilfering corpses at graveyards for ritual purposes would not encourage anyone that has the means to bury the remains of a beloved one in a public cemetery.
He said: “It is not a wrong idea for anybody that has the financial muscle to bury his or her beloved one in a private cemetery. Experience has shown that public cemeteries are not secure for one to bury his or her loved one. We have had several stories of criminals going into public cemeteries, opening the grave and casket of a buried person and stealing all the valuables buried with such persons, including clothing.
“We have also had stories of how the eyes, the hands, private parts and other vital parts of corpses were removed for ritual purposes in public cemeteries. As Africans, we cherish and have great respect for our beloved ones, and the fact that they are no more does not mean we should not care about the security of their remains. How would you feel if criminals vandalise the remains of your beloved ones in a public cemetery when you have the resources to put them in a more secured private cemetery?” Ekhomu asked.
However, Omega Funeral Home brings with it a different dynamics. It is a subsidiary of Bemil Securities Limited, which started operations in 2001. It claimed to offer comprehensive funeral undertaking services, including preparation for burials, pall bearers, wreaths, hearses and high quality caskets. It does not have a private memorial park like MIC and VCC at present, but its facility for cremation is one edge it has over the other places. Asians, mostly Indians and the Chinese are the favoured patrons of this service.
Cremation is also a big affair in Australia and Britain, were it said that about 75 and 70 per cent respectively of all funerals are done via that method. The technique is, however, relatively new to Nigeria. At present, public awareness of bidding farewell to departed loved ones through cremation is still very low. And no attempt is being made by the government to create awareness about it because the process does not go down well with the Nigerian culture.
A complete cremation, according to investigations, involves a two-step process that takes two to three hours. The first exposes the corpse to intense heat and flame after which what remains is mostly ash except for some bone fragments. Then, the entire ash and fragment volume is gathered and run through a processor, to create a uniform powder-like texture.
Thereafter, the proceeds are preserved in an urn, a vase used in ancient times for preserving the ashes of the dead after incineration. This service costs about N250, 000, besides the urn, which cost N25, 000. However, proponents of the technique argue that it is less expensive than conventional internment. They also claim that with cremation, unlike burial, one does not need to take up valuable land space. They equally say that the process is environment friendly.
But this has not impressed environmental experts, who are worried that excessive gas that is employed in the course of burning, releases carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. However, it is hard to imagine how Nigerians are getting accustomed to this new way of burying the dead.
Fashola upped his game towards putting Lagos State on the global map and, perhaps, preparing it for the future when he signed into law a bill legalising cremation of bodies in the state a few years back. At the signing ceremony, the governor emphasised that cremation was voluntary. Even though, he added that the enactment of the bill into law showed how the concept of globalisation had taken its roots in Lagos State.
“The law tells a story of the full consciousness of how global our state has become. People migrate here; build homes here, and set up businesses here. And if some people think, cremation is the best way to do what they want to do, I think, we should also as a global city, provide that choice as it is done in all other global cities of the world,” he said.
With that, Lagos became the first state in Nigeria to promulgate a law in support of cremation. This serves as a funeral or post-funeral rite that is an alternative to the interment of an intact dead body in a coffin or casket. Cremated remains, which do not constitute a health risk, according to experts, may be buried or interred in memorial sites or cemeteries, or they may be legally retained by relatives and dispersed in various ways.
Providing further insight into the cremation law, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Adeola Ipaye, said, “It allows for voluntary cremation, whereby a person may signify interest to be cremated when he or she dies or a deceased’s family members, who must attain the age of 18 years, can decide to have the corpse cremated.”
According to Ipaye, the law also empowers the state government to cremate unclaimed corpses in its mortuaries after a period of time. “If the owners of the corpses also failed to show up to collect the ashes after a 14-day notice, it will be disposed of by the state government subject to the consent and approval of the commissioner for health,” he added.
Section 2 of the Act establishing it stipulates that no cremation may take place except in a crematorium recognised by the Ministry of Health or by any other body upon the recommendation of the authority and approval by the commissioner for health. In like manner, Section 6 of the law also stipulates the guidelines to getting permission to cremate and lists those who could apply for permission to cremate to include a child or children of the deceased; a close relative of the deceased; an undertaker and an agent or legal representative.
Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s Committee on Health Care Services, Hon. Suru Avoseh, who sponsored the bill, had argued that the bill is aimed at tackling congestion in public mortuaries. “The intent of the law is on unclaimed corpses and voluntary cremation. We are not praying for our dead to suffer but this has been happening somewhere. It is not peculiar to Lagos State alone,” he stated.
Deputy Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo, further explained that during investigation by the House on the state of mortuaries in the state, it was found that they were overfilled and that urgent measures were needed to be taken to dispose unclaimed bodies that were causing health hazards to residents of such areas.
“We went abroad with Nigerian experts to study the issue of cremation in the United States of America and we saw the way they cremate and we gained the understanding that they respect their dead. They said it is 100 per cent free from health hazards, even families were allowed to perform their rites before the cremation,” Taiwo said.
Despite all these, well-wishers are expected to be fed for several weeks prior to funerals and beyond. Many would report to the bereaved family’s home daily as early as possible for this purpose. There are those who would also complain that drinks bought were too small and that the ones served did not go round. Large colourful posters announced the passing of “a rare gem” and friends and associates would place expensive obituaries and goodwill messages in the print and electronic media to show association and sympathy.
For most families, the sudden loss of a loved one would translate to huge and unplanned expenses. By the time the body is finally buried, their expenditure would have inched towards millions of naira. However, other analysts are of the opinion that until the public cemetery operators and managers can finally get their act together and bring their services up to scratch, private undertakers will continue to profit from the loss of dear ones.