In the business of death
Nwadimma Kanu has been in this mood since her late husband’s relatives met and drew up a list of things needed to give their late brother “a befitting burial”. She is pained by the sudden death of her beloved husband, in an auto crash, after only six years of marriage, leaving behind two promising children who will now have to face an uncertain future without the family’s breadwinner, but the major source of her current heartbreak is the cost that her husband’s relatives have imposed upon her for her husband’s funeral.
The list that they have drawn up includes mortuary services, casket, ambulance services, decoration of venue for lying-in-state, undertakers, DJ services, live band, printing of burial programme, posters, banners, two different types of T-shirts for immediate family members and relatives, photo and video coverage, two different uniforms for outing service and for mourning, aso-ebi clothes for extended family and friends, renting of canopies, tables and chairs, bags of rice, cows, cartons of beer, crates of malt, crates of minerals, packs of bottled water, bags of sachet water for refreshment, catering services, and many more. There is her husband’s uncompleted one-storey building in the village to be completed and painted before the burial, and there is also a demand for two live cows, one each for her husband’s kinsmen and his maternal people.
She looks at the list again and breaks into uncontrollable tears. But while Nwadimma is weeping out her heart, a number of businesses are warming up in anticipation, certain that she would come seeking their services in due season.
Not a few Nigerians find themselves in Nwadimma’s shoes today. Expensive funeral services is the order of the day, it doesn’t matter whether the deceased left even a pin behind.
Indeed, time was when families just buried their late relatives within a maximum of a day or two, without the fanfare that is associated with funeral services today. In those days, no one cared so much about preserving corpses in mortuaries. Most families embalmed the remains of deceased relatives at home the traditional method using dry gin, just to preserve them for a day or two before burial, and then, they went to a nearby carpenter or coffin-maker for a befitting coffin. Burial ceremonies were often less expensive, except in cases where the deceased was a titled man or a traditional king whose burial involved several expensive ceremonies, or where the deceased attained very ripe old age with numerous well-to-do children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren who may then decide to celebrate the exit of their patriarch or matriarch in a flamboyant style. Then, out of the blues, everything changed.
As funeral ceremonies became increasingly flamboyant, it became clear that there was money to be made. Consequently, the number of businesses benefitting from death and burial ceremonies in Nigeria increased accordingly. More mortuaries sprang up, not just in major hospitals but also privately-owned, casket makers upped their game and began to make more beautiful designs that sometimes made one desire death, ambulance service providers discarded the jalopies and ordered high profile jeeps and executive cars. Decorators improved on their trade, printers learnt direct image (DI) printing that guaranteed sharper results, DJs and live bands equipped themselves with trending songs, and all other providers of services required at funerals generally upped their game. And then, there are also professional mourners who charge fees to cry at funerals where family members of the deceased appear too busy to call up tears.
Sadly, sometimes the deceased who is getting this expensive funeral may have died of negligence. Such scenario is aptly captured in “Died Wretched”, a 1998 classic Nollywood movie produced and directed by Kenneth Nnebue, the prolific producer of “Living in Bondage”, which birthed Nollywood as it is today.
In the movie, Lucas (Tom Njemanze) trains his nephew Chris (Tony Umez) through secondary school, at one point having to sell his last portion of land to save him from jail. Years later, Chris becomes a wealthy businessman and marries Sarah (Eucharia Anunobi), while Lucas becomes so poor that taking care of his wife and five children becomes a struggle. Chris refuses to help his uncle in his time of need, but when Lucas dies, he organizes an expensive burial for him, with a N2.5 million casket and a N250,000 gold wristwatch.
Ogbonna Ohia, an Abia State indigene who just buried his stepsister who died a spinster, for instance, made available the following list of planned expenditure to BDSUNDAY ahead of the burial: mortuary bill – N50,000; casket – N30,000; ambulance – N10,000; decoration – N10,000; DJ – N10,000; 2 bags of rice – N32,000; 10 crates of malt –N25,000; 10 crates of beer – N29,000; 5 crates of mineral –N6,000; cow leg – N60,000; 6 canopies – N10,000; 5 tables –N1,000; 200 chairs – N10, 000; bottle water and sachet water – ?; programme/poster/banner – N35,000; food –N180,000; transport – N12,000; T-shirt – N20,000; total – N560,000.
“This is just an estimate. The final expenditure could be more. And it is this mild because she was not married,” Ohia said.
Spread of funeral homes
Latching on to the emerging opportunities in the funeral services business, and seeing that many rich families would rather outsource the burial of their deceased relative, as is done in other climes, many funeral homes sprung up across the country. Most of these funeral homes provide some or all of the following services: embalment and mortuary services, casket making, sale of caskets (local and imported), funeral planning and decor, general funeral services, hearse services, band services, pall bearers, wreath ladies, lying-in-state, undertakers, private and public cemeteries, cremation, memorials and consultancy services, and many more.
A Google search of funeral homes in Nigeria threw up several in Lagos and other parts of the country. Some of the funeral homes are MIC Funeral Services Ltd, located on Lagos Island, Lagos; DC Heavenly Gate Funeral Home in Owode, Osun State; Ebony Funeral Services on Lagos Island, Lagos; Heavensgate Funerals in Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Heavens Caskets & Funeral Undertakers located at Mushin, Lagos; Lasting Journeys Group on Lagos Island, Lagos; APAMS Funeral Services Ltd., regarded as the king of funeral undertakers East of the Niger, which has its head office in Onitsha, Anambra State, branches across the South-East and making inroads into the South-South, and TOS Funeral Services, with offices in Gbagada, Ikeja, Alausa, and Yaba, all in Lagos, which has the motto “caring for the living and the dead”.
Others include Akas Funeral in Nsukka, Enugu State; Abundance Peace Caskets in Ibadan North, Oyo State; Western Funeral and Cemetery Services in Ikorodu, Lagos; Funeral Lady Palace in Ikoyi, Lagos; First Narrow Gate Funeral Services, Alimosho, Lagos; OS FUNERAL SERVICES on Lagos Island, Lagos; Great Wonder Band, Ikere, Ekiti State; Ochieze Royal Casket, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Rock of Ages Funeral Services, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State; Ultimate Funeral Undertakers, Ibadan, Oyo State, and many more.
Apart from the regular services, Omega Funeral Home, located at Ojodu-Berger, Lagos, adds “body recovery, post-mortem, exhumation, preparation and documentation” to its list of services.
BDSUNDAY visited MIC Funeral Homes, one of the foremost funeral homes in Lagos, which says it has been in operation since 1946. Our checks show that MIC Funeral Homes offers a wide range of services that include removal of corpse/repatriation, mortuary facilities, casket sales, hearse services, pall bearers, mobile band, flower girls, flower and wreath, lying-in-state/viewing, burial plot, headstone/marble, photography and video recording, cremation, encasement, obituary announcement, provision of security personnel and music jazz band.
Our correspondent, who posed like someone who had just lost a beloved relative, asked for the cost of an assortment of caskets and a list was emailed to her by a staff of the funeral home. The list shows that for local caskets, there are the two-step flat top shape with fixed bar handle at N275,000, a semi dome shape casket with fixed bar handle at N350,000, a round top shape casket with fixed bar at N350,000, a regular dome shape casket with fixed bar handle at N350,000, a Pavarotti dome shape casket at N375,000, and a regular dome shape casket with swing bar handle at N600,000.
Furthermore, a Pavarotti regular dome shape casket with swing bar handle sells for N475,000, royal dome shape casket with swing bar handle in gold colour costs N650,000, royal dome shape casket with swing bar handle white and gold costs N600,000, semi dome shape casket with swing bar handle in gold colour at N375,000, and a Pavarotti hollard dome shape casket with swing bar handle at N550,000.
Imported caskets are far more expensive. According a list of different types of imported caskets and their prices emailed to our correspondent, Athena imported steel casket comes at the cost of N2.15 million; Amethyst imported steel casket costs N2.7 million; midnight silver imported steel casket costs N2.4 million; carnation mist imported steel casket costs N2.1 million; blue mist imported steel casket costs N2.95 million; millennium imported steel casket (stainless steel with gold plated hardware) costs N8.95 million; Promethean imported steel casket (highly polished solid bronze, 14k gold hardware) costs N13.85 million; sunshine imported steel casket costs N1.65 million; classic gold imported steel casket costs N7.225 million; star quartz imported steel casket costs N4.8 million, while Aegean copper imported steel casket costs N4.2 million.
For its pall bearers, band boys, flower girls and management services, a source at MIC said it depends on location. When our correspondent said she was from Imo State, she was informed that the services of pall bearers cost N150,000 per day in Imo State, mobile band N150,000 per day, 2 wreath bearers (flower girls) N40,000 per day, and transportation, handling and management fee N250,000.
And there are different types of hearse services and prices. For instance, R Class 4matic Benz in black and wine colour costs N550,000 per day, white stretch Limo costs N685,000 per day, while see-through (show glass) Benz costs N700,000 per day.
“We have 10 funerals to cover tomorrow [Thursday] morning and Friday in different parts of the country,” Abraham, a staff at MIC Funeral Homes, told our correspondent on Wednesday. “Last week, we covered about 11 funerals in different locations.”
A quick run through MIC Funeral Homes’ website shows photos from some of the funerals it handled in the past. Some of its recent jobs include the funerals of Chief Molade Okoya Thomas, OJB Jezreel, Alex Ibru, Olorogun Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru, Dr Taiwo Ogunmola, Dr Adebisi Olatunji Senbanjo, Chief Mrs O. A. Abosede Okoya Thomas, among others.
A visit to Kafsan Nigeria Enterprise showed cheaper prices. Dome casket with steel handles costs N250,000, Dark Matt dome swing handles costs N250,000, Matt polish flat top with bar handle costs N60,000, round top show white with bar handle costs N75,000, while Matt polish next level costs N80,000, our correspondent learnt.
Similarly, for hearse services, Mercedes Benz 4 Matic costs N350,000 (if required to travel a day before the burial); Volvo costs N120,000 (for drop and go on the same day), and N150,000 (if required to stay till the next day).
But the prices come even cheaper at Merciful Funeral Services. Here, the price of casket ranges between N50,000 and N300,000, whereas the cost of ambulance services varies depending on distance. For instance, BDSUNDAY learnt that the cost of transporting a corpse from Lagos to Owerri, Imo State, is N60,000, Akwa Ibom is N80,000, while Anambra State is N50,000.
BDSUNDAY also checked out some mortuaries in Lagos to ascertain the cost of their services. At the Lekan Ogunsola Memorial House located at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where our correspondent went to make enquiries posing as someone who has lost a dear relative, it was learnt that to deposit a corpse in the mortuary requires registration of N1,000. Embalmment costs N50,000 for corpses brought in from outside the hospital and N45,000 for those that dies in the hospital. The fee could be more depending on the state of the corpse when it is brought in and the cause of death, BDSUNDAY also learnt.
Washing and dressing of the corpse comes at the cost of N5,000, daily storage costs N100, while the sum of N5,000 is charged for final dressing of the corpse on the day the relatives wants to pick it up for burial. In other words, it would
The pricing at Isolo General Hospital Mortuary in Lagos is slightly different. Here, embalmment costs between N40,000 and N80,000 depending on the size of the corpse. The mortuary charges N5,000 for washing and dressing of corpse, while daily storage of the corpse costs N1,000. Even though this is not official, BDSUNDAY learnt that in order to ensure that the corpse of one’s relative is treated nicely and taken adequate care of, one may need to tip those that will take care of the corpse with N2,000 or more so they can do their job dedicatedly.
At the Anatomic and Molecular Pathology Department Mortuary of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), our findings show registration is N5,000 (apart from in-house corpse), embalmment costs a minimum of N50,000, while autopsy service comes at the cost of N100,000.
Furthermore, it costs N1,000 per day to keep a corpse in the mortuary for the first 30 days, N2,000 per day after one month (31-90 days), and N5,000 per day from the 91st day until the body leaves for burial. Clearance before taking away the corpse for burial costs N5,000, and the unit must be notified and clearance done two days prior to collection of corpse, while the use of the auditorium attracts a cost of N25,000.
Funeral insurance plans
The import of what is happening in the funeral services market is not lost on insurance companies. As such, some insurance companies have come up with plans that provide families with funds to take of burial expenses of their loved ones.
Leadway Assurance, for instance, has the Family Benefit Plan and Family Benefit Plan Plus, “a risk management initiative which ensures its policyholders freedom from sudden and unexpected financial difficulties resulting from the death of an older loved one and funeral costs that follow”.
Whereas both plans allow the policy holder to have a befitting burial for loved ones, covering funeral expenses for about six people including demised loved ones, the Family Benefit Plan Plus (FBPP) goes ahead to cater for the welfare of the family of the deceased by providing monetary compensation beyond the funeral costs, according to an article, “How to worry less about funeral expenses”, found on the company’s website.