Let’s not talk about treating somebody very nice when they are alive versus
what you will do when they die, that is another conversation. Let’s go straight
into the cost of burial at home and see who is to blame for the rising cost.
Whether a parent passes on in Nigeria or in Diaspora, once the burial is
scheduled to be at home the cost shoots up astronomically. Who’s to blame.
Could it be members of the family in diaspora who want to show off? If you are
from a polygamous family, burial competition is very possible. Is it the village
elders or traditional rights? The fact remains that most people in diaspora go
into deep debts for home burials with little after thought of the family left
behind after the burial.
In diaspora, there are cost with funeral but there are choices based on your
pocket. The cheapest is cremation but by Nigerian standards this is almost a
nonstarter. There are also cases where parents make wills for decent burials
and even leave money aside for when they pass. Family members will tell you
how big the deceased was and why they must have a befitting funeral.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong if you can pay for it. In most cases
people can’t, they do all kinds of collections in diaspora for this purpose. These
collections and burial excesses would be better spent stabilising the family left
behind. Who said you must use cow and not goat for burial in Nigeria? There is
a huge difference in that price, start with that.
