A laudable position from Anambra state as the state Assembly move to regulate how the dead are buried.
This is very commendable and I hope other states will follow in their foot step to regulate some of these obnoxious practices that has come to become a burden to the living.
Like a reader added, this regulation should extend to marriage rites too to cut down the exorbitant igbo marriage rites.
This day newspaper captured my thought on this.
"The new law against expensive burials is welcome
How a family chooses to bury their loved ones should not be the business of anyone. It is a private affair. But the ostentation that goes with funerals in Nigeria, especially for those who profess Christianity, is worrisome. In some parts of the country, funerals have become a burdensome and competitive exercise. Sometimes a dead relative is deposited in a morgue for between three months and one year. Some people go as far as taking loans or even selling land just for the purpose of making the burial of their relation “a great celebration of life” even if the deceased died of hunger.
It is against this background that we situate the recent passage into law by the Anambra House of Assembly of a bill to control burial and funeral ceremonies in the state. Sponsored by Hon. Charles Ezeani, the bill provides that “in the event of death, no person shall deposit any corpse in the mortuary or any place beyond two months from the date of death, while burial ceremonies shall be for one day only.”
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Highlights of new Anambra State burial law
1. All burial/funeral ceremonies of indigenous deceased persons *must* be registered with the town union of the deceased persons. Registration fee is NGN1,500
2. No person *must* erect any billboard, banner or posters of any kind of deceased persons in the State. 100k fine or 6 months jail term or both for violation.
3. Persons are allowed to erect only directional posts (such as the ones leading to the venue). Must not be erected before seven days to the burial date and must be removed not later than seven days after the burial date. 100k fine or 6 months jail term or both for violation.
4. Corpse *must* not be deposited in the mortuary or any other place beyond 2 months from the date of death. 100k fine or 6 months jail term or both for violation.
5. No blocking of road/street because of burial except with the approval of the appropriate local govt authority.
6. No public display of casket for purposes of fabrication and sale. 50k fine or 1 month jail term or both for violation.
7. Deceased family *must* clear outstanding levies owed to the community or religious body before the funeral ceremony.
8. There *must* be no Wake of any kind for any deceased person in the State. All vigil Mass, service of songs or religious activity for the deceased person prior to the burial *must* end by 9:00pm. There *must* be no food, drink, life band or cultural entertainers during and after vigil Mass, service of songs or religious activity for the deceased person.
9. All burial/funeral ceremonies for any deceased person in the State *must* be for one day.
10. All burial Mass/services *must* start not later than 9:00 am and *must not* last more than 2 hours.
11. No preserved corpse must be exposed for more than 30 minutes from the time of exposition . It could be kept in a room under lock and key.
12. All condolence visits after any burial/funeral ceremony must not exceed one day.
13. During a condolence visit, no person must give to the deceased person's family, as a condolence gift, any item exceeding money, one jar of palm wine, one carton of beer and one crate of soft drink.
14. No deceased person's family must give out any souvenir during burial/funeral ceremony.
15. For Ibuna Ozu Nwa Ada, there must be no demand of more than 10k by the maiden family of the deceased woman.
16. Undertakers at any burial ceremony must not exceed 6 in number. There must be no dancing with the casket by the undertakers.
17. Wearing of special uniform/aso ebi is restricted to: (1) immediate family of the deceased person, (2) church groups, and (3) umunna, umu ada and iyom di, where applicable.
18. Provision of food/drinks is *not* compulsory. It is at the discretion of the bereaved family.
19. No burial on any local market day of the town. For Ifitedunu, no burial on Nkwo market day.
20. Umuada of the deceased person's family must stay only on the day of the Wake and the burial/funeral.
21. No more custom of Ndi Youth demonstrating with the picture of the deceased person within the town.
22. No destruction of cash crops, economic plants, household utensils/ properties by Ndi Youth, condolence visitors, masquerade or any other person.
23. No use of any type of guns except Nkponana.
24. No brochure of the deceased person except for Order of Mass/service.
25. All condolence registers during any burial/funeral ceremony must be kept at a convenient corner on the premises.
26. There shall be no second funeral rites after burial except in the case of legacy.
27. Commissioner for Lands is required to create State burial ground in every community. Rejected corpses and unidentified corpses will be buried there. A "rejected corpse" is a corpse deposited in a mortuary for more than two months. Every mortuary attendant is bound to report to the Ministry of Health any corpse that has stayed beyond one (1) month from the date it was deposited. Failure to notify the Govt is an offence.
28. There will be Monitoring and Implementation Committees. Members will be paid such remuneration as may be determined by the town union of the town. The Town Monitoring Committee is responsible for (1) registering all deaths in the town, (2) giving clearance for every burial/funeral ceremony in the town, and (3) submitting records of the implementation of the Law to the Department of Town Union and Chieftaincy Matters in the State. The Implementation Committee must be present at any burial ceremony to observe the implementation of the Law. Obstruction of the Committee is an offence and attracts a fine of 50k.
29. Contravention of the provisions of the Law is an offence punishable by 100k fine or six months jail term.
30. Magistrate Court has jurisdiction to try offences under the Law.
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