ABSTRACT
Death is a passage from this earthly life to the world beyond. The
death of any member of the family leaves us with fear, sorrow and pain.
Therefore, the duty owed to the dead by the living is a befitting burial.
However, the rites associated with burial is meant to send the dead home to the
world of ancestors. But in doing this, the process has rather become very
expensive that people now wince under the burden of this socio-religious duty
of sending their dead home. Therefore, this research tries to find out the
socio-economic and religious implications on families, causes of merriment
instead of sympathy and justification for expensive burial and funeral rites in
Onicha sub-cultural area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The research was carried out
by reviewing past documents on the subject, use of oral interviews and
participant observation in the area of study. It was found out that this
problem has caused families a lot of socio-economic and psychological problems
like poverty, indebtedness, prostitution, child labour, abortion, fighting,
destitution and death. The implication is that if the society does not fight
it, it will continue to cause poverty, corruption and death.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study
Originally, man was meant to live a
blissful and everlasting life in a stable and peaceful world but unfortunately,
the sin of Adam and Eve brought death to man. Death is now a threat to life
everywhere. According to Ojukwu (2001) at first, human corpse was thrown into
the bush and left unburied. With time, dead bodies started to be buried in the
bush instead of leaving them unburied. Much later, dead bodies began to be
buried in the homes of the deceased instead of being buried in the bush. At the
time when corpses were thrown or buried in the bush, each village had a portion
of land for its dead, something that is very similar to today’s burial ground
or cemetery. Only the corpses of bad people were still thrown or buried in the
bush designated for such purpose. This kind of place is called ejofia.
This system could still be seen in many places even-though Christianity seems
to be phasing out this practice. When Christians came and were in need of land
for their churches, they were given ejofia which was thought to be a
punishment to them. But today, we see churches, schools and hospitals springing
up in most of these places making ejofia pale into insignificance. Also
because of their belief in resurrection, Christianity supported the idea of
burial sites where saints could be buried. Today, burial sites have replaced ejofia
and people are now encouraged to bury their dead in burial sites or cemeteries.
Asonibare and Ologun (1998) adds that in
many cultures and among many peoples of the world, occasions of birth, marriages
and other accomplishments of life often call for joy and celebration. Whereas
occasions of death are periods of grief. The living performs practices and
rituals to honour and maintain a good relationship with the ancestral spirits.
These practices are particularly evident in funeral and burial customs such as
wake-keep and second burial. So, in order to cushion the crises triggered by
death, funeral rites are instituted by many cultures of the world. Funeral
rites are important aspect of Onicha culture because it enables the dead to
depart to the place they rightly belong.
In the cyclical order of the universe,
the maintenance of a harmonious living with all the beings which are either
friendly or hostile to man’s development and progress is the primary aim of
man. All the good habits which man enjoys are primarily aimed at making the
world habitable. His orientation is towards life and hence African worldview is
both life-affirming and world-affirming. He prefers life here on earth to life
hereafter and struggles to live well here on earth in order to return and
continue to live.
The belief that human beings survive
death in some form has profoundly influenced the thoughts, emotions and actions
of mankind. The belief occurs in all religions past and present and decisively
conditions their evaluation of man and his place in the universe. Onicha people
just like every other African
community acknowledge that human existence is fraught with life crisis
situations or rites of passage. Death is one of such life-crisis situations
which marks the end of life on earth. According to Anyacho (2005), life to an
African is a continuous thing. Its cessation on earth paves way for the soul to
experience life in the great beyond. Therefore, death is a passage to the
hereafter. The last rite given to a man at death makes for a transition from
the physical existence to the invisible existence which takes place in the land
of the ancestors.
Basically, death is the reason we have
burial and funeral rites. And the whole idea hinges on African cosmology which
centres on the unified view of reality. Since reality is unified, man therefore
seeks for an acceptable way of pacifying or creating harmony among the three
spheres of the universe the heavens, the earth and the underworld so as to
maintain the fluidity among them and in order to live in peace and to avoid
molestation by the dead. He believes that the spirits and the ancestors who are
higher than him in rank must be appeased. It was probably in his bid to achieve
this that he evolved several propitiatory rites and customs for the dead in
order to appease the gods and the spirit of the dead.
It is for this reason that a corpse is
accorded a special rite before it is buried. Man is the only creature known to
bury his dead. This fact is of fundamental significance. The practice was not
originally motivated by hygienic considerations but by ideas entertained by
primitive people concerning human nature and destiny. This is clearly evident
from the fact that the disposal
of the dead from the earliest times was of a ritual kind. The primitive people
not only buried their dead but they provided them food and other equipment
thereby implying a belief that the dead still needed such things in the grave.
In the opinion of Quarcoopome (1987),
communion and communication between the living and the dead is an evidence of
reality of life after death. The ancestors are addressed in much the same way
as the living members of the family by their seniors. They are called upon
during prayers to bless the living with long life and prosperity. The ancestors
are capable of influencing the living for good or ill. Thus, the ancestors are
regarded as part of the social structure and this is manifested in ancestral
cult.
Death rites and customs stem from the
instructive inability or refusal on the part of man to accept death as the
definitive end of human life. They also reflect the belief that human beings
survive death in some form and represent the practical measures taken to assist
the dead achieve their destiny and sometimes to save the living from dreaded
molestation by the dead. This explains why the people of Onicha embark on
elaborate and expensive ceremonies to bury their dead. Burial and funeral
ceremonies are occasions when the people of Onicha gather to honour their dead
and to perform the traditional rites necessary to send the dead to the land of
the ancestors. In Onicha, people believe that human beings are spiritually
indestructible. They believe that after death, ordinary people become ghosts whereas
prominent individuals become ancestral spirits who will be honoured and
petitioned as invisible leaders of the community.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
In giving honour to the departed, the
people of Onicha spend fortunes to bury their dead. Families have had to spend
huge amounts of money in order to give their dead a befitting burial and
sometimes they have to borrow to do this. All these have serious socio-economic
and religious implications for the people. There is the problem of economic
instability due to huge financial debts incurred during burials by the bereaved
families. It is quite disheartening to note that some families go as far as
disposing of their plots of land and other valuable property in order to give
their dead a decent or befitting burial.
This is done in their bid to meet with
the excessive conditions and demands to cover the cost of expensive burials
which the society generally has imposed on families. Quite disturbing too is the
fact that some families now go a borrowing in order to survive after burial
while some others live almost the rest of their lives paying debts incurred
during burial ceremonies.
Burial ceremonies are also occasions for
enemies to create problems for the mourning family. Moments after the death of
someone, all the associations to which he belonged come with a long list of
debts owed by the deceased. Individuals also come complaining of debts whether
real or imagined owed them by
the deceased. Many a time, the budget presented to the bereaved family by the unwunna
who constitute the burial committee is usually exorbitant and quite beyond the
financial capability of the bereaved family. When they term the deceased erieri
(that is somebody who is stingy or who finds it difficult to spend) they attend
his burial with the evil intention of getting the family purse dried. However,
some of these things are done deliberately as a vendetta against the deceased
but the question is, can the dead offend? Therefore, in view of the
aforementioned problems, we cannot help but ask these few disturbing questions,
are there any justifications for expensive burials? Why is it that people who
are supposed to be sympathizers see burials as an occasion for merriment? What
sort of impact does expensive burials have on families? All these questions
that agitate the mind are questions which we seek to find answers to in this
study.
1.3 Purpose
of the Study
This study shall highlight the
socio-economic and religious implications of burial and funeral rites in
Onicha. We shall look at the impact of expensive burial on families. The
influence of Christianity on traditional burial and funeral rites shall also be
investigated. We shall also try to find out the justifications for expensive
burials whether they should be encouraged or discouraged.
This study shall as well investigate the
seemingly shift of emphasis from mourning and sympathy to entertainment and
merry-making at burial and funeral ceremonies. We
shall try to find out why people eat and drink instead of showing a deep sense
of loss and sympathy for the bereaved family. We shall as well find out how
traditional burial and funeral ceremonies are practised in Onicha and the place
of reincarnation as the basis for funeral ceremonies.
1.4 Scope
of the Study
All over the world, burial and funeral
ceremonies are practised even-though the mode of practice differs from
community to community. In Onicha, physical burial ini ozu is often
accompanied by funeral ceremony ikwa ozu. The focus of this work will be
on the socio-economic and religious implications of burial and funeral
rites in Onicha, Ebonyi State Nigeria. This will cover Onicha sub cultural area
in the present day Ebonyi State. This sub-cultural area is made up of Isu,
Onicha, Oshiri, Abaomege, and Ukawu.
Despite their dialectical differences,
they have common cultural affinity. Their occupation is mainly trading and
farming. They share common boundaries with Ohaozara on the Southwest, Nkanu LGA
of Enugu State on the Northwest, Ishielu on the North, Ezza South on the East.
The traditional religion of Onicha people arose from their belief in deities
and ancestral spirits.
Man is the only creature known to bury
his dead. Consequently, burial and funeral ceremonies form very essential
activities in the socio-religious life of man. It is practised right from time
immemorial not only in Onicha but all over the world. Every man at one time or
the other will eventually face this life crisis situation. It is inevitable and
because man must maintain a balance between him and other hierarchical or
higher beings, a series of death rituals are performed to guard against
unpleasant consequences.
This study will serve as a working
document which seeks to draw the attention of the society towards the need for
attitudinal change because of the devastating impact of expensive burials on
families. The work exposes the impact of Christianity on traditional burial in
Onicha as most of the traditional burial and funeral rites have almost been
replaced by Christian tradition. Most traditionalists get converted to
Christianity shortly before they die or at the point of death with the
intention of breaking away completely from their tradition in order to be
saved. But when they die, the elders who are the custodians of culture struggle
with the clergy over who should bury them.
This work examined the essence of rituals
during burials and funerals which rest on the unified view of reality. It
maintains that the three spheres of the heavens, the earth and the underworld
are in continuous interaction, that
there is a sense of community and a sense of the preservation and enhancement
of life which is the prime value of man.
1.6 Methodology
The methods used for this research work
were oral interviews and participant observation. In this work, primary and
secondary sources of data collection were employed to collect data for this
work. These primary sources include oral interviews and participant
observation. A substantial number of elders and traditionalists who form the
subjects for this study were interviewed on the subject matter. In the course
of this work, the researcher attended some of the burial and funeral ceremonies
in the area of study where he personally witnessed the rites as a participant
observer. The secondary sources such as textbooks, magazines, journals,
newspapers, published and unpublished materials were reviewed to capture
various shades of opinion on the subject matter. The subjects in this study
were mostly illiterates and the few among them who are educated were not
knowledgeable enough to fill in questionnaires. The data collected were
critically analyzed based on cultural area approach.
1.7 Definition
of Terms
Socio-economic:
This is a combination of social and economic factors. In this
case, it means the social and economic effects involved in the practice
of expensive burial and funeral rites.
Religious: This
has to do with the spiritual. It is that which is directly rooted in or
concerned with the mysterious in life i.e the mysteries which are the ultimate depth
of personal life. It is non-physical, non-rational and dynamic. It is
associated with the invisible and intangible in life. In this case, it means
the possible effect or result which expensive burial and funeral rites have on
the religious life of the people.
Implication: This
means a possible effect or result of an action or something suggested or
indirectly involved in a statement. In this case, it means the effect or result
involved in the practice of expensive burial and funeral rites.
Funeral (Ikwa ozu): This
is a ceremony which marks a person’s death. It is carried out as a
second burial or proper burial for the dead. It involves a complex of beliefs
and practices, prayers and rituals used to remember the dead and usually
undertaken in honour of the dead.
Burial (Ini ozu): This
means physical burial, the act of committing a dead body or corpse into
the mother earth.
Rites – According
to Read (2004), Rite is a solemn or religious ceremony performed in an
established or prescribed manner or the words or acts constituting or
accompanying it. It is any formal practice or custom.
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