Nigerian funerals

Nigerian beliefs about death

Nigeria is close to evenly divided: roughly half Muslim and just under half Christian, with a small proportion holding other beliefs or none, and many people combining indigenous practice with Islam or Christianity. Islam is dominant in the north west and north east; Christianity in the south west, south east and south south.

That division is the single most useful thing to know, because the two frames pull in opposite directions. Islamic practice calls for a swift, simple burial. Southern Nigerian practice, particularly Igbo and Yoruba, treats a proper and often costly burial as an obligation owed to the person who has died.

Nigerian funeral ceremonies

Among the Igbo, death is a transition rather than an end, and the standing of the person who has died in the land of the dead is understood to depend partly on whether their family gave them a fitting burial. Even someone who lived an exemplary life may be held not to qualify as an ancestor without one.

That belief drives both the scale and the delay: money and family must be assembled first. Christian funerals in Nigeria commonly take place within about three weeks. A further, later rite may follow much afterwards – among the Esan of Edo State this is Itolimin, the final act of the burial process, through which the eldest son assumes his father’s role.

Nigerian funeral etiquette differs between north and south and between peoples, so ask the family. Here's what to expect:

• Aso ebi: Matching cloth bought by family, friends and well-wishers to wear at a funeral. Yoruba in origin, now used across Nigeria.
• Oriki: Yoruba praise epithets of the person who has died, recited by professional dirge singers.
• Umuada: Among the Igbo, the daughters of a lineage, who oversee how a funeral is conducted.
• Age grade: A traditional peer cohort with a formal role at a funeral.
• Itolimin: Among the Esan of Edo State, the final act of the burial process, through which the eldest son assumes his father's role.
• Second burial: A later final funeral rite. In some Igbo communities a widow's reintegration is tied to it.
• Iwolefu: Among the Remo Yoruba of Ikorodu, a traditional funeral-insurance arrangement making burial costs a communal responsibility.
• Ebi and idile: Yoruba: family and lineage. The units that traditionally bear the cost of a burial.
• Janazah: The Muslim funeral prayer, led by an imam.
• Iddah: In Islamic law, the widow's waiting period of four months and ten days.

The cost of a Nigerian funeral in the UK depends a great deal on which tradition your family follows. A Muslim burial is swift and simple. A southern Nigerian Christian funeral is usually larger, later and more elaborate, and the cost is traditionally borne by the lineage rather than by one household, so it may be met collectively or through a funeral-insurance arrangement. Repatriation to Nigeria carries its own requirements, including embalming, and its own cost. Where a further funeral is held in Nigeria, that is a second event to plan for. Your local Dignity funeral director can talk you through everything that is included, and the costs.

At Dignity, we’re here to support families of every culture. We can arrange African, Caribbean, Jamaican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Irish and Spanish funerals, and funerals for people of every faith and none. Contact your local funeral director to talk about what your family needs.