… says ‘No one must give condolence gift above one jar of palm wine’
…
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has accented to a new burial law, effective May 14 this year.
Provisions of the new law, according to indigenes, will make burial ceremonies more affordable.
The law stipulates that all communities across the state must have burial grounds; all burial/funeral ceremonies of indigenous deceased persons must be registered with the town union at a fee of N1,500; while erection of billboard, banner or posters of any kind to celebrate deceased persons will attract N100,000 fine, or six months jail term, or both.
Banners showing direction to the venue are, however, exempted, but must not be erected before seven days to the burial and must be removed not later than seven days after the burial date.
The Commissioner for Lands is required by the law to create a state burial ground in every community where rejected corpses and unidentified corpses will be buried, while there will be monitoring and implementation committees, who will be remunerated based on the recommendation of the town union.
The monitoring committee, according to the law, will be responsible for registering all deaths in the town, giving clearance for every burial/funeral ceremony, and submitting records of the implementation of the law to the Department of Town Union and Chieftaincy Matters in the state.
MORE PROVISIONS OF THE LAW
– A corpse must not be deposited in the mortuary or any other place beyond two months from the date of death.
– No blocking of road/street because of burial except with the approval of the appropriate local government authority.
– No wake keep of any kind for any deceased person, while religious activity for the deceased person prior to the burial must end by 9:00 pm; and there must be no food, drink, life band or cultural entertainers during and after religious activity for the deceased person.
– All burial ceremonies must be for one day and the burial services must start not later than 9:00 am and must not last more than two hours, just as no preserved corpse must be exposed for more than 30 minutes from the time of exposition.
– All condolence visits after any burial ceremony, must not exceed one day and no person must give the deceased person’s family a condolence gift exceeding money for one jar of palm wine, one carton of beer and one crate of soft drink.
