For Lagos funeral parlours, life in death
Apart from acute housing shortage, the huge population of Lagos means that considerable pressure is brought upon public and social infrastructure particularly health facilities. Thus, the huge population of Lagos has created a big market for scores of funeral homes (funeral parlors) and hundreds of undertakers existing in Lagos. A funeral home or mortuary is […]
Apart from acute housing shortage, the huge population of Lagos means that considerable pressure is brought upon public and social infrastructure particularly health facilities. Thus, the huge population of Lagos has created a big market for scores of funeral homes (funeral parlors) and hundreds of undertakers existing in Lagos.
A funeral home or mortuary is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services, according to Weekly Trust investigations, include prepared wake and funeral and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
According to Mr. Olayiwola Akande, the manager of Last Line Funeral Service at Ogba area of Lagos, funeral homes arrange services in accordance with the wishes of families and the deceased. He said a funeral home often takes care of the necessary paperwork, permits and other details, such as making arrangements for the cemetery and providing obituaries to the news media, all depending on the financial capacity of the family of the deceased.
Akande who said he has been in the business for 15 years un-interrupted, explained that being an undertaker is what he like doing most. “I was unemployed for years after I graduated but there was a day I had an opportunity of visiting the mortuary section of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in company of friends to collect the remains of their departed father. My friend whose father died could not enter the mortuary because he was afraid. I joined the few who summed up courage to enter the place and while inside the mortuary, I saw lifeless bodies. We searched for a while before we could get the remains of the old man and the rest is story.
As an undertaker, Akande said he is always busy with his employees, particularly at weekends when a deceased is brought to the funeral home. “We start work on a deceased by embalming it to delay decomposition. The typical embalming procedure involves replacement of the blood of the deceased with a mixture of preservative chemicals and dyes, separating of the internal organs, and the setting of the person’s features.
“The use of makeup to make a person look more lifelike is often employed. If the deceased was disfigured from an accident or illness, the embalmer can sometimes utilize restorative techniques to make the body presentable for an open casket service. If the embalmer is unable to do so, or if the family requests otherwise, the funeral home can perform a closed casket service”, he narrated.
The undertaker added that funeral homes often set aside one or more large areas for families to gather at a visitation before taking the deceased for final burial. This area may contain a space to display the deceased in the casket for visitors to pay their respects. Funeral services and memorial services may also take place at the funeral home. Many funeral homes also offer pre-arrangement services for those who wish to prepare their own funeral services before death, he said.
On clients, Akande explained that his organisation networks through associations, clubs and friends to get work. Although, he admitted that most of the jobs he handles come mostly from sales of coffin. “Those who purchase coffins from our shop located at strategic areas of the city are the major source of getting funeral services for the deceased. The business is competitive because there are quacks who have infiltrated the system making it tough to gain as many as one would have loved to but we thank God that we would not be idle because the market is big and everybody likes to give a befitting burial to their departed loved ones,” he said.
Mr.Tunji Okusanya is the man behind MIC Royal Limited, one of the leading funeral service providers in Lagos. Okusanya said this business was not started by him but his father who sells coffin to make a living. “I learnt the business from my father. He was actually a cabinet maker who was involved in making different kinds of furniture including coffins while I was young. I have re-discovered the business faster because I developed interest in it, added meaning to it and change, the business formerly perceived as a doom business to what many people, including graduates are rushing into today,” he said.
Speaking on the challenges of being an undertaker and running a funeral parlor, Okusanya will not agree there is any challenge that is not surmountable. In his own words; he said “you see every job is a new challenge. I try to be in every funeral we provide service for but I cannot be everywhere. But I do not see each funeral as the same. Each funeral carries a different meaning to the different families we cater for. They carry different meanings for them and so it is for us too.”
He stressed further that his company used to try to tailor its services to suit the individual needs and that takes some efforts. “There are times when the clients require customized caskets and we do that for them. So, we take every job with seriousness because we are not just doing a job, we are treating the deceased with the same honour by the family members,” he emphasized.
On competitors who do the city, the undertaker explained that he really does not spend his time on watching competitions believing everyone should just focus on his business and seek to develop. “There is enough market for all undertakers and funeral parlours in Lagos. The only problem comes when some people try to copy other’s designs and concepts. They only become number two and they water down the standards. They give substandard service and products and reduce the business values they actually stand for. I just try to develop my business and seek ways to improve. Like our pall bearing service, it is a fully customized process; we try to tailor the occasion to the people’s tradition. If you are from the north, we dress like northerners, sing their songs; if you come from Calabar area of the country, we fashion ways to what will suit you.
Meanwhile, the few undertakers spoken to by our correspondent admitted there is much to live on in the business but emphasis was laid on professionalism. According to Okusanya, one needs to be innovative always to be ahead of competitors. “You see, to succeed in business you have to keep developing and breathing professionalism. These make us stand out. In fact, most of our customers are people refereed to us by others,” he said with pride.
Chief Deinde Olowu who runs a funeral parlor in Ikeja, describes the business as a gold mine, provided the undertaker is a professional. In his own opinion, a good funeral home ought to be an establishment that demonstrates professionalism, dignity and compassion while conforming with the highest standards of care for the deceased.
He said the business has continued to grow because people now cherish the need to give a departed soul due honor. “Competition in the business is high nowadays and every undertaker has been introducing one new thing or the other to make his company attractive apart from sensitizing members of the public about what a real funeral service entails.
A good undertaker has to be committed to providing total quality service, maintaining confidentiality and respect for the deceased and privacy for the clients’ families.
“At our organisation, our first responsibility as a dedicated funeral service establishment is to the families we serve. We are committed to providing clients’ families with courteous service, high standard of performance and excellence which serves as the hallmark of the funeral industry,” he said.
Findings revealed that though there are hundreds of funeral parlors in Lagos, but not all of them are professionals. There are those who engage in the business to survive and there are others who are well established to the extent of operating a private morgue and cemetery. The fact remains that in Lagos, provision of funeral services through funeral parlors has become a multi-million naira business and the undertakers are smiling to banks, finding vibrant life in death.