In Bayelsa, King of the Dead tells his story

‘The only property that I have is my body’Tadaferua Ujorha who was in Otuasega Banono Donald, a 29 year old school leaver,  may be called the Lion of Otuasega. Some would say that he is a ‘madman’, the queer one, the eccentric, or they may hail him as the genius of Kolo Creek. Like a […]

‘The only property that I have is my body’
Tadaferua Ujorha who was in Otuasega

Banono Donald, a 29 year old school leaver,  may be called the Lion of Otuasega. Some would say that he is a ‘madman’, the queer one, the eccentric, or they may hail him as the genius of Kolo Creek. Like a Lion he is rather hairy, and after the fashion of a Lion he does not lack the courage to act.  His thick beard inspires people to call him ‘Bear Bear man’, a common reference to a bearded person, and the rich mass of hair on his head is akin to a lion’s mane. To others, the thick dark hair is simply a natural crown which confirms his genius, and is illustrative of a fertile spirit. He tells this reporter that he sometimes has powerful dreams. So people call him ‘Man of God’.  Others adore him as the ‘strongest medicine man’.
To others he is, strangely, the ‘Living Ghost’. Banono, who would like to study Theatre Arts, is surrounded by a galaxy of names, readily proferred by a cheering or sneering community.  On April 18,  this year, Banono Donald  gathered the people of Otuasega, a neglected  Ijaw speaking,  oil producing  community in Bayelsa state,  to celebrate his  funeral.
Courage of a lion
This was unprecedented because he has certainly  not passed on yet, and most people expect a death to occur first,  before a funeral holds. This is the normal course of funerals, but Banono would have none of that. He has reversed a human rite by holding his funeral in advance of his actual passing.  He seems to be inquiring into how right   these rites are? Why should people spend huge sums of money at the funeral of a man who was extremely poor while alive? People should show such love to the man while he is alive, rather than wait to display their great love at his funeral, he seems to argue. Poverty and joblessness have combined to remove any veils that initially lay across his eyes. His funeral is a sign that he may be more alive than the people in his environment, and it took a funeral to draw attention to his living intuitions.  A classic example of life streaming out of death.Banono’s funeral, which is at the same time a powerful social statement, belongs to a mode of critical thinking  which aims at toppling conventions which have expired or are outmoded.  Months after the funeral, the community is still in a state of shock. Unlike other communities in the country,  Otuasega has a constitution, but the moulders of the constitution never foresaw or anticipated that a son of Otuasega would one day hold his funeral before his physical death. The constitution itself may be due for a review, especially as this regards funerals. Raised eyebrows, and shy smiles confront the subject of this article, as he walks through his community when Weekly Trust visits.
Root of the funeral
On the reasons for organizing his funeral, Banono Donald   tells Weekly Trust ‘Many of us here find it difficult to cope with this life, together with the agonizing daily search   for food to eat. Then there are the sicknesses that occur from time to time. There is also the abundant joblessness in the area. I am not receiving any support from my relatives. I wanted those monies that they will spend on me when I am dead, to be spent on me while I am still alive.’ He  points to the   array  of  oil firms, and  gas and oil pipelines which criss- cross Otuasega.He cannot understand the shocking paradoxes that have come to govern his life. These are the stunning images of great wealth on one hand symbolized by oil wells, oil companies, and pipelines, and  the  awesome  and bewildering  poverty on the other which he epitomizes.Then there is the  oppressive  weight of tradition to contend with. According to him he is quite irritated by the prevailing custom of people spending large sums of money at funerals.
These are monies which could have aided the departed when he was alive.  His words ‘Sometimes when people die, the townspeople donate money to buy cows, rice, and drinks to grace the occasion, and they do all this when the person is dead. So in my perception the best time for one to be buried is therefore the moment when the person is still alive’. He ends ‘I asked them to  donate the monies they will give me when I am dead, so that I could use it to start a business. Its unfortunate the people misunderstood my motives, and felt that I will use the money to join a society, and later hurt them. That  was not my thinking.Even some of those that came to the funeral, were afraid of eating and drinking’.
‘I was tired of life’
He adds that people did not donate monies as much as he had anticipated. His words’ I was tired of life.There  is no kind of business I have not done. Its as though the Almighty has abandoned me. Nothing is working for me. So I took the decision one day to end my life. So I went to the cybercafé and asked the operator to print out my obituary. The man did it,and I pasted it from here (Otuasega) right up to  Yenagoa. People said I was beginning to go mad, and they came to my parents to report the matter. My mother asked my younger brother to go and remove the posters’. He has also reflected long and deeply on human attitudes towards death, and he is aware of certain absurdities too. His words ‘When you say that you want to die, people that want you to die will come out to donate various amounts. I have seen that that is the business here in Bayelsa state. People quickly went and hired the musical instruments that were used on the occasion.’ He says that his parents went to church and prayed intensely when they heard of his proposed funeral, and even fell ill  from drinking too much  Olive Oil which the Pastor had given them.
‘King of the dead’
The Paramount ruler of Otuasega was opposed to the funeral, while the Deputy Paramount Ruler was present at the event, he tells Weekly Trust. His words’ The paramount Ruler was afraid that I was going to overthrow him. Majority of the townspeople and outsiders came to the funeral, which was attended by well over 5,000 persons. I cannot even recognise even one person out of those who were present.’ He describes his funeral in the following words ‘At a point I sat on top of the vehicle so that the crowd could see me. The ecstatic crowd then pronounced me ‘King of the Dead,’ he says with some excitement in his eyes. He adds ‘Later some began to call me ‘Dead Alive’and ‘King of Evil’.  They sang and sang before the time of the actual burial. When the youths realised that I actually wanted to be buried alive, they instantly destroyed the casket. I lay in the casket for some thirty minutes before this time. Then I asked that the lid be closed, so that I could be taken to the cemetery. At this point the youths put down the casket and ran, and I was removed from the casket.’ He actually wanted to be buried alive to put an end to all the misery. But the youths halted that quiet hope, or so it seems. However, his name Banono means ‘Let this one live’. It doesn’t seem that   he will die yet, if indeed his name does give promise of longevity.
A kidney for sale
Today, Banono Donald is seriously thinking about a new option. Though he doesn’t have land, he is not without an option. Therefore, he doesn’t mind selling any of his body organs to willing persons, if this would earn him some money to live on. The need to survive inspires him to look at his body, his only earthly property, as he puts it, and to proceed to atomise or parcel it out in various bits, for a just cause. His words ‘I don’t mind selling one of my Kidneys to survive. Some people need a tooth, an ear, or an eye, I am prepared to sell any of these organs. ‘He adds quite frankly ‘I am also willing and ready to sell my tongue. Some people’s intestines are not in order. I am ready to sell mine. There’s nothing in my body that’s so important’. He comments on efforts he has made in this regard ‘I have gone round the hospitals to sell any part of my body that people need. I don’t have property that I can sell. The only property that I have is my body.’ On Religion, he has slightly unorthodox ideas. His words ‘I didn’t grow up going to Church. I never went to the Mosque. My parents went to the Church, as well as my brothers and sisters.’ I  want to die a sinner, but  I don’t want to commit sin against humanity. I know the Almighty exists, but He has abandoned me, so I decided to make my way(die)’. He tells this reporter that when he finally dies, he ‘just wants to be put in a hole in the ground’, since his funeral has already been done. For that future event, he just wants a simple ceremony, devoid of money or merry making since this has already taken place.
‘Its ok’
Chika Alioha, a student of the Imo State University, and Banono’s neighbour , comments on his funeral in the following words ‘I was a little bit surprised ,but then this is what he decided to do. So, many of us decided to support him .But I have never heard anything like that before. I really wanted to see what it would look like when somebody is celebrating his own death. It was wonderful, and it was like a real burial. You can imagine a person who is being buried celebrating with other people. There were canopies, a wake keeping and music, an eight day mourning period, and clergy men were present, which is just as it is done here during a normal funeral. I don’t really go to funerals, but I was present at this one. What he did was o.k. If you are alive, you can celebrate your death and get some money, for when you die, you won’t get anything’. Chief Taylor Okilo was opposed to the funeral. Speaking generally, he says ‘The community did not support the idea of Banono’s funeral. It is not part of our custom for a man to hold his funeral before he dies. I must say that no responsible man from the community attended the funeral. It’s an event that should be condemned’.
No…yes!
Violet Aku   Dorgu is Banono’s mother. She was initially shocked at her sons decision. According to her ‘A person who is alive cannot organize his own funeral. Since he refused to obey me, I eventually allowed him to do what he wishes. Even his stepfather told him not to celebrate his funeral, but he refused.’ Initially, she did not want to be present at the funeral, but people adviced her to make herself available. She rationalized this by saying ‘In the culture it is good for the mother to be present at her child’s burial.’ Then she also had to steel herself from the cynical tongues of townspeople who spoke of nothing else for weeks. 
Chief Aku Dorgu, Banono’s step father was stunned when he heard of his sons intentions. His words’ I was shocked when I heard of what he was planning to do. I cautioned him by saying that since I was born, I had never heard nor seen such. However, when he explained that it is better to clelebrate  while you are alive,so you can see the sympathizers, and those that donate generously, then we bought the idea’. Thus from a position of shock and dismay, Chief Aku Dorgu supported his son wholeheartedly ‘because when you are dead, you won’t know who loves you’.
‘You can’t fault his logic’
Jenkeri Zakari Okwori, a Professor of Participatory Communication, Department of Theatre and Performing Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was    in Otuasega on some Advocacy work in Community Theatre, when he met Banono Donald. He comments thus’ I find him to be a very intellectual person, who has a pragmatic reaction to reality.’ On  Banono’s unique response  to reality,and  the reaction  of society, he says ‘The way society is composed, people around will  view you as abnormal, when you step aside from the normal.We  are constructed by our society to be timid, and to condone our lives. When you see someone who steps out of timidity, to confront reality, most of us will see him as abnormal’. Zeroing in on the roots of the funeral, he says ‘When you examine the reasons behind what he has done, you cannot fault his logic, because what he has done others may have thought of, but never had the courage to do. People discuss the way others lavish moneys at funerals, and when people die they become the darling of everybody.
All of us are conscious of that analysis, and he is different and has taken action about it. ‘He identifies three principal symbolisms in what Banono has done.’ ‘First, in physical terms the funeral would   generate some money for him. Second, it would draw attention to the plight of people of his part of the country who have no jobs. Also, it highlights the way society has misplaced its values. For instance,if  you can pay so much money on the dead, why has society not thought of doing same for the person who is alive?’
‘He’s not a madman’
Abubakar Umar Kari of the Department of Sociology, University of Abuja, comments on the nature of funerals in the African community. His words ‘A funeral is a universal custom and every community has its own way of doing a funeral. What usually differs is in its detail. That is the specific way in which members of a community may bury their dead. Among some societies   a funeral is a very expensive business. Some communities settle for simple funerals. Some do it lavishly, because to them a funeral is a celebration of life. In their concept, death is a celebration of life, and depending on the age, class or position of the deceased, death should be celebrated lavishly and it is usually done in this way.
‘He also identifies a bit of irony in the whole character of such funerals when he states ‘Your family spends lots of money in burying the dead, than in treating those who are sick or bedridden, and this is really an irony. It is possible that Banono is protesting such values that some see as outdated, and which is not in harmony with current trends. It seems to me that he wanted to expose the outrageous nature, or absurdity involved in spending more in burying the dead, rather than in treating the sick. He adds that Banono Donald should not be dismissed as a ‘madman or an anti-social person’, but  says that his desire to sell his body parts to raise money  ‘is ‘not in harmony with any kind of socio–cultural value’.’
Banono Donald was born on October 3 which means that he is Libra, and Librans have a strong sense of justice. Burials are and ought to be a solemn moment, which is very important for the one who has passed on. By celebrating his recent funeral and witnessing it, Banono Donald would seem to have tilted the scales in favour of less lavish, spiritually uplifting and simple funerals, as well as a kind thought for the jobless in Otuasega, even if society may not entirely agree with his methods.