Nigeria Funeral Celebration

Nigerian burial ceremonies continue to have its traditional practices regardless of the impact of the new modernized world we live in now. Along with old traditional practices, some of new influences in cultural and social values in Nigeria also impacts the way funerals are performed. The Nigerian culture believes that a person should be buried with the right ceremony to prevent the dead from coming back to haunt the living. “Death means joining the ancestors, and so the deceased must get a good send-off.” So instead of being sad and depressed after a funeral ceremony, we throw a party for the dead after it is respectfully and properly deceased in its grave. According to the article on Nigerian burial traditions, it states, “Families usually organize second burials to ensure the deceased has a peaceful passage to the afterlife.” Instead of just only performing one burial ceremony, Nigerians anticipate continuing celebration for positive energy and spirit. In addition, depending on what age the person died determines how large and massive the celebration should be. Nigerians believe in extravagant funerals so a lot of money and time is put into it. You could only imagine how large a funeral occasion could be for elderly who dies at the age of 80 and on. In the funeral party there many performances from singing, prayers, dancing, and praising to the family of the dead for uplift.  This ensures the people that singing and dancing will, “…improve the chances of the deceased having a successive afterlife.”In the occasion, lots of food is provided for everyone and in the food serving include goat and cow meat.   Just like every other celebrations, the sacrificing of animals occurs from the practices of old traditional culture. In the same article on Nigerian burial celebrations, it says, “…goats and other animals are slaughtered after death and during the funeral.”  On the other hand, the way funerals are celebrated in our current generations is a little different from how it is done today. Since technology has highly impact the globe heavily, off course it will at some point come into contact with the way funerals are celebrated. According to the vol 58 book called, Africa: Journal of International Africa, it explains, “Consequently the dances held during the wake-keeping's are accompanied by modern bands complete with the latest amplifying equipment, electric guitars…the mass media-radio, television and the press-have been incorporated and modern printing presses produce invitations, handbills, posters, and hundreds of passport size photographs of the deceased for the occasion.” The advancement of technology has now more than ever interfere with cultural traditions by making recording and taking data in funerals in Nigeria. This allows them to be able to record and have memory of the occasion.