NIGERIANS AND OUR WEIRD PRIORITIES

So on the 8^th of December 2012, I attended the burial ceremony of a fellow staff member’s father. I normally don’t go to burials but the guy is a good man and is very friendly and helpful to almost everyone so I had to go.

The father had been dead since February 6^th 2012 but because of lack of funds had not been able to bury him. We even had to donate money for him when the proposed date for the burial was approaching and were able to raise about 200, 000 naira.

I honestly don’t know where his dad has been all this while and didn’t really think about the whole issue until a friend brought up a valid point. Why would he keep his dad for so long in the mortuary? The answer is because he wanted to do an ‘elaborate’ ceremony. He also made me understand that we as a department were also having our priority all wrong. We had by donating for a frivolous thing had encouraged the trend of not focusing on what really matters.

As I watched the burial ceremony on that day (my first Akwa ibom burial) and saw how the guy was dancing and acting, I had to agree with my friend. We, Nigerians need to focus on what is important. It wouldn’t have made the man less dead if they had had a small ceremony. It won’t mean they didn’t value him if they had made it low key. They didn’t need to keep him in a mortuary for over 10 months (I am sure the mortuary owners would have heaved a sigh of relief when they came to take the body). Everything that was done was so that people would not talk or to impress people.

I am strange in the fact that I don’t give a hoot what people think about me. I have learned that by doing that you allow people to live 2 lives at your expense i.e. they live their own and yours too. So I really don’t see why he couldn’t just bury the guy earlier without all the unnecessary pomp. But then with all what I am learning about Akwa ibom people, I guess he had no choice. Akwa Ibom people care a lot about what their family people or village people say or do. Can you imagine if a girl is to be married; the intending groom must pay an amount to almost every group in the village: the grandmothers and their family, the youths, the elders and a lot of unnecessary people.

Considering my own family background, I think that is a whole load of baloney! What is the settlement of all those people that never cared how the girl was faring all this years? But hey! different strokes for different folks. So I guess unto each person his own ways.

What do you think guys? Am I weird or did I tell it as it is or should be. I would love to read your comments on today’s write up.

Love ya  guys,

Petite Diva.