TRATAMIENTOS DEL SUELO URBANO Y DE EXPANSION

The debate on the Urhobo traditional burial appeared in the minutes of the DSBC 1996 Annual Session, recorded in the 1997 Book of Reports.630 Pastor A. Ifukor, the secretary of the ‘Wake Keeping and Burial Committee’ reported their findings and recommendations. He listed the disadvantages of wake keeping as,

The dangers inherent in leaving one’s house at the mercy of thieves

The risk of travelling by night and its attendant danger of loss of lives and properties

The colossal waste of funds, time and energy

Exposure to evil machinations by devil towards immoral practices to mention but a few631

The committee recommended ‘the abrogation of night burial ceremony’ and the approval of day burial on Saturdays.632 Nine years later in 2005, the Convetion adopted a similar policy.633 The introduction of this policy however could not eradicate some of the traditional practices. A majority of the Urhobo Baptists refrained from the Urhobo traditional funeral practices ‘officially,’ while still indulging in them ‘unofficially.’634 Members who are bereaved of a non Christian relative viewed it as an obligation to

628 _{Ibid., 7.}

629 _{Erivwo, ‘Establishment of Roman Catholic Mission and Other (non-CMS) Christian Missions in}

Urhobo and Isoko,’ 192.

630 _{Delta State Baptist Conference, Book of Reports and Minutes of the Third Annual Session, 34–35.} 631 _{Ibid., 34.}

632 _Ibid.

633 _{Policies and Practices of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, 1–5. See Appendix 4.}

634 _{The writer uses the terms ‘officially’ and ‘unofficially’ intentionally to show how the Urhobo}

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perform the family duty in the traditional form in the night. Members, who commiserated with them, in one breath, did not attend officially in the name of the church, but in another, almost all the church members attended purely in a personal capacity to identify with the bereaved as church, family or community members. Church members performed the traditional rites at the family compound at the same time with the church burial or later. They kept such away from the pastor and the church, but profoundly derived cultural meaning and relevance from active participation. There were cases where some Baptist church members performed the cultural rites by proxy out of fear.635

Certain portions of the policy that are directly applicable to Urhobo traditional burial system are enumerated below.

There may be no wake keeping for any Baptist member since there is no spiritual benefit derived from it. Where it is observed it should be done only as service of songs.636

All burial ceremonies should end on the day of burial. The third, eighth, fortieth or any other second burial should be abolished.637

Churches should not get involved in internments where fetish practices and elements are introduced.638

The above passages raise the issues of night wake, burial in stages, and ‘fetish practices.’ The policy substitutes the night wake with ‘service of songs,’ out rightly rejects burial in stages and exempts the Baptist church from ‘fetish’ involvement. Thus the policy positively addresses the issue of night wake but did not adequately attend to the other two. It is traditional and customary for the Urhobo to carry out their funeral rites in stages. As indicated in chapter five, Urhobo rites are in processes involving a

635 _{Respondent 4.}

636_{Policies and Practices of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, 3.} 637 _{Ibid., 4.}

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longer period of time in days and months which adequately meet their emotional needs rather than a quick programme which the policy recommended. There is also the problem of ambivalence with policy’s statement on the involvement with the ‘fetish practices and elements.’ Since the policy did not clearly define what it means by ‘fetish,’ the policy enforcement agency in DSBC often equate all traditional Urhobo practices in funeral to ‘fetish practices and elements.’ The policy fails to achieve its stated aim to recognise the ‘context of’ the ‘diverse cultural backgrounds’639 within the NBC but views the whole traditional rite as ‘unchristian’640 and eschews it.

The above weaknesses notwithstanding, the policy rightly identifies certain traditional practices that needed critical appraisal. One major example is stated under the ‘treatment of widows,’

It is observed that some tribes torture women when their husbands die. Such ill treatments may include: the widows are required to sleep on mat, plank or bare floor; be half clothed, forced to eat in broken plates, sleep in the same room with the corpse, drink the corpse-bath-water, shave her head and wear mourning cloth which differentiates them, not to walk in the house, or put in solitary confinement, for certain periods they are not allowed to show sign of smile, seizing the deceased spouse’s property and all other practices that are unchristian. Unfortunately, some sisters-in-law, who are mourning, or widowhood enforcement agents, oppress some of these widows too.641

Out of the listed practices, those of sleeping with the corpse, shaving the head, wearing mourning clothes occur among the Urhobo and will be discussed in chapter nine, sections 9.2 and 9.3. However, it is important to note that the Urhobo culture does not view them as torture. Rather, they are ways of grieving the death of a person that is dearly loved. Nonetheless, when one considers that the practices that are expected of women to mourn their husbands are not equally expected of men concerning their wives,

639 _{Ibid., 1.} 640 _{Ibid., 2.} 641 _Ibid.

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it then indicates a way of the culture treating the women lesser than men. In that wise, the policy could be right to identify it as torture, oppressive and discriminatory. For instance, as mentioned in chapter nine, section 9.3, a widow lies in the opposite direction by the side of the corpse of the husband but the tradition does not require the husband to do same.

The DSBC leaders gave reasons642 that made the Urhobo traditional burial unacceptable to the Baptist denomination. First, the Baptist leaders view the rite of ẹvwe ehun and slaughtering of other goats as ‘pagan’ sacrifices. They added that other practices like shooting of guns to drive away the spirit of the dead and other evil spirits and arming the dead with weapons to fight his/her killers are equally unchristian643 and ‘fetish.’644 A Baptist respondent however views the shooting of guns as signifying important occasions and that the practice is accommodated in Christian burials nowadays.645

Second, they perceive that the social aspect of the night burial is full of unchristian practices like excessive alcoholic drinking and illicit sexual acts. Third, they also consider the social risks such as the possibility for the attack of armed robbers during or after night wakes. Fourth, they recognise the time pressure and the demand that the stretch of the Friday wake keeping, Saturday burial and Sunday church service place on the Christians and the church pastors.646 Fifth the treatments given to widows are seen as torture.647 Sixth, the nature of Urhobo burial is expensive for the bereaved648 and the

642 _{Delta State Baptist Conference, Book of Reports and Minutes of the Third Annual Session, 34.} 643 _{Respondents 12 and 14.}

644_{Policies and Practices of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, 5.} 645 _{Respondent 23.}

646 _{Respondent 3.}

647 _{Policies and Practices of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, 2} 648 _{Ibid., 3}

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demands of emetẹ uvwevwin can be burdensome.649 It is important to examine the historic-theological background of NBC/DSBC in order to adequately understand the bases for its position on Urhobo burial.