a tale of two streets

It is rush hour in the central business district of Lagos sees everyone busy with the routine of the day. So are the undertakers who sit patiently in the usual waiting game along Odunlami and Igbosere Streets. Many might frown on this inertia but it has definitely been profitable for them as their present locations have become a coffin capital within the metropolis.
From innocuous beginnings as typical streets in what is now a Central Business District, both lanes have become synonymous with the undertaking business and coffins which are entwined with the history of the area. You might be forced to call it a highway to heaven when you realise that a vast majority of the locally-made and imported coffins that have been used, and will be used by deceased Lagos residents come from this domain that has become a thoroughfare for getting to the Third Mainland Bridge.
This realisation packs zero gloom for the proprietor of Ramos Caskets Alade Isiaka Ramos takes me down memory lane. He is an old hand having trained at the Magbamowo Industrial Company which has morphed into MIC caskets, and is also the proprietor of his personal business which has been running for forty years.
“Back then it was owned and managed by Theophilus Oladipo Okusanya, but he was not the first person here. There was also Mobolaji Bank-Anthony whose shop was in front of the High Court, Pa Johnson and a woman from Badagry who took over the business from the dad of the current Oba of Akran who used to operate at Kakawa before he went to take the throne that his son is presently occupying.”
With various versions of who sowed the seeds of the coffin trade in the area, there is no agreement, but an accord is reached when it comes to training as most of those interviewed are products of Theophilus Oladipo Okusanya. From his early beginnings as a maker of Church pews, he moved to the business and trained a multitude of acolytes on 17 Odunlami Street. They later graduated and own shops on the street where it all began.
“My parents could not send me further,” added Ramos. “I had the interest so once I got back from Holy Cross which was my primary school, I would go there. I was a street boy then but earned little money which was useful when I finished primary school. I was there for six years before setting up my own company and I currently have children who have graduated as doctor and lawyers.”
Like Ramos, others who have tapped from the gains of the business attest to the changes in the whole trade. Starting as a street with a sprinkling of undertakers and early tags of Coffin Makers Area, it has all changed, just like the coffin-maker tag which has also been replaced by undertaker.
But this has not replaced views on the rigour of casket-making process with many attesting to the effort a befitting one. With a range of activities involved, it is not a one-man affair as disclosed by the manager of Time Caskets Taiwo Daudu.
“All the coffins are a division of labour but the fittings are imported. It might take a week or more to make caskets and demand determines what we make. You can choose from a range but we import the metal ones.”
These are gotten from abroad due to the cost implications and the whole attitude towards coffins is not of a proactive dimension as it is in foreign countries. Many would rather have nothing to do with it until the passage of a loved one, or when they have to use it. A view which is most of the undertakers call unnecessary since the process of assembling them is similar to that of furnishings.
“The casket is just like another piece of furniture,” argues Sanni Adeniran of Kafsan Caskets. “The rudiments as construction, finishing, polishing and the salesmanship angle are things you must learn.”
Requests have definitely played their part in nurturing the undertaking business as importation which used to be a fad has been joined by a range of diverse activities and an adoption of marketing principles over the years. These services include sale of clothes for the corpse, provision of band boys and others exuding a TQM (Total Quality Management) angle with emphasis on satisfying customer needs.
“There was nothing like that in the seventies,” recalls Saheed Akintunde of Ebony Caskets. “It was later that we started providing people to carry the coffins including the band boys and vehicles.”
Ebony Caskets is another heavyweight of the area located on Igbosere Street.
Established in the eighties, it also exudes the stylish angle to burying clients, and apart from the provision of the coffin, pall bearers and flowers, even the archetypal hearse is gradually making way to intimidating vehicles that a corpse might have been unable to ride during its lifetime. Repatriation also seems to be an innovation that ensures the undertaker service transcends local dimensions. With a glut of such services, demand is elastic, and comes with the usual competition belying the solidarity exuded by the inhabitants.
“You need to use what you want to get what you want,” says the production manager of Peak Caskets. Everybody wants to survive and you might get an offer when you need money.”
Price harmonisation is a general dream, but it is hard as there seems to be no union, or a semblance of it in place. While most rave about the existence of an Association of Funeral Undertakers and Coffin Makers Association, others like Fashola Okusanya, another product of the Magbamowo Industrial Company who left his brother to establish Fash Undertakers is oblivious of such. But they remain upbeat since a coffin will always be used in the short of long term.
“If you make a casket, someone eventually has to use it even if it stays outside for decades but you have to realise that some are even afraid to touch or come near it and you see them cringing once they even sight one,” Okusanya said.
The kids have a swell time playing in them though. Some even fall asleep in them according to the undertakers. It is this innocence the undertakers apply to their production despite the stigma attached to it, and fortunately their products seem immune to CBD officials and thieves.
“The best the CDB people do is to tell us to move the caskets off the road, but they do take them to their office like they do the products of other people,” added the undertaker. “Most of our caskets even stay outside overnight and cannot be stolen because the fear is there.”
Another emotion common to all undertakers is sympathy. Amidst their needs for perpetual succession and sale of their wares, Okusanya mentioned a human angle belying their profession.
“I don’t feel happy when my coffins are bought for people that die at a tender age. Even if the person is 40-years, due to that line, when they come and you go to do the funeral, you will not feel happy. What you are supposed to do is not even possible because they will be crying, but if the person was aged, it is better. I don’t pray for it.”
It is hard for many of the undertakers to imagine further novelties, but having survived this long, they patiently wait for further innovations.

A DAY AT THE MUSEUM

The car looks okay amidst some bullet holes and broken glass. The windscreen at the back is gone, but the coat of arms is still keeping faith with the dark vehicle balanced on wooden stands. It rekindles memories of a dark day in February when death whisked away the then head of state General Murtala Mohammed. I am very familiar with the tale and remain undecided about skipping the session with the an education officer whom the Museum head Ibironke Ashaye instructs to lead me on the tour, but she insists, and it seems to be another history lesson as Antonia Adewunmi Wiliams leads me into the latest home for the car that was conveying the head of state to work on February 13, 1976 before it was besieged by gun-toting coup plotters.
For a Thursday afternoon, I am surprised to be the only visitor, but I am told a pottery exhibition was opened the previous day before by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation. He was also one of the numerous visitors to the structure tagged Nigerian Government’s of Yesterday and Today.
As we enter the air conditioned interior, it is not just the bullet riddled Mercedes Benz 230.6 that catches my fancy as other signifiers of Nigerian nationalism adorn the green wall. Initial pictures include those of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Akitoye of Lagos and the Emir of Kano.
“Lord Lugard was the one who amalgamated the North and South Protectorate, she rattles on, and it sounds too familiar, but I soak it in like a sponge as she leads me round. The pictures do say a lot as images of Nigerian Governor-General’s end with one where the Union Jack is lowered- an end to colonialism, and the commencement of the images with Sir Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikiwe trigger memories of the First Republic.
Military rule commences with the usual characters spread over eight regimes. There is Aguiyi Ironsi and Gowon in his prime. The picture of the youngest head-of-state till date sees him balanced on a seat replete in his military regalia. His portrait is next to that of General Murtala Mohammed whose chubby cheeks and solid visage is admirable. This makes a change from the twenty naira image.
“The car started the whole idea of the structure,” adds my host. “It was formerly around that area, but we moved it here and it was commissioned yesterday (September 1) by the minister of Tourism, Culture and National orientation Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed. We moved the car here since the former place was not befitting for it. Also the coup was not successful as Obasanjo took over while the coup plotters were brought to book,”
A picture with Dimka being led away in chains with a grin on his face brings back memories of school days spent poring over Nigerian history. Most of the actors in this script have gone, but the Mercedes Benz 230.6 that used to convey the head of state on his official duties remains. It would not turn heads like it did in 1976, but its current state ends numerous tales on its state as the limousine retains an intimidating aura while the red leather upholstery and flags triggers memories of what used to be.
The bullet holes stick out with a horrifying clarity and I am told the driver also passed away. “Murtala’s ADC survived though. He (Murtala) was just there for six months and apart from Ernest Shonekan .I think he was the head of state that stayed shortest,” infers Williams.
I count about ten bullet holes which are discernible on the side-mirrors, left side of the car and parts of the passenger seats have also been ripped by hot lead. A new set of visitors have arrived, but the guide continues her tale on military coups which are punctuated by the Shonekan era and a shout of “Uncle Sege” by one of the visitors.
“Maintaining the car takes a lot and you need a constant AC to keep it going,” my chaperone continues. “The engine is still intact and the tyres are also new after a fresh set were donated by Michelin.”
Most of the pictures come in black & white and end with a portrait of President Goodluck Jonathan and that of his vice Namadi Sambo. The wall is devoid of any more space to hang pictures, but she says the museum is ready for further changes in government. With the re-commissioned haven being a temporary one, the plan is to have a permanent venue that will accommodate the size of its visitors.
“We have an average like 30 coming here to look at it daily, but when school children come here, we have around 200.”
Cool,” I reply. As a schoolboy I never visited the museum, but it is good to know that the kids can be acquainted with the real thing other than pictures in some mote-covered textbook lying in the school library.
“Most of them ask about Murtala, Obasanjo and Lugard. The also want to know about the coat of arms because they need it for social studies, government etc. It is not the main attraction but attracts a lot of people.”
With centenary celebrations of Nigerian independence around the corner, the museum is set for a large contingent of visitors who will want to feed their eyes.
“What if you get a buyer for the car? I joke.
“It is not for sale,” my guide replies with a grin. “If we were not passionate about it we would just abandon it.” The car is still intact and the museum head was upbeat about this artefact even if most visitors seemed indifferent to it.
“We still have many pictures that are not there, but by the time we complete the new building, everything will be in place,” Ashaye enthused.