by Adewale Alabi

If you walked into the den called ‘Religion in Nigeria’, you may be surprised to realise that spirituality is more a facade than a reality in that space. And, one thing that was quite obvious at the beginning of the #EndSARS protest was the deafening silence of religious bodies.

It is an amazing development considering that a large percentage of active members of most churches in large cities are youth. And, as expected, many people within the first few days of the protests immediately called out spiritual leaders for keeping quiet knowing that their most active members were largely affected by police brutality.

Many instances were cited for the silence of the religious houses but Twitter user @onesoundabel made a salient point which was quite interesting. In his tweet he wrote;

“I was talking to my mom about the silence of religious leaders and she said, “they cannot speak on this because they are also responsible for the social profiling that is part of the problem”.

“Imagine a church like Depr L*fe where their entire doctrine is centred on appearance (1)”.

I was talking to my mom abt the silence of religious leaders and she said “they cannot speak on this because they are also responsible for the social profiling that is part of the problem”
imagine a church like D*ep*r L*fe wher their entire doctrine is centered on appearance (1)

— ????? & ??????. ✞ #SARSMUSTEND (@onesoundabel) October 13, 2020

This tweet definitely rings true to a lot of Nigerians who grew up in the 80s and 90s where tattoos, nose piercings and other forms of unconventional ways of life was considered irresponsible and indicative of hooliganism. Nigerian men and women still get frowned upon by religious bodies for having tinted hair in the year 2020 when we boldly accept foreigners with different hair colour.

With all these been said many of the protesters are still ardent members of one faith or the other. So, it is quite pertinent for religious bodies to come out and speak up on the menace because as said earlier the lifeblood of most religious bodies is its young demography.

Some religious leaders were quick to respond while others have remained silent.

Pastor Sam Adeyemi, a Christian pastor was one of the first religious leaders to come forward to support the protest while the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos released a statement supporting the movement on Saturday, October 11, 2020.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, has also come out in support for an end to Police brutality.

But, we still wonder where the other religious bodies and personalities are. Do they care much to join this fight? Or they will only keep praying instead?

ESTER MBATHERA, OKERI NGUTJINAZO and CLEMANS MIYANICWE

WHEN Emma and Moses !Aebeb got married 27 years ago, they vowed that only death would separate them.

Emma contracted Covid-19 and died on 17 September this year in Windhoek.

Due to travel restrictions at the time, !Aebeb and Emma’s family had two choices: to let her be buried by the state in Windhoek in their absence, or to have her cremated and to bury the ashes at a burial site of their choice.

They had 48 hours to decide and finally chose cremation.

“It was a difficult time, but we had to do it. I loved my wife very much and I wanted her to be buried close to me. It was the first time in our family we had someone cremated,” !Aebeb, who is a police inspector, said.

It was not the send-off he had planned for anyone in his family as in the Damara culture, the mourning period is two weeks to allow everyone to come from all over the country.

Emma’s remains were brought to Swakopmund by the undertaker. She was buried at Swakopmund cemetery amongst the people that she loved.

CREMATION AND TRADITION

The novel coronavirus has led to cremation in Namibia gaining momentum in recent months.

This has, however, been met with reservation in many cultures.

Namibia’s only crematorium is situated in the Gammams Cemetery in Pionierspark, Windhoek, which was built in 1975.

Some 17 Covid-19-related cremations have been conducted at Gammams since 14 September.

Alfeus Benjamin, chief executive office of Swakopmund’s muncipality, says there are several reasons why Namibia has only one crematorium.

“There was no demand for such services. Cremation is largely a European concept, which Africans are not amenable to due to their religious and traditional beliefs on how the dead should be sent off to their next life, although burning people dead or alive used to be a practice in many African traditions – even in Namibia,” he says.

Benjamin says town planners may never have regarded crematoriums as a priority.

“Of course, with the development and growth of towns and cities, space for and the cost of burials have become a challenge. The next alternative is cremation. Africans in general regard the use of ‘fire’ as total destruction with no possibility of an afterlife,” he says.

CREMATION PROCESS

Cremation is more affordable than burials and would save burial space.

Wacca Kazombiaze, manager of parks, cemeteries, sports and recreation at the City of Windhoek, says the Gammams crematorium usually runs for three to four days every two weeks.

At present, 20 to 30 cremations take place each month.

He says the code of cremation practice ensures the identity of the cremated person is retained throughout the cremation process.

Kazombiaze says families can pay their respects to their deceased with a grave site or tombstone.

“Ashes can be interred in a niche in the columbarium at the Gardens of Remembrance and sealed with an engraved marble plaque, and can be scattered there as well,” he says.

Ashes may also be collected by the next of kin and kept at home or scattered at a favourite site, he says.

The crematorium uses diesel to cremate bodies with. The proces takes roughly four hours, and the packed ashes are made available on the day after the cremation, accompanied by a cremation certificate.

The deceased is cremated in a coffin, which must be provided by the family and is burnt completely.

Kazombiaze says items like pacemakers and implants are removed from the body before cremation.

RELIGION

Although Namibia is a secular country, 95% of its population are Christian, who mainly bury the remains of their loved ones.

Reverend Lukas Katenda, a religious and moral education lecturer at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (Nets) and International University of Management (IUM), says: “Cremation was adopted by the modern church, yet in the case of infectious diseases, bodies were cremated, but now, cremation is accepted among Christians.”

He believes cremation is not a sin in the Christian faith.

TRADITION

Most tribes in Namibia bury their dead. Burning of people is heard of in Oshikwanyama legend about girls who became pregnant before initiation and were burnt at the stakes.

Although not historically verified, the burning of these girls was believed to be a form of capital punishment.

“Dead people were either hidden or buried [in the Aawambo culture]. Hiding the corpse was a result of superstitious practice in honouring the dead person’s wish that he or she may have given instruction before dying. Another reason was that there were no tools to be used to dig graves, so people carried the corpse to a distant place and hid it there,” Katenda says.

In the Herero culture, the deceased is buried alongside their parents unless they requested otherwise before their death.

A traditional funeral can cost between N$20 000 and N$100 000 or more.

According to the Herero Ombara Otjitambi adviser on traditional affairs, Kavezembi Katjomuise, people of the same family, birth hierarchy and same surname are buried at the same cemetery.

He says this is done so that they do not lose their self-worth, and so that their children will know where their parents are.

Katjomuise says according to Christian beliefs, there is life after death, so when they die, their souls will know where to reunite and stay together.

“For us to cremate is to burn until there is nothing, but we still want the bones to remain. That’s why we bury,” he says.

He says it is important for the deceased’s bones and souls to be together as this gives them the power to watch over their family.

King, Justus of the Damaras, says Damara culture does not allow cremation, but there is no other option during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Even in olden times our elders wrapped a body in a blanket or animal skin and buried it,” //Garoëb says.

Among some Okavango tribes, mourning for days did not exist.

According to Shampapi Siremo, a historian, these tribes wanted to be buried because of the fear of their flesh being devoured by hyenas.

“As for cremation, that has never been considered. Burials for the Okavango people is a sign that you were loved. People are buried at a chosen site, and some in cattle kraals. Traditional leaders are buried in mushy ground so that the floodwaters can wash their graves away to signify their return to the river where they are believed to have come from,” Siremo says.

By Express News Service
VIJAYAWADA: Educationalists, parents and students have welcomed the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to avoid mention of the caste and religion of students in the school attendance register henceforth. School Education Commissioner V China Veerabhadrudu issued a circular in this regard recently. 

“It is brought to the notice of the Director of School Education, AP, that in some schools the details of students’ caste and religion are being mentioned and girl students’ names are being written in red ink in attendance registers,” read the circular.

“In this context, all the officers are hereby requested to issue instructions to the field level functionaries that, not to mention the caste and religion of the students in the attendance register and maintain the attendance register in a uniform manner in the matter,” it added.

Speaking to The New Indian Express regarding his decision, the Commissioner said, “I experienced and observed this from my school days. But at that time, I was helpless. Off late, during our inspection of schools, several parents and grandparents informed us that their children are facing discrimination due to mentioning of their caste in the attendance register. As I am in a position to do something in this regard now, I decided to issue a circular. It is the time to end such discrimination and social inequalities, which are still in vogue at some places.”

Welcoming the decision, Prof Narava Prakasa Rao, State convener of Right to Education Forum, said, “One has to start somewhere. And the people in power are the best ones to take that first step. This decision may not end the caste discrimination in the society immediately. But it will teach the coming generations that one’s ability and intelligence are everything. It will also teach that an individual should be judged on the basis of his/her intelligence and not their caste and religion are the criteria. It helps promote the concept of ‘what’s in a name’. It will also rein in the teachers who encourage caste/religion discrimination. It is good that finally someone has taken the long-pending request seriously to end discrimination on the basis of caste and religion.” 

Parents and students echoed similar views. “More than at home, children spend more time in school. What they see and learn there influence them more than what they see and learn at home. Most of the times teachers are more influential than parents. I hope its effective implementation will help end social discrimination to a great extend,” said K Mrudula, a parent.