Living off the dead should ordinarily be a condemnable act. But
what happens if the dead choose to feed the living? Or how do you
categorise those whose means of livelihood is completely built on
providing comfort for the dead and doing so isn’t just a favour but a
business venture which generations have profited from and many to come,
will ultimately live on.
Odunlami Street is Island’s Coffin Street and its history is as rich as any other business conglomerate.
Over 50 years ago, there was a carpenter. He lived at No. 9
Odunlami Lane. He had ideas about the dead. His generations have lived
off the ‘deadly’ ideas. Others who also saw ‘the light’ are making a fortune off his vision. His name was Pa. Olatunji Okusanya. Does the name ring any bell?
Odunlami street as the homestead of funeral rites business dates
back to the 1960s. Now, it plays host to contemporary undertakers and
funeral service providers, mostly for the elite and the
crème-de-la-crème in Nigerian society. The only business known to the
street is ‘death’ business.
Generational businesses also have a way of creating special
identity, including geographical identity. Apart from looming large in
the consciousness of target customers, many have also gone ahead to
occupy physical space which now carries their emblem.
Mention Wall Street in New York and global commerce immediately
fills your vision. In recent times, however, the name conjures more
negatives, with the operators of the popular street carrying the cross
of troubling global trade.
What about Broad Street on Lagos Island? It is Nigeria’s equivalent of Wall Street. It is ramping up its own notoriety too.
You can actually call Lagos Island the warehouse of the state’s
history. Nearly everything that defines the state, resides there; the
mighty Dodan Barracks of ‘blessed’ memory, the famous Defence House and the former and abandoned sky-scrapping Federal Secretariat.
Interestingly just across Broad Street where men in suit (more like
crime-in-suit now) strive to live off fellow men, is another kind of
commerce, where men are living off the dead.
Okusanya’s influence
However, in Nigeria, someone had the vision during the
post-independence era to provide the services of undertaker and
casketing as a professional. Pa Okunsanya, according to a resident who
simply identified himself as Tope, specialised in crafting fine caskets
from woods with touches of finesse” This attracted several people within
the community to learn the trade of casket making. He had promoted
entrepreneurship by engaging several apprentices and trained them in the
art of making caskets. He said many of these people later became his
competitors.
Shedding more light on the historical background of Odunlami Street
as a foremost home to exotic caskets, in a chat with Saturday Tribune,
Dare, Sales and Marketing Manager, Omega Funeral, also concurred with
the fact that the late Pa Okunsanya made famous the business of casket
making.
Generational shift
He however emphasised that the late Olatunji Okusanya, the son of
Pa Olatunji Okusanya, modernised the art of making exotic caskets and
funeral services, including introduction of undertakers.
Modernisation of business of casket making later spread across the
country starting from areas like Surulere, Mushin, Ajah and Gbagada and
now in every part of the country.
Today, if you mention ‘Odunlami Street’, what comes to mind is
homestead of funeral homes. Exotic caskets and modern funeral services
would also readily come into the picture. At present, Odunlami Street
can boast of leading funeral service providers in the country. Many
funeral directors have earned and will continue to earn their living on
the street of Odunlami.
Spirit visitations
To satisfy the curiosity behind some beliefs that concentration of
casket makers and funeral service providers at Odunlami Street may have
some spiritual effects, Dare stated that “it was just a coincidence
that we may have the largest concentration of casket makers at a
particular street when compared with other regions. It wasn’t by any
design or by any policy by the government but because most people doing
the business here today were tutored by Pa Okusanya.”
A receptionist in one of the funeral service companies, Mr. Dapo
Durojaiye, gave an insight into the cost of various caskets mostly
influenced by tribes.
He said the price of locally-made caskets ranged from N250,000 to
N600,000 while prices of imported caskets ranged from N1,700,000 to
N2,500,000. He added that they receive huge patronage from the Yoruba
while the Igbo prefer the most expensive caskets.
On the pains and gains of the business to employees that eventually
take up the job of undertakers, Mr. Dada Derenle said working as an
undertaker has afforded him the opportunity to visit places he had never
dreamt of going.
“The money was not really much, but it was enough for me to get
married and start a family. That was 22 years ago. The job is about
picking corpses and taking them to the mortuary or to the cemetery for
burial. But the challenge is that one could be called at any time of the
day to face corpses,” he said.
Another stakeholder in the funeral business, Yemi Adeniran, said he
almost lost his marriage to the business. According to him, “My
wife once told me that if she knew my job involved going to the mortuary
almost every day to visit corpses, she would not have married me. But
today that is history because I now have my own business,” he said.
He thanked God for giving him the grace to serve humanity, and “it has afforded me the opportunity to travel far and wide in the country”.
Speaking on the beliefs and traditions of some tribes which always
resulted in additional pay for the undertakers, some of the sales
attendants who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that they
sleep with corpses when the need arises.
“This happens when the deceased family members do not want
anybody to tamper with the deceased, so as to guard against any
malicious and untoward act,” one of them stated.
Odunlami Inside-Out
When Saturday Tribune visited, Odunlami street was quiet. Saturday
Tribune was told it is always quiet. What do you expect where a solemn
business is conducted. Nothing extraordinary. No rowdiness. Saturday
Tribune observed that the movement of vehicles and people was not as
frequent as other market areas within its axis.
All the funeral service companies have at least one uniformed
staffer at their doorsteps, trying to persuade customers to patronise
them. Can you imagine that?
Caskets were not displayed at the front-doors of the companies, but
were obvious when passed by because transparent doors were used by all.
Great marketing strategy without offending sights and sensibilities,
you would say.
Anyone who is visiting Odunlami Street for the first time may never
have the impression that such a street shares same neighbourhood with
the popular 157-year old CSS Bookshop which welcomes you as you step
onto the street. Do the dead too read?
The Lagos State e-library centre also announces its presence with
its colourful edifice while the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina,
established in 1946, also boasts of its elitism and may have given the
impression that Odunlami street is very popular across the globe.
To all visitors from Obalende, the existence of the High Courts and
the famous City Hall may never give the impression of what lies ahead.
What a company to share!
If you have not been to the Coffin Street, Don’t go expecting a
head-swelling experience. Spirits of the dead haven’t visited in about
38 years, according to Tope. But there isn’t a telling when they could
come seeking a rebate!
Source: Nigerian Tribune
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