By Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti has expressed his wish to be cremated after his death.
Femi, the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, revealed this during a performance at the New Afrika Shrine last Sunday, according to The Nation.
The 59-year-old said he does not want a loud burial ceremony, stressing that cremation is the most hygiene way to bury a person.
“When I die, please cremate me, burn my body. It is the most hygienic way,” he said.
The musician also wondered what happens to the corpses buried at cemeteries in Lagos.
“Have you all thought about Ikoyi cemetery? This Lagos has been in existence for let’s just say 60 years and people die; if they don’t die today, they will die tomorrow and that burial ground has never been full. And if you check it, it is not like it’s one million acres since I was little when we used to bury people there,” he added.
Femi’s younger sister Sola Kuti, who died in 1997 shortly after their father, was cremated in Lagos, according to reports.
In 2013, the then Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola signed the cremation bill into law, which provides for the voluntary burning of corpses and unclaimed corpses in the state.
“It is voluntary in the sense that it allows for voluntary cremation, whereby a person may signify interest to be cremated when he dies or a deceased’s family members who must attain the age of 18 years can decide to have the corpse cremated,” the State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Ade Ipaye explained at the time.
