6th March, 2012
The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday took the second reading of a bill to allow cremation of unclaimed corpses in general hospitals in the state, to decongest mortuaries. The bill, when passed into law, would also allow people to opt for voluntary cremation of their dead.
Mr Suru Avoseh, representing Badagary Constituency 2, who moved the motion during the plenary session, said that it would be an alternative method to take care of the dead. Avoseh, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Health Care Services, said that a visit by some lawmakers to the Isolo General Hospital, had revealed that several unclaimed corpses congested the morgue.
He said that cremation was strange and new in Nigeria but that it was a practice accepted in other parts of the world. The lawmaker said that health officials, who were faced with problems of how to get land, resorted to giving mass burials.
Mrs Funmilayo Tejuosho, representing Mushin Constituency 1, said that the present condition of mortuaries in the state could cause epidemics. Tejuosho said that people should have an option to cremate their dead while unclaimed bodies should be cremated by the state after six months.
Mr Mudashiru Obasa, representing Agege Constituency 1, said that the idea would reduce the incidence of the ritualists dealing in human parts.
However, Mr Adebayo Osinowo, representing Kosofe 1, warned that the tradition, culture and religion of Nigerians had to be properly considered before embarking on the act.
Osinowo said that the congestion at mortuaries was due to the negligence of morgue attendants.
The Speaker of the House, Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji, ruled that the House Committee on Health Care Services should work on the issue and report back to the House in four weeks.