Taiwo Ogunsola and Sons (TOS) Funerals is a family business,
established in 2003 to provide affordable funeral services. Its Managing
Director, Mrs Taiwo Ogunsola, was the one who handled the bodies of the late
Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu, and those of the January 25, 2002 Ikeja
Cantonment blast victims recovered from Oke-Afa canal. She received an award
from the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Associciation Inc, South
Africa, for handling bodies recovered from the Synagogue Church of All Nations
(SCOAN) building collapse last year. She tells The Nations's reporter some of
the problems of the profession.
What does your work entail?
I do embalm and resuscitate. I also do
a lot of restoration. On a daily basis, I try as much as possible to embalm at
least one case a day.
What do you mean by embalmment and
resuscitation?
Embalmment means trying to preserve
the body from decomposing very fast. We change the left over b)lood in the
system. Then, we use a chemical to preserve the corpses, to let them look like
they are still alive. Resuscitation means the reconstruction of the body to
resuscitate it to how it was. It is hard work but it can be achieved.
How long is the embalmment process?
It is 45 minutes with the machine.
Do the relatives of the body decide
how you embalm?
Yes, they do. When I was in the United
Kingdom (UK), I found out that they do dry embalmment in Nigeria for up to two
weeks. I cannot understand that. What we do is arterial embalmment. We embalm
through the arteries and we do aspirate. We remove the left over fluids and
replace them with chemical which fixes the abdominal organ. The body can be
kept outside for up to one year. Most people are fixing the surface and not
really the inner part.
What drives your passion in this sector?
I would say God. I was actually
inspired by God through a dream in 1997. It is a call for me.
What is the link between the
abbreviation, TOS, and your profession?
The name is Taiwo Ogunsola and Sons
Funeral Home. TOS is just for easy pronounciation.
How come your services are run mostly
from government-owned facilities?
When I came to Nigeria, I met with the
state government to discuss how we can manage the mortuary in terms of
employing and engaging professionals. Unfortunately, they could not understand
what I mean by that, because they have never employed a professional. I had my
professional certificate from the UK and another one as a certified funeral
practitioner from United States (US). I came in during the bomb blast of Ikeja
Cantonment of 2002, which led many people to drown inside the Oke-Afa canal.
Many bodies were fished out of the canal at Oke-Afa in Oshodi-Isolo Local
Government Area of the state. And that was when I did my first trial job for
Lagos State. They engaged public-private partnership (PPP). The
state government was impressed with the outcome of the job done and later, I
was called to come on board. I have my private outfit as well.
We were the first to do PPP with the
government. Honestly, I would still give it to Dr. Lekan Pitan and Dr. Jide
Idris because they really gave us the chance to prove our worth. We have been
trying, it is not too bad but it could be stressful.
Is your trade financially rewarding?
Mortuary business is a long-term
capital-intensive business. It is not as if you start today and start getting
money from it. You must have a lot of passion, perseverance and patience. The
money would come but not so fast. I stress that it is a capital-intensive
business.
Why is it that you are the one running
the business and not employed staff? What is responsible for that?
It is a family business because all
over the world, funeral business is often generational. It is a call for me. My
children are the second generation; they are all working with me and we are
trying to put the third generation in place. But that does not mean we don’t
employ hands as staff. But it remains a family business.
What is your relationship with other
people in the profession? Do they see you as a rival, rather than partner?
I am tired. When I came into the
country, I thought we were going to have a very cordial relationship. But I
noticed people take it as a do-or-die affair in Nigeria. And most of them are
over night pack your bag morticians.
What do you mean by ‘pack your bag’
morticians?
I do not think they know anything.
Maybe they work inside the mortuaries as attendants; they then consider
themselves as morticians. Mortuary attendants do not fall into being
morticians. Let me explain this; unless you work for a funeral home, or unless
you have an obsession about death and dying practices, you may wonder if there
is a difference between a funeral director and a mortician or a mortician and
an undertaker. For all intents and purposes today, there is no difference
especially if the funeral home is a small family operation. But, in larger
funeral home operations, you might see a slight difference in what each job
traditionally entails. The ‘Undertaker’ is a traditional European term that
describes the person who would transport the body, prepare it for burial and
interact with the survivors on funeral preparations. When the colonies were
formed in the New World and burial services were needed, often church and
family members would take over the job of the undertaker.
During the Civil War, when embalming
practices became popular among the growing funeral profession, the title of the
person handling the affairs became the “Mortician” over the last decades of the
19th century.
Can you differentiate between
morticians and funeral practitioners?
Morticians are people that work in the
mortuary. You might actually train to be a mortician. Scientists go to school
to study sciences. It is a bit hard to differentiate, but to me, we are all
morticians. Being a funeral practitioner, you can do everything from arranging
the funeral to attending the funerals. You sell the casket as a funeral
director and you attend the funeral. On a larger scale, I will say the roles of
a mortician and an embalmer are different. A mortician is a person who arranges
for the final disposition of the body. An embalmer is someone who has been
trained in the art and science of embalming and may not have any contact with
the family, although many people fill both roles. Embalming training commonly
involves a formal study in anatomy, thanatology, chemistry and specific
embalming theory, to widely varying levels depending on the region of the world
one lives in, combined with practical instruction in a mortuary with a
resultant formal qualification granted after the passing of a final practical
examination and acceptance into a recognised society of professional embalmer,
while the funeral director arranges the details and handles the logistics of
funerals.
They interview the family to learn
their wishes about the funeral, the clergy or other people who will officiate,
and the final disposition of the remains. Sometimes, the deceased leaves
detailed instructions for his or her own funeral. Together with the family,
funeral directors establish the location, dates, and times of wakes, memorial
services, and burials. They arrange for a hearse to carry the body to the
funeral home or mortuary. They also comfort the family and friends of the
deceased. Funeral directors prepare obituary notices and have them placed in
newspapers, arrange for pallbearers and clergy, schedule the opening and
closing of a grave with a representative of the cemetery, decorate and prepare
the sites of all services, and provide transportation for the deceased,
mourners, and flowers between sites. They also direct preparation and shipment
of the body for out-of-state burial.
Can you share your experience during
the plane crash involving the late former Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun
Agagu, and what transpired between you and others in your profession?
The crashed plane belonged to
Associated Airlines. A plane carrying about 20 people and the body of former
Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Agagu, that crashed shortly after take-off from
the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. The chartered
Embraer 120 marked 5NBJY, belonged to Associated Airlines Limited, was heading
for Akure, the Ondo State capital, for the final leg of the funeral rites for
the ex-governor. Agagu died in Lagos on September 13. A lot of undercurrent
took place but let us respect the dead, the living and colleagues. But the
truth is that I have not been lucky with colleagues in Nigeria. It pains me
from my bone marrow. We can actually work together. They believe I want to
snatch their business because I met them in the business. They see me as a
black sheep in this industry. So, I have decided to remain solo, keep to
myself, and do my business. It gladdens my heart to tell you that I am
the district governor of morticians and funeral directors in Nigeria. I cannot even
work because my colleagues do not want to join the train. My ascending the
position was inaugurated in South Africa. I wish I could work with the support
of my colleagues, especially the Lagos-based ones. Some people are encouraging
me and they are from Ibadan. I am licensed but most of them in Lagos are not.
Who licensed you?
I am a professional. I have my licence
from the UK. In Nigeria, we do not have a regulating body. I want a regulatory
body but it has been difficult. The Health Ministry handles the regulation but
they do not have a professional who is a mortuary scientist or a licensed
mortician to help them set the standards. Being the District Governor now, I
have been trying to call in people together by organising seminars, conferences
to let them know what we are losing by not coming together.
What is your experience like working
on the bodies recovered from the Synagogue of All Nations (SOAN) church
building collapse?
When I was called upon to work on
Associated Airline and I saw Tunji, it was the saddest day for me on this job.
He was a nice and honest man but died for what he loved doing. However, during
the South Africa mishap at the Synagogue, we got the bodies in bad forms. So,
we had to try our best to present the bodies to them (South Africa government).
I got an Excellence Award some weeks ago from the effort. My job was really
appreciated. It was so stressful, but thank God we came out victorious.
Do bodies talk to you?
I would say strange but true. There
are signs I notice that motivate me to do the work. I tailor my embalment to
the needs of the bodies on my table. Because the body will actually tell me
what he or she needs. If they died with typhoid, you cannot embalm someone that
died of typhoid with someone that died of motor accident. They are two
different types of embalment and that is why TOS Funeral is different from
others. This aspect of talking is strange but true.
In that case, have you come across
some bodies that told you who killed them and how you can help them track the
killers?
No. It is not like that. It is
something better experienced than told. They do not talk like I want to eat or
drink. But will indicate how they want to be handled etc. It is strange but
true. They do not talk of their killers. I do not know of such. It is a bloody
lie that a mortician can track killers through dialogue with a body. We are not
Necromancers. We are professionals. If someone (a body) comes to my table,
there must be an autopsy. So, it isthrough the autopsy that they would know the
cause of the person’s death. Tracking killers is not one of our strange but
true stories.
What are your disappointments?
Let me just say it could be better. If
I go on, I would not stop because I could step on toes. TOS would be everywhere
because one cannot stop learning. I do courses at least twice or thrice a year.
I need my continued education unit to stay on the register as a licensed
person. If not for my age I can pack my bag and go back. But if I am not on
date on the register, I would not be able to work. I have to update myself
professionally. We have only five mortuary scientists in Nigeria. Four licensed
from the UK and one from the US. Two of these five are from TOS.
What is your suggestion to the Federal
Government concerning your profession in this clime of change?
I am trying to organise educational
session in Nigeria. We would embark on this as soon as we are ready for them in
Nigeria. I am going to have my first board meeting with them in the US in
August. I want to thank the National Association of Funeral Directors and
Morticians from South Africa for appreciating what we did during the church
building collapse. Also, I thank the funeral directors from the US for
appreciating me and making me the first governor of District 11. I also thank
the Lagos State government for giving us the opportunity to serve them.
All these are indicators that TOS
knows and sets standards. TOS Funerals is a recognised member of both the
National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association (NFDMA), and the National
Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) in the United States. As such, our
practices are bound by the regulations of these professional associations.
Furthermore, as the MD/CEO of TOS Funerals, I am a recognised member of the 100
Black Women of Funeral Service in the United States. We hypodermic the body,
both the organ and the tissue. Embalment means trying to preserve the body from
decomposing very fast.
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