Dialogues: FW: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Stupidity or Insanity---Nigerian billionaire Buries Mother in Brand new Hummer Jeep instead of Casket

Hoax or not, it is not beyond some Nigerians' foolery to act so strangely as to be grotesque. Who is to say that some wealthy Nigerians have not buried their dead in caskets that cost more than a brand new motorized vehicle- Hummer or not? If the preferred container for burying the dead is a metal casket, why not a luxury sedan, saloon car, or truck? The ancient Egyptian entombed their dead kings in pyramids did they not? What better could some of some rich Nigerians do with stolen public funds in the event of death in their families? Some of them have been known to fly home their dead in their private or chartered aircrafts from their overseas' places of death. For them, their dead must not endure the indignity of returning home as human cargo with regular travelers/plebeians. They reject the embarrassment of not being able to boast about flying their dead home by charted private jet aircrafts. Funerals, for this class of Nigerians, are business showcases that serve at least three purposes- intimidate their neighbors, flaunt their stolen wealth, and arrange future business meetings. Given the wanton waste of money and time that characterize burial of the dead relatives by rich Nigerians, a Hummer in place of a casket would be no more than another bizarre statement on their bewildering foolishness. Why for example, would they not establish educational endowments, public good foundations and trust, and other legacy projects that will do evident and enduring good in honor of their dead as part of dignified funerals? Is it because that would not the stupid thing to do? I wonder.

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 8:52 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: ayo.m.o.obe@gmail.com; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com; okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Stupidity or Insanity---Nigerian billionaire Buries Mother in Brand new Hummer Jeep instead of Casket

Moses:

I agree!

The published story is most likely a hoax.

There have been enough testimonies from a few contributors who saw the\
movie from which the image was culled.

I doubt if they could all be lying.

The only benefit derived from the hoax is the reminder that too many
Africans, including the rich, the struggling middle class and the abjectly
poor still spend too much money on funeral ceremonies than they would
on the sick and the infirm when they are still with us.

On a recent rip to Nigeria, I was informed that it is far much easier to raise a loan from
close family members and friends to meet the expenses of a funeral than for any other
purpose in Nigeria--including to pay for health costs of sick family members, tuition
and boarding costs for the kids, feed the family and to put a roof over ones head during hard times.

Our priorities are completely screwed up!

The Indians do it best--they cremate the remains of the deceased in a bon fire then go home to remember and celeberate the life of the deceased.
This is not only cost effective is also hygienic and good for the environment.

No fuss! No mess and no ned to worry about grave robbers.

Bye,

Ola

---- Original Message ----
From: Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
To: USAAfricaDialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Dec 9, 2014 8:46 am
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Stupidity or Insanity---Nigerian billionaire Buries Mother in Brand new Hummer Jeep instead of Casket

Please ignore this story. It is a hoax. The image comes from a scene in a Nollywood movie. A lot of Nigerian (and even Kenyan) gossip websites carried it (don't know who first made it a stand-alone story) and several folks were linking to those websites on Facebook. A discussion ensued before someone kindly provided a youtube link to a trailer of the Nollywood movie from where where the image comes. If I have time, I'll try and retrieve the link and post it here. My own theory as to why this went viral is that 1) there is already widespread credulity about vulgar displays of wealth as well as a culture of extravagant funerary practices, and 2) the online medium that manufactured the story to go with the image did so probably in the hope of riding the ensuing wave to publicize itself.

On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 2:40 AM, Ayo Obe <ayo.m.o.obe@gmail.com> wrote:

I also agree. The lack of detail in this report makes it suspicious. How many people have been buried in cars at all, let alone in Nigeria where grave robbers remain a concern - armed guards or no.

I don't doubt that there are Nigerian billionaires, and that several of them are from Enugu, but only someone who wants kidnappers to pay a visit will declare such a surplus of money.

And no, burying her in a car would not be a sign of love for a mother. Rather, it would be a sign of a guilty conscience and/or overweening vanity.

Ayo

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @naijama

On Dec 9, 2014, at 4:56 AM, Ugo Nwokeji <ugo@berkeley.edu> wrote:

I agree. The only thing I would like to add is that even the most unrealistic of Nollywood scripts are more realistic. The only proper nouns I see in this story are

1. Enugu
2. Hummer

Nollywood would have declared the name as "Chief [Add names]", alias [add nicknames(s)] and where the town where the remains of the beloved mother was buried.

It is as if the objective is both to expose the billionaire and protect his anonymity at the same time!

And I believe they use Photoshop and some other modern photo editor down there at Nollywood than was used in the pictures I see at http://talktokemi.blogspot.com/2014/12/millionaire-buried-mum-in-hummer-jeep.html

There is a huge market for fairytales in Nigeria and sociopaths revel in it.

Ugo

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 2:38 PM, olakassimmd via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Felix:

This can not possibly be a Nollywood movie--most of which are made
on less than $10,000.00 per flick.

The amount of $10,000.00 in gas money the billionaire stuffed
into the Hummer casket for his mom is enough to make at least
two Nollywood moves with some change left over for promotion.

Nigerian billionaires do not fool around; this man has shown he really
loved his mother both in life and in death.

If some Nigerian governors can spend hundreds of millions
of Naira stolen from the public purse to bury their mothers,
why not allow a hardworking billionaire bury his mother
the way he sees fit --in a brand new hummer --in a burial
ground in the backyard of his sprawling mansion
which is guarded 24hrs by armed security men--should in case
any armed graveyard robbers or kidnappers might get some funny
ideas!

Bye,

Ola

---- Original Message ----
From: 'Oti Felix' via OkonkwoNetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com>
To: Umu Nnakwe <umunnakwe1@gmail.com>; olakassimmd <olakassimmd@aol.com>
Cc: USAAfricaDialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; okonkwonetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com>; africanworldforum <africanworldforum@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Dec 8, 2014 5:21 pm
Subject: Re: Stupidity or Insanity---Nigerian billionaire Buries Mother in Brand new Hummer Jeep instead of Casket
This is a Nollywood movie, not real. There are parts 1 and 2 (as usual)

Felix Oti
Oti & Associates
Member: NABE, AEA
Tax & Financial Consultants
PO Box 183721
Arlington, TX 76096
(682)221-9323

On Monday, December 8, 2014 4:11 PM, Umu Nnakwe <umunnakwe1@gmail.com> wrote:

This pure foolishness!

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 2:57 PM, olakassimmd via OkonkwoNetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com> wrote:
v
To: olakassimmd <olakassimmd@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Dec 8, 2014 1:47 pm
Subject: Fwd: WhatsApp image

Get WhatsApp for your iPhone, Android, Nokia, BlackBerry or Windows Phone today: https://www.whatsapp.com/dl/

<3606905f6577374b485dddf10dff24e3.jpg>

Sent from my iPhone
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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

FW: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Stupidity or Insanity---Nigerian billionaire Buries Mother in Brand new Hummer Jeep instead of Casket

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