Florence Fashola, has done something
many senior citizens will dare not do. In
preparation for her death, she has dug
her grave and sewn a shroud. She tells
KUNLE FALAYI reasons for taking this
step in this interview
Do you think many people are
dying young these days than in the
old days?
Yes of course. The problem is that
young people are no longer doing what
we did in those days. They no longer
live the way we lived and eat the way
we ate. For example, our parents never
ate pepper milled with machines. They
never put seasonings in their soup.
They ate fresh fruits and fresh meat and
fish. My mother never did before she
died. She would not eat any soup if the
ingredients were not milled on a stone.
People eat too many packaged things
nowadays. The luxury in which people
live nowadays contributes to early
death. But that does not mean I am not
prepared for death. I have been ready
since I clocked 70.
But many old people are afraid of
death. Why are you not?
When I was 70 years old, I had a
meeting with my children and told
them I was expecting death anytime
from then because even the Bible says
nobody knows the time or day death
will come. I have been blessed by God; I
have children who have children of their
own. I am not afraid of where I am
going. So, why would I be afraid of
death? To show I was really prepared, I
held a meeting with my children and
told them of my decision to find a tailor
to sew me a shroud I would be interred
in and dug my own grave in my yard.
When the shroud was sewn; I put it on
and took photographs with it.
You did that? Not many people
have the heart to do that.
That is because they are afraid of death.
And they are afraid of death because
they don't know where they would be
going when they die. I also do not
believe in superstitions. Because I did
those things does not mean I will die in
the next 20 years. Since I was baptised
in 1956, I have served God diligently
and can say that I have never done
anything to hurt someone. The way I
have lived my life, I cannot be afraid of
death.
Your children must have kicked
against the idea of the grave and
shroud…
Yes of course. When I informed them,
they even threatened to get the tailor
who would sew the shroud arrested. But
I already made my decision. If I pass
away today, all they would need to do is
buy a coffin.
Was the decision made just
because you were not afraid of
death?
Well, not totally. There was this couple
who were my friends. Before the
husband died, he had given the
instruction that he wanted to be buried
in his house in Lagos and had even
prepared his wife's grave beside his.
But seven years after he died, his wife
died as well. The children exhumed the
man's body and took it along with the
wife's to Owo, his hometown. I did not
like that idea at all. When I got back
from the burial, I immediately held a
meeting with my children and told
them of my decision to prepare my
place of burial ahead of time. I moved to
my house in 1977 and retired as a
matron in 1978. I was once told that
this house would be my 'Goshen'.
Things have happened around me in
this area since then that have shown
that God has given me tremendous
grace. So, why should I not want to be
buried here?
You seem to remember dates so
easily; do you keep written records
like some elderly people do?
It is simply God's grace. I can remember
the dates of every major event that has
happened since my father died in the
1940s. I know that having the ability to
remember dates is a special grace God
has given me. Some old people in my
age group cannot even remember what
happened yesterday.
Can you remember any other
instance where children exhumed
their parents' bodies to be buried
somewhere else or buried them
where they did not want?
None other than the one I have told you
readily comes to mind. But I have heard
of such things. It is not a good thing on
the part of the children of such people
at all. I don't know why some children
cannot respect the wishes of their
parents even when they are dead.
But what if your children do the
same?
My children? They dare not. Every year
end and every September during my
birthday celebrations, I repeat my
demands to them. I ring it in their ears
so that they would not disobey me
when I am dead. I have found where I
want to be buried. I have prepared the
place. All I ask of them is to respect that
and let me be laid to rest there.
And what if none of your children
lives in this house after you are
buried?
Does a dead person know what goes on
in his or her house? I care less about
that. I cannot force my children to live
in this particular house where I will be
buried. They have all got to high places
in life and are free to live their lives the
way they want. When I am gone, I am
gone. All I want is to be buried here. My
request is not that they must come and
live in this house, only that they should
bury me here. Will they now exhume
my body after I am buried or take my
body after I am dead to Owode? That
will not happen because that will show
they do not respect my wishes.
You said a lot of things have
happened around you that have
shown this place is your
'Goshen,'can you tell us some of
those things?
There is a house on this street, the
landlord committed suicide by hanging.
There are some of my neighbours, who
are barely 70 years old but have
become senile. The house across me
over there, many different people from
different tribes have lived there and the
house has seen many deaths. I am not
thanking God for their woes. God knows
I was genuinely sympathetic when
those things were happening. I see this
house as my Goshen as I was told
because apart from my mother who
died, this house has never seen death.
None of my tenants has experienced
any bad incident. So, I know God
planted my root here as a place of grace
for me.
Did you buy your parents' coffins
or prepared their graves in
advance?
Let me first explain how my mother
died. My mother had 14 children but
only five survived her. She fell ill on
January 11, 1976 and I thought she was
about to die. I had to go and buy a
coffin and a shroud and prepared where
she was to be buried even though we
had not actually dug the grave. But five
days later, she was up and about. She
requested for fresh fish, which we
prepared and she ate. She said God had
healed her. So we had her coffin before
she died. In May of the following year,
my mother told me she needed to 'go
home'. But I said no way, you have to
carry your grandchild before you go
anywhere. She then said she would wait
a little longer but that she was already
seeing her dead relations.
The morning my first child gave birth,
she named the child. She said whatever
other name the child was given, the
name she had given the baby must
come first. She suddenly went quiet but
we revived her. She then prayed for
everyone. She died a couple of days
later. But my father's coffin or grave
was not prepared ahead. My father died
in August 1948 at the age of 73. I was
15 at the time. Source:punch
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