Introducing a Radical African Indigenous Feminist Principle: Chihera in Zimbabwe

Public Health Implications of Government Negligence in Human Corpse Management in South-West of Nigeria

“…It is believed that the dead deserve respect, while health-wise, the effect of uncontained or improperly contained human corpses on the surroundings raises concerns about dwellers' rights to a healthy surroundings. Cremation and burial are the identified approaches to containing human corpses across cultures (Chitando, 1999;Guttman, Watson & Miller, cited in Daramola et al, 2014). While cremation of the corpse is with the intention of reducing bodies to bone and ashes through burning, it has not formed part of the corpse management strategy in most African states (Omonisi, 2020), rather a burial, which is the placement of the corpse into the ground either with or without a coffin is the accepted practice in this respect (Chitando, 1999;Olomola, 1988;Ogbuagu, 1989;Daramola et al, 2014;Adeboye, 2016;Izunwa, 2016).…”

“…Cremation and burial are the identified approaches to containing human corpses across cultures (Chitando, 1999;Guttman, Watson & Miller, cited in Daramola et al, 2014). While cremation of the corpse is with the intention of reducing bodies to bone and ashes through burning, it has not formed part of the corpse management strategy in most African states (Omonisi, 2020), rather a burial, which is the placement of the corpse into the ground either with or without a coffin is the accepted practice in this respect (Chitando, 1999;Olomola, 1988;Ogbuagu, 1989;Daramola et al, 2014;Adeboye, 2016;Izunwa, 2016). Chitando (1999) attested to the fact that burial is the widely accepted approach in the management of a corpse, and it has been considered social instead of ritualistic (Azeez & Salami, 2018) and is often executed as an important funeral rite needed to ensure the right of dweller to a decent surrounding and which command respect for the dead.…”

“…The practice of human corpse burial may have followed the developments in human history. Chitando (1999), for instance, has noted that the question of what must be done to a human corpse must have been asked in the earliest human communities. The answer to the question must have stimulated the measures deployed to manage dead human bodies.…”

“…The answer to the question must have stimulated the measures deployed to manage dead human bodies. Mbiti (cited in Chitando, 1999) argued that while burial was one of the methods of managing human corpses in human society, others include dumping bodies in bushes for animal and bird consumption, discarding them in water bodies, and protecting the corpse in a small building for complete decay. Park (2020) has equally itemized the practice of celestial funerals in managing human corpses.…”

“…Park (2020) has equally itemized the practice of celestial funerals in managing human corpses. There is the practice of cremation, an approach that was believed to have been adopted by the nomadic population to prevent enemies from abusing their ancestors (Parrinder, cited in Chitando, 1999). Smirnov (1989) and Goring (cited in Chitando, 1999) In another dimension, Chitando (1999) presented the religious perspective on the practice of burial and cremation of a human corpse.…”