TRADITIONAL BURIAL RITES AND COSTOMS OF THE OGONI PEOPLE (A CASE STUDY OF THE KONO PEOPLE OF RIVERS STATE)

Abstract

The Ogoni's are indigenous people situated in the South-South region  of Nigeria and they speak a language called the Khana  language with a population of over 12 million people in this area. This area is made up of four local government areas namely Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme with some dissenting voices on Eleme as been part of Ogoni but that is for another discuss. The people of Ogoni are predominantly farmers and fishermen with land blessed with numerous mineral resources, most importantly crude that most people feel has done them more harm than good. This resources brought the agitation for their land to be developed with their God given wealth by the government of Nigeria after  being  abandoned by the government for several years, but rather than  development, it brought them death. The Ogoni's lost their sons Ken Saro Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, Edward Kobani, Albert Tombari Badey, Theophilus Orage, Samuel Orage and many others because of their agitation. This sad tale put the indigenous people of Ogoni on the world map with nations of the world pushing for the clean-up of the polluted area by crude oil and the exoneration of Ken Saro Wiwa and others.