Vaults & Garden Cemetery: New

AS public cemeteries across the country have become a haven for ritualists and other diabolical characters who would not allow the dead to rest in peace, a number of private cemeteries are springing up. And the business seems to be thriving since the public cemeteries are not well maintained due to official red tape associated with running of goverment institution and parastatal. However, an emerging trend where those who could afford to bury their departed aged parents or loved ones in a private cemetery, is fast catching on.

Some super rich Nigerians these days spend fortunes to ensure they give their departed ones befitting burials. They hold nothing back in getting those departed ones to sleep in peace. One of those private cemeteries is Vaults and Garden located beside Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria in Ikoyi, Lagos. It is owned by chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The cemetery which is a reserved spot for the wealthy and for super-wealthy folks was opened for business in 2006 and since then, Tinubu has been smiling to the bank.

The space for the wealthy starts from N50 million and above while the super-wealthy spot costs around N150 million above. The second portion has a beautiful gate, garden and all sorts of elegant mundane things. So hot is the cemetery now that some Nigerian money bags have secured a burial space in the cemetery with a whooping amount of money.

One of such Nigerian billionaires is the owner of telecommunication giant, Globacom, Otunba Mike Adenuga, who has secured a burial spot for N200 million. In 2009, he buried his younger sister, Mrs Esther Osunsade at the wealthy part of the cemetery.

Few other rich men such as Prince Bolu Akin-Olugbade, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola have already secured a final resting place within the garden.

The list of late eminent Nigerians resting in perfect peace in the bosom of the cemetery includes Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Goldie, Tayo Aderinokan (ex-GTB, MD), Tunji Okusanya (M I C), Gbegi Ojora, Femi Segun and Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji.