By Prudence Minayo
Thanks to the global covid-19 crisis, Tik Tok has gained a lot of popularity. Many are gaining recognition as people spend so much time viewing millions of videos daily. One such group is the dancing pallbearers from Ghana. Pallbearers are charged with carrying the coffin during a funeral. Generally, funerals are somber occasions. Everyone is in mourning and hymns and sad funeral songs mark the occasion.
Well, a group from Ghana is dishing out an interesting new trend for the occasion. The group has amassed a global audience and is now the new internet sensation. Within one month, the group’s Tik Tok video received more than 450k likes and over 4.5 million views. Twitter users stepped out in large numbers to express their satisfaction with the group.
Group Name
The name of the group is Nana Otafrija Pallbearing Services. Benjamin Aido is their manager and he sees this as a way of providing employment for the jobless youth in Ghana.
Origin
The people of Ghana have a great way of sending off their loved ones. The occasion is marked with wonderful song and dance as a way to celebrate the life of the departed. The departed is ceremoniously sent to the next world. It is through this that the Nana Otafrija group saw an opportunity to make money as they entertain mourners. The dance moves are choreographed and the pallbearers wear dashing outfits. The dancing pallbearers also provide services to clients not interested with the dance.
FameThe Prampram pallbearers first came into the limelight in 2017 when BBC Africa featured them. Their fame escalated when they posted a video on 26 th February 2020. It has attracted so many people including meme lords who have created so many memes with Tony Igy’s song
“Astronomia.”
This has brought enormous attention to the song, beyond the singer’s expectations. The singer expressed his happiness and to thanked everyone who listened to the song.
Charges
They don’t come cheaply. In fact, what they charge in a day is what some people spend on a whole funeral if not more. Their charges are 3,000 Us Dollars outside Ghana, excluding
transport, meals and accommodation. They hope to increase their charges after the covid-19 pandemic ends due to their new popularity. Benjamin says:
“The popularity we have received is booming our Business now. We would increase our prices after the coronavirus. For now, we have a manager in Kenya and a lawyer too in Kenya.”
Instagram filters
The pallbearers have inspired other videos in Tik Tok and the dance has been dubbed coffin
dance. It is available as an Instagram filter. To get it you log into your account, swipe stories and hold the front camera to your face till the filters appear. Swipe and select browse effects and search coffin.
There are two coffin dance filters: one by paulostroker and the other by mass _ Iwenk. Choose according to your preference.
