Emeyal 1, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State – On Saturday, November 22, 2025, hundreds of mourners gathered under the tropical sun of Bayelsa State to bid a final farewell to Late Madam Afuwari Ego, popularly known throughout the community as “Ego Na Money.” What could have been a conventional burial ceremony transformed into a spectacle that left residents talking for days, all because of one extraordinary detail: the deceased was laid to rest inside a custom-made casket designed to look exactly like a giant Coca-Cola bottle.
The gleaming red-and-silver casket, complete with the iconic white Coca-Cola wave logo and contoured shape, stood out dramatically against the green backdrop of the community field where the funeral rites were held. As pallbearers carried it toward the graveside, smartphones flashed incessantly and excited murmurs rippled through the crowd. For many attendees, it was the first time they had ever witnessed such an audacious and playful tribute to a loved one’s personal passion.
Eyewitness and photographer Ogbara Walson Henry, who documented the entire ceremony, described the atmosphere as a mixture of grief and celebration. “When the casket arrived, people just stopped whatever they were doing and gathered around it,” he recounted. “Some were laughing, some were taking selfies, others were shaking their heads in amazement. It was definitely the most unusual funeral I have ever covered. But once you heard the story behind it, it made perfect sense.”
That story, according to family members who spoke at the graveside, revolved around Madam Ego’s lifelong, almost legendary love affair with Coca-Cola. From her youth until her final days, the soft drink was more than just a beverage to her—it was a daily ritual, a comfort, and a symbol of simple joy. Relatives said she could identify the taste of Coca-Cola blindfolded and reportedly never allowed any other soft drink into her home. “If you visited Mama and there was no cold Coke in the fridge, she would personally send someone to buy it, no matter the time,” one of her grandchildren told mourners, drawing laughter and nods of recognition.
Her children explained that when discussions about funeral arrangements began after her peaceful passing at the age of 85, the idea of a standard wooden coffin felt wrong. “Mama was never ordinary,” her eldest son said. “She lived life with flavor (literally). We wanted her final journey to reflect the happiness she got from that drink.” After consulting local craftsmen renowned for creating thematic caskets—a growing trend in parts of southern Nigeria—the family commissioned the Coca-Cola bottle design. The result was a fiberglass masterpiece standing over six feet tall, complete with a removable cap that served as the lid and a silver band mimicking the bottle’s label bearing her full name and nickname in elegant lettering.
The choice instantly turned the burial into a community event. Neighbors who might have only stopped by briefly ended up staying for hours, eager to catch a glimpse of the now-famous casket. Young people posed in front of it for TikTok videos, while elders debated whether such flamboyance was appropriate for a funeral. Yet even the skeptics eventually conceded that the tribute was heartfelt and fitting. “In our culture we celebrate life, not just mourn death,” remarked one community leader. “Mama Ego lived to 85 drinking her Coke every day and smiling. This casket is making her smile even now.”
As the casket was lowered into the grave amid hymns and the spraying of crisp naira notes—a customary mark of respect in the Niger Delta—the atmosphere remained remarkably upbeat. Family members popped actual bottles of Coca-Cola and shared them among guests, turning a somber moment into a toast to a woman who had clearly left an indelible mark on everyone who knew her.
The trend of personalized, thematic caskets has been growing across Nigeria in recent years, with designs ranging from airplanes and fishes to luxury cars and even giant Bibles. However, the Coca-Cola bottle casket of Madam Afuwari Ego has quickly gained viral attention on social media, with photos shared thousands of times under captions like “When you love Coke more than life itself” and “Rest in Fizz, Mama.”
For the people of Emeyal 1, the burial was more than just a goodbye; it was a powerful reminder that funerals can—and perhaps should—reflect the unique personality of the departed. As one mourner put it while sipping from a shared bottle, “Mama has gone, but every time we open a Coke from now on, we will remember her and smile.”
Late Madam Afuwari Ego, a.k.a. Ego Na Money, may have taken her last breath at 85, but on November 22, 2025, she proved that even in death, she could still bring refreshment to an entire community.
