lucabrasi:

if no one understands it then why is it still prevalent in this day n age?

toshmann:

ezeagu is right, no igbo guy in this day and age fully understands the osu thing. our parents/grand parents/uncles etc tell us conflicting stories. my mother said she does not even understand it fully. she heard it first when she was applying to be a teacher in the 60s. that na my mama o, wey be another generation.

this lends credence to my earlier statement that this thing will die off if no one talks about it. imagine if my mother never heard about it.

anyway, to answer ur question, in summary, there were igbos who were reserved to serve the gods (just like the jews had the levites) they were to live near the shrines and serve the juju/gods/amadioha _whatever. they were consecrated to serving these gods and to be separated from the people so they can focus. but no one wants that job. just like becoming a priest/nun/pastor/ today when young guys want to do business and make money. so they decided to force some people to do the job. usually people conquered in battle . . bla . . bla . . bla . . that was how the separetion began

then somewhere along the centuries, separation mysteriously became segregation . .etc . .etc . .etc things were abused, evil kings came and went and differetn blends were given to culture and then there was stigmatisation. then came the 20th century and toshmann was born. 1st heard about it when i was 20yrs old and i never knew they were there in my village until i lost my mum. i noticed some people were not allowed to come close to my mum's  funeral stuff. when i asked, i got muffled answers and i got the message.

ask another igbo guy about this osu thing and i bet u'll get a different story. meaning, we don't really know what happened. and  . . wait for it . . . it's not only osu o  (this is no laughing matter) there is also umeh, . . i hear those ones are even worse off, osus will not interact with them at all _{(toshmann stop laughing)}

confusion

sugabelly:

I have a question.

How do you know when somebody is an Osu?

toshmann:

ezeagu is right, no igbo guy in this day and age fully understands the osu thing. our parents/grand parents/uncles etc tell us conflicting stories. my mother said she does not even understand it fully. she heard it first when she was applying to be a teacher in the 60s. that na my mama o, wey be another generation.

this lends credence to my earlier statement that this thing will die off if no one talks about it. imagine if my mother never heard about it.

anyway, to answer ur question, in summary, there were igbos who were reserved to serve the gods (just like the jews had the levites) they were to live near the shrines and serve the juju/gods/amadioha _whatever. they were consecrated to serving these gods and to be separated from the people so they can focus. but no one wants that job. just like becoming a priest/nun/pastor/ today when young guys want to do business and make money. so they decided to force some people to do the job. usually people conquered in battle . . bla . . bla . . bla . . that was how the separetion began

then somewhere along the centuries, separation mysteriously became segregation . .etc . .etc . .etc things were abused, evil kings came and went and differetn blends were given to culture and then there was stigmatisation. then came the 20th century and toshmann was born. 1st heard about it when i was 20yrs old and i never knew they were there in my village until i lost my mum. i noticed some people were not allowed to come close to my mum's funeral stuff. when i asked, i got muffled answers and i got the message.

ask another igbo guy about this osu thing and i bet u'll get a different story. meaning, we don't really know what happened. and . . wait for it . . . it's not only osu o (this is no laughing matter) there is also umeh, . . i hear those ones are even worse off, osus will not interact with them at all _{(toshmann stop laughing)}

confusion

pres-elect:

the less we talk about this osu thing, the earlier it will go . . . .

Negro_Ntns:

Thanks for that link.

I sympathize but I am not apologetic for sounding tribal here, heck, the fact that, intra-Igbo, you will even discriminate along blood line gives me immunity to attack you without fear of any remorse. We are talking here about those who unjustly and ruthlessly condemned men and women of certain traits within their ethnic group and the children and fore children of those persons to treatments undignified and subhuman and forced it upon them as a birthright to remain in that state of mind and fate without hope of redemption but only in death. Speaking of death. . . do the osus have separate graveyards too or can they be buried anywhere regardless of status? There is a victim and there is a victimizer. Shame on those who had the power and the might to uplift their brothers and sisters but instead trodded upon their natural given rights to liberties and independent spirit.

I have heard of osu before but never paid it attention because I thought it was a cult in Igboland. Every tribe have their cults but I am very familiar with Yoruba and Hausa tribes and neither one of those have a discrimination based on birthrights where people are forbidden to interact or cross breed beyond status boundaries. I am shocked!

Now, so there has to be a far deeper problem, for every paragraph written there has to be much more that is left undisclosed. To think that in 2009 a freeborn Igbo carries a curse and risks ostracisation for marrying a osu then there is a spiritual dimension to that bloodline that makes it abominable to mix blood with them. What is it?

Far worse, why should a Yoruba person, man or woman, marry an Igbo if the risk exist that he/she is marrying a cursed bloodline? As I said in the opening, I am not apologetic for my tribal tone but I sympathize with the victims. This discussion need to go in depth. I sincerely feel very sad for those in here that may be osu bloodline and please do not identify who you are, don't do it, it might come back to haunt you amongst your own ethnic people. This is like a white American saying interracial marriage between whites and blacks are forbidden and its a code violation punishable by lifelong exile for offenders.

KarmaMod:

lmao denial isnt gonna change anything.