All the stuff being discussed on this thread is well known to enquiring oyibos and foreigners who also documented them. Its we Africans who like being ignorant of our history and get ultra sensitive at every question

Tpia, no doubt! Ask people for their grandfather name and they post a google link for you. People don't know who they are any more. Thank God for Google, Wikipedia and NAIRALAND ONLINE COLLEGE

Would have never found out Japanese also have "osu"

Modern osu can be found in every culture because the aristocrats will always discriminate against the proletariat when it comes to marriage.

Negro_Ntns:

Tpia, no doubt! Ask people for their grandfather name and they post a google link for you. People don't know who they are any more. Thank God for Google, Wikipedia and NAIRALAND ONLINE COLLEGE

where else do you expect to get origins of anything from except from books and the internet ?
were you there when any of these things took place?
didn't you read yours somewhere or you were born with that knowledge abi?

Hauwa wetin consign you inside?

Infact I dey vex for spikecylinder self wey remove her picture and replaced it with animated one.

Hauwa Dan Allah Ina son gani nki.

Osisi, if you read this thread carefully, you'll see where I told Chinyere that the whole osu situation was alot like the caste system of India. He claims he doesnt see the comparison, perhaps you now do?

Karma,

Abeg reinstate your previous profile pic with green top na

I sincerely dont know what pic you're referring to. Green top?

@Karmamod,
The one you took at home I believe in your living room

nah, you too like chest so am not going to . i don't want you to go into polygamy.

hehehe, karma the guy na wah. he is into you o.

What an arrant nonsense about Yoruba not enslaving its people. May I ask the tribe the Yoruba enslaved? During this period, Edo and Yoruba kingdoms were raiding each other to extinction. In addition, the Arabs and Fulani Caliphate were raiding Yoruba people. If you understood the geography, terrain and vegetation of these areas at that period, you would have realized that the statement of Yoruba enslaving other tribe is a complete crap. It remains as a fact that Yoruba slave boy later became Ooni of Ife.

[/quote]
by Negro_Ntns
Nice try!  Yoruba enslaved people of other tribes, not its own people and the ancient tradition of burying the slaves with the King or using them for sacrificial rituals, abhoring as it sounds today, was a symbol of state power back then
[quote]

Hauwa,

Ki zo ki rungo meni Akoi sanyin anan

@KarmaMod
---- I went and read about the Indian Caste System. I remembered studying it in middle, and high school. I remember the untouchables as well. I see the connection you're making.

stay frozen dayokagoro

Hauwa,

Kei Mugunwa ne. Ina so bargo me jini.

na wao!

Osu was originated from Igbos ancestors, who where in the business of Idol whorship and slave trade, in those days; Igbos buys people as slave{OHU} and dedicate them to the shrine they remains in the shrine, eat with the gods never associate with free ones known as {DIALA} and this slaves come in divers kind. they kidnap some on thier way to the stream and initiate them the gods, some where the poor one that do not have any thing, they can give their child to the rich to borrow money pending when they will get the money to pay and take their child back and failure to get the money the child will be sacrificed to the Idol to serve in the shrine, then as time goes on that this Osu people are multiplying they where sent out to far away bush to build their own house or to the village ancestral idol land.

towards this time, they have expanded in the villages; if you mistakenly enters thier house unknowly then, may be it was raining and you ran to their house or people that use to go to far away market and you enters late night and enter their house to past out the night the villagers will label you as one of them the person automatical turns Osu.

It's too many how osu came in Igbo land but let me stop here. so from this you will understand that nobody was burn an Osu then, it was just from Initiation. So looking at it according to the bible: {2Corinth. 5:17 say "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old thingsare passed away; behold, all things are become new. And the bible recorded " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus}
My fellow Igbo's I will first point out to you that I am not an Osu or Outcast as it is said; but I am telling you that been an Osu is simply as one been possess of evil spirit, or one serving evil spirit they never wanted to be there, but some one else initiated them. And as Jesus Christ is delivering those that were possess so is He delivering even the Osu not that they are possess but seperating them from the evil link of Idol.

Now the people that practiced all this evil are gone, leaving their children to suffer it. So, that you are Osu or not Osu does not make any sence, what you need do is give your life to Christ and renounce all the evil that your Four-fathers did both the person that is Osu and Non Osu because if you are not affected by Osu probably your four-fathers where amongst the people that lured some to this idols that made them to be Osu, so you also is from guilty foundation because both He that sinned and he that made one to sin are both sinners.

those humaneaters.

Osu caste system in Igboland
Contributed by Victor Dike
Wednesday, 28 March 2009
There are many versions of oral information on the origins of the Osu caste system. In the absence of documented
[b]information, oral sources are central to the study of history in Igboland and other parts of Nigeria. There is a paucity of
written information on the issue of the Osu caste system. This is apparently because many people shy away from
discussing the issue for fear of being branded Osu lovers. However, available little documented information show that the
Osu caste system started out of the indigenous religious practices of the Igbos. And the belief was that these gods could
be manipulated in order to protect them and serve their interest.
by Victor Dike

THE Igbos are found mostly in the South Eastern and South Central Nigeria called Igboland or Igbo society (Alaigbo or
Anaigbo). By the late 20th Century the population of the Igbos was about 27 million. The majority of the Igbos are
Christians, but some of them practice the indigenous traditional religion, whose major tenets are shared by all Igbospeaking
people of

Nigeria

. However, a relic of the indigenous religious practice of the Igbos is the dehumanizing Osu caste system, which has
divided and alienated the Igbos.

Therefore, this paper discusses the Osu caste system, an indigenous religious belief system, practiced within the Igbo
nation, with the purpose of bringing the discriminatory, dehumanizing and obnoxious caste system to the attention of the
international community. This is because whenever issues of discriminatory practices around the world are tabled for
discussion in the international community, the repugnant and discriminatory Osu caste system is never mentioned.

The Osu, by definition, is a people sacrificed to the gods in Igbo community. And they assist the high priest of the
traditional religion to serve the deities or the gods in their shrine. It is the belief of many Igbo traditionalists that the
deities, which were (and are still) perceived in some quarters as being very powerful, would wreck havoc in the society, if
they are not appeased.

In some special circumstances, those who hold the traditional beliefs of the Igbos could transform a Diala who committed
certain atrocities against the land into an Osu. This process involved intricate rituals (offering of libations and sacrificing
animals to the earth goddess). Some of the ancestors of the present-day Osu people inherited their dehumanizing social
status this way. That method is now a thing of the old; Western influence has affected this practice. Presently, one could
acquire the Osu status through inheritance and marriage.

For this author, the Osu caste system is a societal institution borne out of a primitive traditional belief system colored by
superstition and propagated by ignorance. It is absurd to categorize a human as a sub-human being. Although this
author is not a member of the group, he condemns the practice of the Osu caste system because it is a human rights
aberration.

The Osu caste system, which is a form of discrimination, has caused inter-communal discords and wars between the
Osu and the Diala in Igboland. And many lives and properties have been destroyed as a result.

According to the United Nations definition, discrimination includes any conduct based on a distinction made on grounds
of natural or social categories, which have no relation either to individual capacities or merits, or to the concrete behavior
of the individual person.

The discriminatory Osu practices involves inequality in freedom of movement and choice of residence, inequality in the
right of peaceful association, inequality in the enjoyment of the right to marry and establish a family, (and) inequality in
The Nigerian Village Square
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 13 March, 2009, 19:42
access to public office. That is the crux of the matter with the Osu caste system in Igboland. If one may ask, could a right
exist if it is not regularly enforced? To put it differently, can a right exist without a specific legislation that provides for its
protection and remedies if violated? Oddly enough, the victims of the Osu system do not have any legal recourse in
Igboland. And strangely, some people believe that the humiliating Osu caste system is a part of the Igbo culture nobody
should temper with. Fortunately, many Igbos have a contrary opinion.

The Osu caste system and the indigenous religious practices of the Igbo nation. All human beings are created equal, but
human experiences are heterogeneous. Some people have had it rough all their lives on earth, while others do not have
a lot to complain about. Naturally, life has the same meaning for everyone, but the Osu caste system in Igboland seems
to have changed the meaning of life for a group of people branded Osu. No historical question gives the Igbos more
concern than that of, “How did the Osu caste system come to be in Igboland?” This section of the paper attempts to deal
with the question.

There are many versions of oral information on the origins of the Osu caste system. In the absence of documented
information, oral sources are central to the study of history in Igboland and other parts of

Nigeria

. There is a paucity of written information on the issue of the Osu caste system. This is apparently because many people
shy away from discussing the issue for fear of being branded Osu lovers. However, available little documented
information show that the Osu caste system started out of the indigenous religious practices of the Igbos.

And the belief was that these gods could be manipulated in order to protect them and serve their interest.

An individual’s fortunes are determined by the by-product of interactions that exist between one’s “chi”, the deities and the
Creator or “Chineke”. Humans interact directly with deities, which function as intermediaries to the Supreme Spirit or
Creator. Being in good terms with powerful deities in one’s domain is an assurance that one is likely to obtain the
largesse of creation while, at same time, minimize the wrath of the forces of nature. It is an individual’s obligation to
observe the customs of the land since their violation could offend the deities; and goodwill and protection from the deities
depends on one’s cordial relationship with them.

The people of Umuaka community in

Imo State

,

Nigeria

, categorize one of their ten villages Osu. Other minor lower caste groups found in many kindred are given the pejorative
Igbo expression of ndi ejiri goro ihe, meaning those who are sacrificial lamb to the gods. They are slaves to the gods of
the community and kindred. As is the case in Umuode in Oruku community, the discrimination of the Diala against the
Osu in Umuaka affects marriage and relationships of love with the Osu and the rest of the community. The Diala is
traditionally and socially abhorred and forbidden to marry an Osu; intermarriage with Osu is an abomination.

In the late 1980s, the Osu people in Umuaka revolted, as they could not take the humiliation from the Diala any more.
They physically assaulted a couple of women from the Diala section of the community, with the intention of transforming
the women to Osu so that the Diala would reject them. [/b]

Monday, May 26, 2008
OSU - THE IGBO UNTOUCHABLES!

For a preamble and for the benefit of those visitors without the necessary background knowledge of the subject here discussed, OSU, like the “Dalits” of India is a caste system in the Igbo speaking areas of South Eastern Nigeria, Africa. [b]OSU are people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure and less human. According to legend, OSU came into being as a result of human sacrifice to the gods wherein a person usually a slave or a war-spoil, instead of being physically killed as a sacrifice to the gods is spared the butcher’s knife and instead dedicated symbolically to the deity as its’ property. The implication therefore is that such a person breathes and exists for the deity and none other; and assumes the stature of a lesser human who has been sacrificed as an offal to the gods. Regrettably these human-sacrifices married and procreated thus transferring unto their descendants the stigma of their “burnt-offering” status; which also make them properties of the gods that their forebears were sacrificed to. The downside is that these “people” because of their very lowly and sometimes “non-existent” status in the society are forced to reconcile their fate to the worthless and basest of a given Igbo society; wherein they found themselves and nobody seriously speaking, wants any association with them be it marriage, neighborhood, business and/or other associations that brings people together. One who is a free born cannot marry the lowly caste OSU and vice-versa. An OSU cannot also aspire to be a high chief or ruler/king in the society wherein they are born. This practice is prevalent within the Igbo society and its denial sometimes is for public relations purposes only. Several legislation have been targeted at this practice which so many have come to regard as inhuman practice aka man’s inhumanity to man; but is the OSU really man or human in the eye of the Igbo society wherein the practice thrives to date?
This blogger remembers quite vividly [/b] too, a traditional ruler (king) who wanted to outlaw the OSU practice. He summoned his Igwe - in- council (cabinet) for a parley wherein he intimated them of his intentions. According to the story, this Chief informed his council that he plans to outlaw the practice of OSU in his domain. After he finished speaking, one of the elders in the council raised his hand for recognition to speak or contribute to the deliberation. He was granted the floor to speak and all he did was ask the Chief if he would, as a show of goodwill allow his daughter to be married away to an OSU. The Chief was livid with anger and demanded to know where from the speaker got his audacity to speak on the subject as it appertains to his princess. And this was the last bus stop for the proposed legislation in the Igwe-n-councilThe irony for victims of OSU practice is that no amount of wealth they may acquire is ever enough to wash them off this stigma. Also their rise in the society of their ancestry is always stunted forcing most of them to take a long hard refuge in a foreign soil where they sometimes live out the rest of their lives agonizing of this fate; which though not self-inflicted but a result of generational apron string, are yoked down irrevocably to the tabooed status of being an OSU. It is such a very painful experience to undergo and no one should wish that - being an OSU on his worst enemy, indeed!
This blogger also knows one prominent well to do family who were living happily until one of the daughters decided to marry. She fell in love with this young medical doctor practicing in New York City – they moved in together and within nine months had a baby. Then the traditional marriage rites started in earnest wherein the man sent words to his family still in Nigeria to proceed with formalizing their relationship. Wherein it was discovered that the bride came from an OSU family and this was no brainier; so the child notwithstanding, the marriage or jactitation or semblance thereto has to be terminated [/b] forthwith because the father of the groom was a politician who would not want any taint whatsoever, of an OSU, as a daughter in-law. The girl moved to the west coast with her daughter and presently lives in southern California as a single mother. The groom has since re-married but the girl has not been that lucky as all the men who came around always jumps the ship as soon as the story of her ancestry reached their ears.

In an article written by one Mr. Leo Igwe and published on April 24th, 2008 in http://www.politicalcortex.com/ titled “CONFRONTING THE OSU PROBLEM IN NIGERIA”, [b][b]OSU caste was succinctly stated as affecting millions of people in Igbo land; who live with this OSU stigma which haunts, hurts and hamper their lives, self-esteem and development till death. According to this writer, the OSU status is permanent, irremediable and irreversible. Further that some Christian churches have preached against the Osu practice but these sermons have fallen on deaf ears and have not in any way positive impacted on this despicable practice. It is so ingrained in the Igbo society that even some of these churches have acquiesced with the practitioners of this [b]OSU and are now practicing it in some fashion; wherein some free-born are indulged their habit of avoiding sitting near with or holding hands with those alleged to be OSU during church services. And during thanksgiving ceremony for instance, according to some reports, sometimes the harvests or offering of the OSU are kept separate from that of the freeborn.[/b]Continuing, the author stated that OSU is of a permanent social disability wherein the OSUS are perceived and regarded as unclean and capable of defiling the free-born. As a consequence of this their very low ebb in the society, the Diala (free-born) relate with OSU as a master relates with a slave or as a healthy person interacts with a leper in order to avoid any social defilement and contamination by an OSU through untoward and/or unsanctioned interaction. An OSU is not allowed to marry or be married from the community of free born and such OSU can only marry a fellow OSU from their own society of OSUS or elsewhere, where they are not identified as such or outside the Igbo tribe. However their offspring remains OSU ad infinitum. OSU brings a generational curse or stigma along with it; and nothing ever washes it away since it is a genetic or hereditary infection which is passed unto offspring after offspring.
OSU are still hated, despised [/b] and discriminated against through out practicing areas in Igbo land. It cannot easily be wished away and no amount of money or material acquisition can otherwise dilute the stigma to an acceptability level. Some unforeseen necessary consequences of this social ostracizing in Igbo land is that many development projects have been abandoned because the community will not accept donations from OSU who sometimes are the wealthiest in the society; many marriages have also been dissolved after it was discovered that a party thereto is an OSU because it is an abomination to have an OSU as an in-law and where pregnancy has resulted, many of such pregnancies have also been terminated just to avoid the transmutation of this social virus down the family tree.
What exactly is the solution to this nefarious social quarantine of a group of citizens simply because of the ancestry of their birth defies every logical fix. There has been several legislative attempts to just legislate it away; but such ingrained-social practice has defied such effort at reformation. It has thrived for so long that to certain degree, it now forms part of the societal bedrock. Even the gov[/b]ernment championing the reformation is populated with citizens who half-heartedly push it because they silently wish it does not go away. More so, they will not do what it takes to make these untouchables acceptable by allowing their own sons and daughters to show good leadership by example through marriage to these sub-human citizens aka OSU . All the monies in the world cannot also wash this social leprosy away and such an unfortunate pedigreed “person” is bogged down in the quagmire of a caste system which he or she accidentally and by virtue of birth found him/herself in.
There is no known clear pathway forward towards absorbing or at least tolerating these lowly-births within the Igbo society. Various opinions exists as to the way forward, which Mr. Leo Igwe described as “three schools of thought representing three different dispositions on the issue”. These schools he further categorized into “the denialist, the apathetic and the realist”. According to Mr. Igwe, the denialist claims that the OSU caste system has been abolished and that it is no longer practiced in Igboland. Coincidentally majority of this school of thought members come from the OSU constituency itself and these are people who would rather wish the practice quietly goes away; and currently live in a state of euphoric hysteria where the practice no longer existed. But to successfully champion the believe of this school of thought, in view of the prevalent practices in Igbo land regarding OSU caste, one has to suspend disbelieve itself. Unfortunately this is not the true position as even the law, purportedly abolishing the OSU caste system, has been merely a paper tiger which has no plausible way of meaningful enforcement[/b]. The intent of the legislation has not been met as it has not primarily stopped people from discriminating against OSU. The “denialists” therefore are not helping the matter at all as they are delusional as to the actuality of existence of OSU caste and hence their position is deceptive and misleading and would not in any way help in eradicating this obnoxious custom.[/b]Further the “apathetic” tells us to ignore the practice and pretend as if it does not exist. They acknowledge its existence but would rather it is not given much weight if any - they adopted this indifferent attitude because they find the practice very embarrassing to be occupying the front pages of discussion in Igbo land. According to this group of postulators, if the OSU system is ignored by all and for so long, it may die off without the need to make it remain very radioactive with its continuous discussion among the populace. For them, the OSU practice should be ignored so that it would fizzle out on its own. But they forgot that there has not been any case in history where oppressive traditions just fizzled out that way. In most cases they are consciously and conscientiously fought, rooted out and defeated. Was it apartheid in South Africa, slavery and racism in United States of America, independence for [b]colonized countries of the world, military dictatorships etc such vicious practices were confronted head-on before they would yield way for a more harmonious society. Should that be the case with the OSU caste system and whether it will work is debatable. [b]The apathetic disposition is cowardly and would not in anyway help in combating this vicious OSU caste system of man’s inhumanity to man which practice has transcended several generations cutting across multiple traditional tenets in Igbo land.
Then enters the the “realist” who acknowledges the existence of OSU practice in Igbo land but admits its complexity; they posit that it would require a lot of hard-work, time, education, reorientation, social, political, and cultural will-power to finally put an end to the practice.
However, this school of realist is the nearest best articulation of the general situation in Igbo land that OSU caste system is very much alive. OSU caste system, it must be admitted is evil, primitive, inhuman and barbaric and hence must be done away with in order for a really modern, homogeneous, enlightened, harmonised and civilized society to truly emerge in Igbo land; and there is no better time to do it than in the present 21st century - the time to do that is NOW [/b] )

Anybody that says osu discrimination is gone is only living in denial as it is still very much around.

I personally know a friend that dated an osu girl for six years (without knowing) and she was very friendly with his family.

When he wanted to marry her, they went to investigate and found out she's osu. That's where everything changed. They insisted that he couldn't marry her. He tried fighting but couldn't change their mind. His mom being a staunch member of the church, he tried playing the christian card. He told her that they should go and ask their pastor for his opinion but the mom replied that even the pastor will not allow his child marry an osu.

That was indeed, THE END OF DISCUSSION!

Hmm. . . can anyone come up with any form of discrimination other than what happens during marriage?   
. . . . . . . .
If not, shut up. Half the people who speak of Osu don't even know what they're talking about it. Why are you bothering yourself with marriage of other people? Marriage is a family to family affair (and in Igboland, even a family to village, or a village to village affair. I'm not sure how it works for other groups). So if someone's family doesn't want that person marrying an Osu family, then so be it. Una dey trouble yourselves over someting wey no concern una.

I am not Igbo, so please pardon the questions;

How would you know that someone is an 'Osu', is it by their name(s) or the village or town they come from?

How prevalent is discriminations against 'Osus' by young people?

Is there (or has there ever been) a prominent person who has been labelled 'Osu'?

AfroCynic, you questions are welcomed.

1. You can't know who is and who isn't Osu, unless you're familiar with the different village communities, and/or the different families' histories.

2. Not very prevalent, if people are constantly hanging with them, dinning with them, accepting things from them, sleeping with them, and marrying them (all of which are traditionally forbidden).

3. There have been (there are) plenty.

ChinenyeN:

AfroCynic, you questions are welcomed.

1. You can't know who is and who isn't Osu, unless you're familiar with the different village communities, and/or the different families' histories.

2. Not very prevalent, if people are constantly hanging with them, dinning with them, accepting things from them, sleeping with them, and marrying them (all of which are traditionally forbidden).

3. There have been (there are) plenty.

Thank you.

One more, are people of 'Osu' lineage still maltreated in their communities?

In terms of maltreatment, the only thing I know of is them not being allowed to marry Diala. I've never heard of any other kind of maltreatment given to them except that.

Who is Diala?

Those who do not come from the Osu lineage.

Ah, I see. i find the whole thing facsinating, I will try to learn more. Thanks for the answers.

the osu cast system is a canker worm that is eating deep into our system. from what i heard from my people they said the osu's where people who ran to big gods/deities for protection from thier enemies and for the gods to give the full protection they needed, they where required to make some sacrifices which included being loyal to the gods in every ramification and the person and his/her generation will automatically become an osu and they usually live very close to the deity. in my town every effort had been put in place to address this issue but to no avail. even people who are married outside our town / state are sometimes warned to be careful of the osu cast system. may God help us.

I find this idea sickening, i have done my research on this and I just cannot believe in this day and age there are people who enable this disgusting practise by doing nothing. I amm shocked by some of the things I have read and to be honest I cannot believe that so called christians and God fearing people would be apathetic to the ongoing discrimsination of a people because of their ancestry, There was a time we black folks as a whole were subjected to this.


Some dude just told me that becuase I am not igbod I cannot possibly understand but that is patent nonsense, wrong is wrong. It'll take action from young people to change this abhorrent practice, so be pro active in you community!

Some people, be they politicians or chiefs or ordinary folks, have a vested interest in the perpetuation of the = status quo, I mean, the so called Osu are good to sleep with but no good enough to marry? hmmn, reminds me of some sorta plantation in in mississippi,

If you don't mind me asking. . . How is the practice sickening? What exactly did you read? Who gave you your information? Do you mind providing me with the URLs? What is abhorrent about the practice?
And the dude that said what he said knows what he's talking about. There's really no way you'd possibly understand, because if the Igbo themselves (in general) don't really [thoroughly] understand it.

[quote="AfroCynic"]I mean, the so called Osu are good to sleep with but no good enough to marry? hmmn, reminds me of some sorta plantation in in mississippi,[/quote]
Does sex mean that marriage is at hand? In order for the above quote to have any effect, it means that sex and marriage both must go hand in hand. Otherwise this question cannot effectively work.

Now i inderstand why it is you have been stalking me! you are an apologist for the shameful way that things are in some Igbo communities. Google it, man, if yoiu are convinced that the practice is not abhorrent, I am glad you responded, now everyone can see what how empty you are. Your stand is disgusting, akin to someone who would whip a slave but claim he has nothing to do with slavery.

You remind me of some southern redneck in the 1940s.  So, you mean to tell me that there so called 'impurity' that forces them to be outcast only comes into effect once marriage occurs? This impurity manages to say locked in it's little compartment during casual sex? You are delusional and I know you know this nonsensical discrimination against your own kith and kin is baseless but of course, you won't admit that, it'll make you look like the a bigot.

ChinenyeN:

If you don't mind me asking. . . How is the practice sickening? What exactly did you read? Who gave you your information? Do you mind providing me with the URLs? What is abhorrent about the practice?
And the dude that said what he said knows what he's talking about. There's really no way you'd possibly understand, because if the Igbo themselves (in general) don't really [thoroughly] understand it.
Does sex mean that marriage is at hand? In order for the above quote to have any effect, it means that sex and marriage both must go hand in hand. Otherwise this question cannot effectively work.

You know, I had no problem with you, up until now. I asked simple questions and you attack my character. Please, answer the questions I posed. Let's make this as civil as possible. I see that you have some kind of passion for this subject (at least, it seems that way to me), and that's fine, just don't turn this topic into a character debate.

AfroCynic:

I am glad you responded, now everyone can see what how empty you are. Your stand is disgusting, akin to someone who would whip a slave but claim he has nothing to do with slavery.

You don't even know my stand in regards to Osu, so you cannot justly claim that it is disgusting. Now, kindly answer the questions formerly posed?