It amazes me to know that segregation abounds among the igbos, and this also goes to show that some parts of this country are yet to even commence civilization. My igbo friend was dating a girl, both were so much into each other, a day barely passed without my friend mentioning the girl's name or calling her. I was so jealous of their relationship that i always pray for God to grant me someone i would love and would as well reciprocate my love like my friend and his babe. Nobody would have predicted that culture could sour this almost perfect relationship. It was not until this lady confessed to be an OSU that my friend started avoiding her like plague, he stopped picking her calls, never returned her text messages and whenever i talk to him about her he would tell me to mind my business.
So. I would like to know what is really wrong with marrying the so called outcast.

Moderator pls kindly delete one of the posts

^^ And what makes them "outcasts"?

Efemena_xy: ^^ And what makes them "outcasts"?

I don't know, I'm not an igbo boy.

So why talk about what you know nothing of? Cheap publicity stunts in the family section will get you no where.

Did you actually read this post before commenting? Pls don't act dumb i beg, i posted this for discerning nairalanders to explain if there is any real consequence in marrying an OSU

Efemena_xy: So why talk about what you know nothing of? Cheap publicity stunts in the family section will get you no where.

It's a question even our 10th generation past have been able to answer, what makes you think you will get your answers here? BTW use the search engine before starting a topic

jennykadry: It's a question even our 10th generation past have been able to answer, what makes you think you will get your answers here? BTW use the search engine before starting a topic

Has the topic been posted b4? Anyway sha thanks for your advice

boron10: Did you actually read this post before commenting? Pls don't act dumb i beg, i posted this for discerning nairalanders to explain if there is any real consequence in marrying an OSU

You're the dumb one for posting this piece of junk here, in the hope of creating a heated debate.

boron10: It amazes me to know that segregation abounds among the igbos, and this also goes to show that some parts of this country are yet to even commence civilization. My igbo friend was dating a girl, both were so much into each other, a day barely passed without my friend mentioning the girl's name or calling her. I was so jealous of their relationship that i always pray for God to grant me someone i would love and would as well reciprocate my love like my friend and his babe. Nobody would have predicted that culture could sour this almost perfect relationship. It was not until this lady confessed to be an OSU that my friend started avoiding her like plague, he stopped picking her calls, never returned her text messages and whenever i talk to him about her he would tell me to mind my business.
So. I would like to know what is really wrong with marrying the so called outcast.

Your friend told you to mind your business and refused to explain to you why he is avoiding the lady?
He should be in the best position to explain to you why he doesnt want the 'OSU'.

But you decided to find out more for yourself?

Anyway, I dont know much about OSU but got an advise, if you are interested in the lady, go ahead and marry her...? Forget this OSU topic abeg.

I knew of a kindred in my village that were "OSU" they later decided to perform some sacrifices and called the whole village that no body should regard them as OSU anymore that they have cleansed themselves from the cause. After 2 months of the cleaning and renaming of there linage, there elderly ones started dieing, both family members abroad they continue to die one after the other, followed by the younger ones. One day a man from their linage noticed that it is really going out of hand, after burying his wife and two of his elderly sons in less than two weeks, he took a drum and a stick and started announcing to the whole village that he is truly an OSU and all his linage are OSU including the ones abroad and those in the country that he vouch on behalf of all his linage and as from that day, things became normal again.

This is truly a life story it happened in my presence. I think that they made the decision out of frustration. This OSU are known to be rich, there guys are the most handsome, and there girls are know to be the most beautiful. Compiled with there high standard of intelligence. They always come first in all the school activities while I was in the secondary school. But apart from all this that stigma OSU still follows them.

They (OSU's) are not regarded in my community, they are not allowed to talk in my community gathering meeting. They are not allowed to contest in any political position in my community despite their riches.

My grand father is a CATHCHIST in the Catholic church in my home town, he is a well known educated man. But when he noticed that my cousin has fallen in love with an OSU, he didn't take it lightly until the relationship got dissolved.

It is absolutely barbaric. If I eventually fall in love with one I will definitely go ahead. With my arrangements with nobody's consent.

watchme: I knew of a kindred in my village that were "OSU" they later decided to perform some sacrifices and called the whole village that no body should regard them as OSU anymore that they have cleansed themselves from the cause. After 2 months of the cleaning and renaming of there linage, there elderly ones started dieing, both family members abroad they continue to die one after the other, followed by the younger ones. One day a man from their linage noticed that it is really going out of hand, after burying his wife and two of his elderly sons in less than two weeks, he took a drum and a stick and started announcing to the whole village that he is truly an OSU and all his linage are OSU including the ones abroad and those in the country that he vouch on behalf of all his linage and as from that day, things became normal again.

This is truly a life story it happened in my presence. I think that they made the decision out of frustration. This OSU are known to be rich, there guys are the most handsome, and there girls are know to be the most beautiful. Compiled with there high standard of intelligence. They always come first in all the school activities while I was in the secondary school. But apart from all this that stigma OSU still follows them.

They (OSU's) are not regarded in my community, they are not allowed to talk in my community gathering meeting. They are not allowed to contest in any political position in my community despite their riches.

My grand father is a CATHCHIST in the Catholic church in my home town, he is a well known educated man. But when he noticed that my cousin has fallen in love with an OSU, he didn't take it lightly until the relationship got dissolved.

It is absolutely barbaric. If I eventually fall in love with one I will definitely go ahead. With my arrangements with nobody's consent.

@the bolded

All I can say: Dump of Crap!!

.

Op , your question is too brazen. Notice that most easterners renowned for their exposure here on NL have only either just read the post or tactfully avoided the discourse.
Now you will wonder why with thier level of education, they are still being held under such belief. You think heh ? They are all as scared stiff as your friend who wouldn't proceed with his marraige.
The easterners have the highest concentration of christians among all tribe's in Nigeria but then, just as a previous poster has alleged. Some highly reverred preists wouldn't even subscribe to their children marrying the category in question.
It is obvious amidst all this that it is either the education has yet to permeate their social order or rather when they claim to worship God they strongly believe the god's must be worshipped too.
Ofcourse, so far we have only heard people screaming do not discriminate cos he who is in christ is a new creature old this have passed away.
Do not be fooled, the discrimanatory and disturbing order of the caste system is still deeply rooted in the tradition of the easterners.
Now that education couldn't save them , neither could religion what do you think will ? I'm afraid they will forever be held captive by their own receptive mind's.

Wow......... Thumpsup to the contributors of this enlightening thread......
As a yoruba-guy, can i get married to an Osu......cause i like igbo-girls.....even my mum is from the east....

Please any enlightened Igbo person should help us understand this phenomenon. What did they do to make them an outcast? What is the way out of it? Can they ever be free?

Royal Roy: Please any enlightened Igbo person should help us understand this phenomenon. What did they do to make them an outcast? What is the way out of it? Can they ever be free?

i think their wrong deeds has been stated above......but what can be the posible way out......and can an outsider get married to an Osu without any negative effects?

watchme: I knew of a kindred in my village that were "OSU" they later decided to perform some sacrifices and called the whole village that no body should regard them as OSU anymore that they have cleansed themselves from the cause. After 2 months of the cleaning and renaming of there linage, there elderly ones started dieing, both family members abroad they continue to die one after the other, followed by the younger ones. One day a man from their linage noticed that it is really going out of hand, after burying his wife and two of his elderly sons in less than two weeks, he took a drum and a stick and started announcing to the whole village that he is truly an OSU and all his linage are OSU including the ones abroad and those in the country that he vouch on behalf of all his linage and as from that day, things became normal again.

This is truly a life story it happened in my presence. I think that they made the decision out of frustration. This OSU are known to be rich, there guys are the most handsome, and there girls are know to be the most beautiful. Compiled with there high standard of intelligence. They always come first in all the school activities while I was in the secondary school. But apart from all this that stigma OSU still follows them.

They (OSU's) are not regarded in my community, they are not allowed to talk in my community gathering meeting. They are not allowed to contest in any political position in my community despite their riches.

My grand father is a CATHCHIST in the Catholic church in my home town, he is a well known educated man. But when he noticed that my cousin has fallen in love with an OSU, he didn't take it lightly until the relationship got dissolved.

It is absolutely barbaric. If I eventually fall in love with one I will definitely go ahead. With my arrangements with nobody's consent.

Read this novel, "No Longer at Ease" by Chinua Achebe. The protagonist parents (who was the first son of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart) who are Christians are unwilling to let their son marry a lady because their culture regards her as an Osu. Infact, the mother vows to kill herself if he marries her.

.

No one is answering my question.

Philipsdael: No one is answering my question.

my brother , are you surprised ? Most igbo's are christians and cowards too. They claim to be enlightened but then to discuss an issue, they go shitting in their pants.
Funny thing is that some of this scared and bigoted peeps are pastors, deacons, ushers and prayer leaders in their respective churches.
I think the caste system is a lost cause. Igbos will never outgrow it, just like some villages are renowned for eating non natives how sad ?

The Osu Caste System
Leo Igwe
The Osu caste system is an obnoxious practice among the Igbos -in Nigeria-which has refused
to go away despite the impact of Christianity, modern education and civilization, and the human
rights culture. In this piece, I will argue that the Osu discrimination is an outdated tradition with
no basis for its continued practice and observance in the contemporary Igbo society.
Traditionally, there are two classes of people in Igboland – the Nwadiala and the Osu. The
Nwadiala literally meaning ‘sons of the soil’ are the freeborn. They are the masters. While the
Osu are the slaves, the strangers, the outcasts and the untouchables. Chinua Achebe in his well-
known book, No Longer At Ease asks: What is this thing called Osu? He answers: “Our fathers
in their darkness and ignorance called an innocent man Osu, a thing given to the idols, and
thereafter he became an outcast, and his children, and his children’s children forever” The Osu
are treated as inferior human beings in a state of permanent and irreversible disability. They are
subjected to various forms of abuse and discrimination. The Osu are made to live separately
from the freeborn. In most cases they reside very close to shrines and marketplaces. The Osu
are not allowed to dance, drink, hold hands, associate or have sexual relations with Nwadiala.
They are not allowed to break kola nuts at meetings. No Osu can pour libation or pray to God
on behalf of a freeborn at any community gathering. It is believed that such prayers will bring
calamity and misfortune.
A human rights group outlined the atrocities meted out against the Osu in Igboland. They
include: ‘parents administering poison to their children, disinheritance, ostracism, organized
attack, heaping harvest offering separately in churches, denial membership in social clubs,
violent disruption of marriage ceremonies, denial of chieftaincy titles, deprivation of property
and expulsion of wives etc.”
The Osu caste discrimination is very pronounced in the area of marriage. An Osu cannot marry
a freeborn. The belief is that any freeborn that marries an Osu defiles the family. So freeborn
families are always up in arms against any of their members who wants to marry an Osu. They
go to any length to scuttle the plan. Because of the Osu factor, marriages in Igboland are
preceded by investigations-elders on both sides travel to native villages to find out the social
status of the other party. And if it is found that one of them is an Osu, the plan would be
automatically abandoned. Many marriage plans have been aborted, and in fact some married
couples have been forced to divorce because of the Osu factor. Chinua Achebe also noted this in
his book. When Okonkwo learns that his son wants to marry Clara, an Osu. Okonkwo says: “
Osu is like a leprosy in the minds of my people. I beg of you my son not to bring the mark of
shame and leprosy into your family. If you do, your children and your children’s children will
curse you and your memory… You will bring sorrow on your head and on the heads of your
children.”
But there have been several efforts and initiatives to eradicate this harmful tradition. In 1956,
the government of the then Eastern Nigeria passed a law abolishing the Osu caste system. The
law freed and discharged anybody called Osu including the children born to such a person. It
declared the practice unlawful – and a crime punishable by law. But unfortunately, 50 years
after the enactment of this legislation, nobody has been prosecuted or convicted for breaking the
law. At best what the legislation has achieved is to drive the practice underground. Also many
religious leaders and traditional rulers have spoken out against the practice. Recently Eze
Enyeribe Onuoha, the traditional ruler of Umuchieze autonomous community in Imo State urged
his community members to abandon the practice. He said: “discrimination against Osus is
irrational, illegal, unjust and archaic and opposed to human rights. It is one Umuchieze(Igbo)
tradition that should immediately be abolished.”
But statements and declarations like this are not uncommon. But they have always fallen on
deaf ears among the Igbo people most of whom think that cultural norms are sacrosanct and
should not be tampered with. So the belief in and practice of Osu caste system continue to wax
strong in Igboland. In 1997, a person alleged to be an Osu was made a chief in a community in
Imo State. But six months later, the community was engulfed in a crisis. And when the case was
brought to the court, the presiding judge noted that though the abolition of Osu caste system
was in the statute, it was an unenforceable law. The chief was dethroned so that peace would
reign in the community.
And not too long ago I met a lady in a friend’s house in Lagos. I was told that she was engaged
to a young man from Imo State. And months later I learnt that the marriage plan had been
abandoned because the lady was said to be an Osu. There have been several instances like that
where young men and women of Igbo extraction have suffered heartbreaks and emotional
traumas as a result of this cultural disease. And now the question is, why is it that this cultural
practice has refused to go away even among educated Igbos. The reason is not far fetched. The
practice of Osu caste system is hinged on religion, supernaturalism and theism. And Igbos are
deeply religious and theistic people. Osu are regarded as unclean or untouchable because they
are (alleged to be) dedicated to the gods. So it is the dedication to the gods that makes the Osu
status a condition of permanent and irreversible disability and stigma.
So this cruel custom will not be eradicated until Igbos begin to realize that gods are imaginary
beings, not objective entities. Igbos need to understand that deities and spirits are mental
constructs used to control and organize the society at the infancy of the human race. And today
that humanity has come of age. Because if one does not believe that the gods and spirits are
real, then the idea of treating someone as unclean or untouchable because the person is
dedicated to any deity does not make sense at all. Even for the god-believing Igbos, the practice
is out rightly baseless. Because most Igbos are Christians and do not profess any belief in the
traditional gods to which the Osu were (alleged to be) dedicated. So, it is both sensible and
appropriate that all Igbos - believers and non-believers alike renounce and abandon this
abhorrent, inhuman and despicable practice. Politically, state authorities must get Igbo
communities and associations to remove provisions in their constitution that bar Osu from
contesting elections or receiving traditional titles. Legally, the courts must begin to enforce the
law abolishing the Osu caste system. And the Nigerian state must rise up to its duty of
protecting and defending the humanity, dignity and equal rights of all citizens irrespective of
their sex, ethnic origin, religion, belief or birth status.
Most importantly Igbos must begin to envision a new society where people can live and interact,
marry and be married, elect and be elected, without division, distinction, discrimination on the
basis of Osu or Nwadiala. Hence I want to use this opportunity to appeal to my people- ndi Igbo :
Please let’s strive to remove this mark of leprosy and shame from the face of our culture and
society.

Thumbsup to you SPAWNX......
I totaly second your comment

Wats osu And doesn't dat translate into some kinda racism

their fore fathers commited a taboo in the old day and ran to their shrine for protection when the villagers wanted to kill them. Since they commited their lives to the gods the villagers declared them outcasts. No one talks to them, sells or buy things from them etc. Truth is if you are not born again do not even think of marrying one.. This is no joke, you must seek Gods intervention befor you venture into marrying one. True christianity has taken over but that curse must be broken else calamity befalls you. So let up not act like we dont know what it means.

Recoverd: their fore fathers commited a taboo in the old day and ran to their shrine for protection when the villagers wanted to kill them. Since they commited their lives to the gods the villagers declared them outcasts. No one talks to them, sells or buy things from them etc. Truth is if you are not born again do not even think of marrying one.. This is no joke, you must seek Gods intervention befor you venture into marrying one. True christianity has taken over but that curse must be broken else calamity befalls you. So let up not act like we dont know what it means.

does this means that those people answering "NWOSU" are once-upon-a-time an outcast?

The Catholic Church has ended osu among Catholics in Imo State. I heard this at a wedding in Owerri where the Arch Bishop said that any Parent who prevents the son or daughter from marrying an osu he/she is in love with will be banished from Catholic Church.

spawnx:
So this cruel custom will not be eradicated until Igbos begin to realize that gods are imaginary
beings, not objective entities. Igbos need to understand that deities and spirits are mental
constructs used to control and organize the society at the infancy of the human race. Because most Igbos are Christians and do not profess any belief in the
traditional gods to which the Osu were (alleged to be) dedicated.

stop exaggerating you st.upid slave!

and isnt your bible a mental brainwashing construct isnt it what made kill many people and tribals around the world. i have burn many bibles in my life and soon i will spread the campaign to burn that evil uncean book.

so our Gods a.k.a. itangible Spiritual Forces are less real than your material man-God. to begn with your God, is not a God. Igbos must realise that they are worshipping a jewish criminal traitor who tried to inspire rebellion against the stable and progressive Pagan Roman EMpire, that ha produce soome of the finest scholars, scientists , philosophers, architects, etc., in the history of mankind.

and now only most Igbos are chritian, NOT ALL! so dont get your hopes too high.

anyways in the coming years, people are already realising the falsity and evil of christianity and will soon move away from it. like for example, how you guyz are now being slaughtered in the relgious section.

Hmmm....
Words flying like rackets....
What i'll say is that...
We ₦igerians are so mentally attarched to spiritism, thus we emphasize and exergerate things that concerns religion....
Letz try and live on the real side of life.

Abagworo: The Catholic Church has ended osu among Catholics in Imo State. I heard this at a wedding in Owerri where the Arch Bishop said that any Parent who prevents the son or daughter from marrying an osu he/she is in love with will be banished from Catholic Church.

Abagworo I think you might be the right person to ask this:

Does the name "Nwosu" mean "child of an osu"?

@Odumchi, Osu has so many meanings in Igbo language just as some words mean so many different things in English.
Osu means an authority or well versed in something.
Example, if you are called Osu ji-it means you are an authority in yam production.
Osunkwa--an authority in music or dance. etc.
If one is called Nwa osu-that means you are a son of an iconic figure.