The Osu Caste System: An Overstayed Igbo Practice, By Nwabunnia

First and foremost, what is Osu caste system? Many definitions/descriptions exist. I will supply 2 of such postulations. 

One definition puts Osu as a people and their descendants who were forcefully against their free will, consecrated unto a deity in the time of the old, either to appease such deity or as an offering from the worshipers of the said deity.

Another definition puts it as a group of people and their descendants who willingly consecrated themselves unto a deity in return for protection and other worldly gains from the deity.

Irrespective of how they come into existence, such people were regarded as the property of the deity in question, and the overriding effect today is that they are regarded as Osu while others are free born. Implications include that the Osu people are not allowed to intermingle by way of friendships, marriages, and other sociocultural activities with the free born. And where any free born disobeys this rule, he/she automatically becomes Osu with his/her relations unless his/her relations disown him/her publicly.

It is an archaic practice which is no longer desirable in present day Igbo Land and you are not likely going to see anybody consecrating himself or being forced to consecrate himself unto a deity today, but the consequences of the old time events are still reverberating in the modern day Igbo cultural practices.

Today, Igbos are predominantly Christians, and the descendants of the early Osu castes are virtually Christians affiliated to different denominations. Some descendants are even pastors, Reverend fathers and sisters, evangelists and so on and so forth. It therefore begs the question why? Why do we still regard born again Christians as ''Osu'' and others as free born? Could it be that we don't really believe in Christ as we proclaim daily? Even in the house of God, you see fellow Christians attending same churches segregating against such people who are also members of their churches? The bible made us understand that if you accept Christ as your lord and personal savior, old things including ''Osu caste'' are washed away and everything becomes new? Why then are Christians still involved in this ugly discrimination?

If we believe in God, we should accept all human beings as his creation most especially our own brothers and fellow Christians. We should cease and desist from calling fellow Brethren ''Osu and or Ume''
Tradition is ever evolving, and its high time we threw this outcast thing into the dust-bin of history. We cannot be perpetually held captive to the vices of our forebears who knew not what they were doing while indulging in such practices.

It pains my heart when I see good relationships that could have led to happy marriages ruined because of this Osu caste nonsense. In present day Igbo land, this segregative practice is still more pronounced in many towns in Abia and Imo states. It has gradually died in Anambra state where people now talk about it in hushed and unimportant tones. I don't really know its true status with regards to Enugu and Ebonyi states.

Whatever the case may be, my advice to any Igbo man or woman being affected by this obnoxious practice is to damn the consequences and marry whomever he/she loves irrespective of the person's caste status. It is only in so doing that it'll become an acceptable norm to the generality of the people.

Osu caste practice is an obsolete practice that outlived its usefulness centuries ago. It's mind burgling how people still allow it to dictate to them whom they should and shouldn't relate with in this 21st century? The most annoying part of the whole mess is that some if not most of those deities are no longer in existence as their shrines have since been turned into residential compounds, church premises, football fields, major roads, village squares and market places etc, yet, we still discriminate against these innocent generations. WHY?