USA Africa Dialogue Series - Igbo Caste Practices and Her Original Sins [ Paradox of Self Demonisation by Nigeria's Ndigbo ]

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Daniel Akusobi <dakusobi@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jun 26, 2016 at 6:52 AM
Subject: Igbo caste practices and her original sins
To: naijaevent@googlegroups.com, "OKONKWONETWORKS@googlegroups.com" <OKONKWONETWORKS@googlegroups.com>

The Igbos, Osus and the the sins of our forebears

       dan akusobi

Jerome,

With a heart full of tears and regret for a sin I did 

not commit, nor would have supported if I knew 

or lived when it was popular, I tell this tale I knew 

I must not take to my graves . My dad and mom felt

same way and retold us same story until 

both passed.

It is an ugly tale of how some inhuman acts by fellow

humans those day created a stigma and wounds 

in some fellow Igbos no River Jordan nor any verses 

of the bible nor God himself has been able

to cleanse. It is a story of the Osu practice, the way

I heard my dad, mom and senior brother tell it.

I heard the then government of Eastern region of 

Nigeria tried to abolish the Osu caste practice. I think

the most it was able to do was stopping new 

inductions into the Osu caste legion. There are 3 major

caste systems my dad said were common and very

bad he witnessed growing up and did his best to 

comfort victims and made them feel they are humans

too. One is the Osu caste practice. This is the most 

popular and common for reasons, the article below 

generously explained. 

The others are the Une  and Ohu castes.

I have not yet understood what Ume is. The most

I know is bringing an Ume into the family, as may happen

in some marriages do, according to some traditional 

belief, bring bad luck as evidenced 

by miscarriages, death of babies and decline in family

wealth and peace as soon as an Ume is brought into

a family. Some believe it's better to marry an Osu than

living with an Ume.

An ohu is the mildest with least or minimal stigma than

Osu or Ume. 

An ohu is a person sold into slavery that did not gain back 

his freedom . Reasons for not gaining back his or her  freedom from 

his master includes none paying back the money 

with interest charges during the sales, for the Igba 

Ibe, ( lease ) type or the slave was so good, respectful and 

hardworking that his master decided to adopt him,

give him ( settle him) with some land and economic 

trees and making him enjoy free association with 

the rest of his family. The Masters sometimes helped 

them marry. 

My family history does not have a record

of having any worker my grand father and his brother,

Duruh never paid and let go home at the end of 

each work day. People that processed Palm and 

Palm produce for 

my dad and mom before Biafra were duly paid and 

helped to marry before Biafran soldiers from Akwka,

as claimed by one of them that cared to talk to my 

dad the day they came to dismantle my dads oil processing

mills ,  12 of them,  invaded, dismantled and hauled

the scraps away. It was in 1969. 

On Osu caste 

A vocal pastor in Aba, once preached for a month on the 

evils any discrimination by an Igbo on another 

Igbo on the bases 

of that evil practice, Osu practice is  is un - Christianly. 

His audience pretended they understood him and 

seemingly tried to know they would be hell bound

like the pastor promised if they discriminate against 

any Osu or Ume or Ohu they know. 

Few weeks later, an elder in elders meeting asked 

the pastor if he would let his son marry a known 

Osu. The pastor has  a resounding "no" answer to

to the enquiry before the question landed. 

I have witnessed some descendants of the ugly

practice trace their family history and home before 

their ancestors were inducted into the bad the 

institution is. They moved back and were given 

back all their ancestral inheritance other people,

the so called diallas took over when their grand and 

great grand fathers were chased out of town into the shrines 

said to be protective of whoever pledges allegiance to 

it .

They were fully welcomed back "home" and

made a part and parcel of every rights and 

privileges enjoyed by diallas.

The guys among them got married to whoever

they wanted and they live happily thereafter.

There are countless ugly history behind some of the 

inductions into the caste practice . 

Apart from reasons of committing what a community

may call an abomination, thereby meriting death or

a choice to be cast to the shrines, usually near most

Igbo markets in the areas that practiced it, some 

families that wanted to protect themselves from 

invasion by stronger families did in fact chose to be 

Osu than being let to be wiped out by a stronger family or  village

or a rival family.

There is a well known case of that nature in a part 

of Igbo I know. One dad noticed that all his family 

men have been killed by an invading village seeking to grab

their lands . He was alive because he was 

not home the day of the invasion. The stronger family

had more male kids and limited family land ownership.

They needed more lands to go around all their male 

kids. The only way they thought to increase their 

land ownership was to invade and kill off every male

in the other family that had  more land but fewer male

kids.

This man came back and noted he was going to be

the only man living. He feared for his life, his kids and

his 3 wives. 

His wives had  already ran away with all their kids 

the night the invaders came. They got a tip off from

a member of the invading family said to be friending 

one of the wives. 

The invaders came to take the man and he 

fought back and took some heads . They ran and 

came back 

with greater army hired from Ndi izuogu.

The man knew  the  only way he could live was run

to the agbara and declare himself an Osu. 

They chased him until he ran into the market, hugged,

shrine tree . They  said, the tree symbolized  the gods of the 

osus and he was left alone. Kissing or bowing and 

hugging the tree was a quick way of pledging allegiance

to Osu shrine. 

His three wives learned of his ordeal. His first wife 

refused to join his other 2 wives to live as Osus. 

She became a girl friend to a powerful man from 

the invading families. She was spared. She had only

one son who later died.

She went back to her father and lived free until death.

She had only that boy that died.

The other wives lived "free" and unhappy with their 

husband in Osu kindred. 

One of the kids, a young boy, then 12, during the 

incidence grew up as an Osu. His dad and grand dad

already died and he decided never to marry so he

does not subject any child to his  ordeal. He planned to 

fight back even it it would take his life and he did.

He became 25 and decided to move back to their 

ancestral home with every surviving members of his 

family.

They moved back and he started reclaiming all the 

vast lands and economic trees belonging to his family

that were shared among the invading families.

He got back a lot of them. The rest he could not get

lingered until the late 1980es when his own kids 

were grown and able to finance a long stretch  land

suit battle in the courts. Today, he has claimed back

every land and other of his ancestral family property

in the hands of the other village and families that 

invaded them.

All of them are today living free and happy and marrying

Diallas , same way other none osus do.

A very practical man he was. He married 5 wives despite

every pages of the bible he read. He encouraged 

his children to marry a minimum of 2 wives  each  citing 

they can sacrifice their need for heaven for the 

interest of the future of his family.

The idea of marrying more wives was for making 

more kids so no other family would invade them

without a reasonable push back.

The story above was direct from my father and 

confirmed by the man that took back his family to 

his ancestral home. My dad helped plan their return 

and fights to get back all they lost. 

I once asked my mom why our house was too far 

away from most houses in my village. She said my 

grand father was a very dangerous warrior 

commanding mercenaries he could recruit from Arondiuzuogu and other nearby towns such as Aguata. 

He moved his family very close to the village that housed the caste people to give them protection . According to my mom and dad, some wicked diallas used to kidnap the osus and sold them out into slavery. 

Mom told me grand pa used to have warriors parole 

an Osu village in day and night time to give them protection.

Knowing Aguzie, my grand father, and Duru his brother

and how easily they chopped of the heads of anyone

daring my family and any human especially the Osus

and the ohus , no human ever tampered with any Osu 

until both died. They lived very long. 

End of this part of a story I like to tell for a reason.

All rights reserved.

The Osu caste system is Igbos original sin as sinful or 

more sinful than the effects of slavey.

It's sad that the observance of the practice has 

somehow continued in some Igbo villages despite 

the invasion of our psyche by the bible.

 I wish there is a way to abate it finally.

Sad, bad and too sad , the stigma the practice

and life the descendants of that inhuman acts is , 

for today's age.

Dan Akusobi.

NY

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 25, 2016, at 4:24 PM, JEROME NIANG <jeromeyakubu20@gmail.com> wrote:

Osu caste syst

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 25, 2016, at 4:24 PM, JEROME NIANG <jeromeyakubu20@gmail.com> wrote:

Osu caste system in Igboland, 
southeastern region of Nigeria.

OK, OK, OK.

I know this will turn so many stomachs among my Igbo people reading this, both the ones whose ancestors are VICTIMS of the OSU CASTE SYSTEMS or those whose parents were/are the 'MASTERS' who ENSLAVED and DEHUMANIZED their own Igbo brothers, but are very ashamed of it today.

The children of the OSU CASTE SYSTEMS are easy to identify, they are always very STRANGE in the public.

They are the ones that often HO! HA! themselves everyday and there are some who even call themselves 'WHARF SNAKE', a prince in a city where nobody speaks his father's language.

Those children of the OSU CASTE SYSTEMS are the ones that never smile or laugh at any jokes, because they have no reasons to laugh.

They are always in the BACKGROUND of every discussions, because it is in their blood

They are the ones that are always bent on DESTROYING others at any instances of disagreement.

They never debate, they argue senselessly, they possess few sharpened cutlasses, willing to roll another human being's head at any slight confrontation.

As a matter of fact, If any Iyanminrin Igbo in these forums hates Jerome Niang Yakubu, S.E., P.E. without any specific reasons, there's a 95% chance, such Iyanminrin Igbo have an OSU caste systems DNA in him.

Someone forwarded this to me and begged me to comment on it.

Read am here yourself:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/osu-caste-in-igboland/

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Osu caste in Igboland 

On October 9, 20107:35 pm 

In Viewpoint0 Comments By Tony Uchenna 

A vote against discriminatory practices in the name of Osu caste in south east Nigeria. 

Osu caste system is an obnoxious practice among the Igbo in south east Nigeria which has refused to go away despite the impact of Christianity, education and civilization, and the human rights culture. 

Many people have condemned the system which has traumatized many innocent people but the problem persists. But one fact is that the Osu system of 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'. 

They are the masters while the Osu are the people dedicated to the gods; so they are regarded as slaves, strangers, outcasts and untouchables. 
Chinua Achebe in his book, No longer At Ease, aptly describes Osu thus: "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 Osus are treated as inferior human beings and kept 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; they reside very close to shrines and market places. 

The Osu are not allowed to dance, drink, hold hands, associate or have sexual relations hip with the Nwadiala. They are not even allowed to break kola nut at meetings or 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. 

According to human rights groups, some of the atrocities meted out against the Osu in Igboland include: parents administering poison to their children, disinheritance, ostracism, organized attacks, heaping harvest offering separately in churches, denial of membership in social clubs, violent disruption of marriage ceremonies, denial of chieftaincy titles, deprivation of property and expulsion of wives. 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 side 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, while married couples have been forced to divorce because of the Osu factor. 

Chinua Achebe also notes 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." Sometime last year, a young educated Igbo man, a successful business entrepreneur based in Atlanta (USA) had been engaged to be married to an Igbo lady, who was a medical doctor. The Igbo lady was already pregnant for the man. 

During the customary family introduction, it was discovered that the lady was an "Osu" and immediately the wedding arrangements were terminated. The lady gave birth to a baby boy and now lives in Houston (USA) as a single parent. The Igbo man has refused any form of contact with the lady and his child with all the education, western culture, civilization and exposure to Christian teachings. 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. Months later, I learnt that the marriage plan had been cancelled 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 emotional trauma as a result of this cultural malaise. 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, super-naturalism 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. 

The discriminatory Osu practice involves inequality in freedom of movement and choice of residence, inequality in the right of peaceful association, inequality of residence, inquality in the right of peaceful association, inequality in the enjoyment of the right to marry and establish a family, (and) inequality in access to public office. That is the crux of the matter with Osu caste in Igboland. If one may ask, could a right exist if it is not enforced? To put it differently, can a right exist without a specific legislation that provides for its protection and remedies when violated? Oddly enough, the victims of the Osu system do not have any legal remedy in Igboland. And strangely, some people believe that the humiliating Osu caste system is a part of the Igbo culture nobody should tamper with. 

The Osu case system in Igboland seems to have changed the meaning of  life for the group of people branded Osu. The maltreatment meted out to the Osu has forced many of them to migrate to other countries, many development projects abandoned, marriages dissolved and pregnancies terminated. 
In fact, so many crimes against humanity have been committed against individuals and groups in Igboland in the name of Osu. The Osu caste system has caused communal strifes and wars between the Osu and the Nwadiala in Igboland. 

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. Based on the above, I suggest that something drastic has to be done to eradicate this obnoxious system. There is the urgent need for all Igbo leaders of thought, the traditional rulers, the governors, the clergymen and all the people that matter to come together and enact a law out-rightly banning the system generally in Igboland as there is no basis for its continued existence. 

* Uchenna is resident in Enugu.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/osu-caste-in-igboland/

Dan,Your candor is noted and greatly appreciated!

Many of us also learned of these ugly practices that were (and to some extent are) in vogue throughout the Igboland. 

These ugly practices, some of which sadly continue to date in Igboland are major obstacles preventing this otherwise endowed group from attaining any meaningful unity. My disappointment and dismay have been that current Igbos refuse to tackle these ugly practices. Easy to do? Ofcourse not. But not trying as this generation of Igbos has effectively done is mind boggling! 

Make noise about what "they do to us", agitate all you want, lie about the causes of civil war, call on the world to come "save us", etc, all you want but until we, Igbos, rid ourselves of all these ugly practices, these cancerous polyps, etc, this critical unity will continue to elude us. 

Boy, how many times have some of us called on Igbos (in diaspora in particular) to come together to lead a fight aimed at complete elimination of these destructive and extremely dehumanizing practices handed to us by our naive, ignorant, and selfish forebears but to no avail. We just believe that time would just make these disappear. Sure! We just think that having Igbo village in Virginia where some 10 to 15 folks go every year to seek for affirmation from one or two oyibo from Virginia (Virginia!) would just wash these away. Sure. Where have such approaches washed away things that hurt and continue to hurt others? We still discriminate, we still demean, we still honor some elements of slavery, etc. We do these things thinking and believing that those affected would just accept them and embrace us. Sure! 

Folks we cannot sweep these under the bed and letting them lie down (as someone once told me) is foolish. Holocaust was not swept, slavery in America was not, etc, so what made us believe that we could do so to such inhuman practices that affected and still affect us all? Practices that constitute the worst inhuman practice in the world! Holocaust, as bad as it was, does not come close to slavery nor to the Osu system in terms of debilitating and lingering effects! Not close at all! So how can we sit and expect the descendants of the stupid Osu system to just smile and join us even as we reject them today?! We want the families whose children were taken, dehumanized and sold to slavery to just see us as "brave", "gods children", eh? We want those we labeled as "ohus" to just say "Igbo kwenu" let us break the kolanut! Common! Where have we really been, I have often asked? Which world do some us live in? 

These are some things that the current Igbos (especially those of us in diaspora, with those of us in USA leading) should consider doing:

1. Make over 80% of the agenda in all Igbo "conventions" and similar gatherings be discussions about the ugly practices Dan nicely captured above.

2. Speakers would be those who would bring out ALL the evil practices as we know them (hello Dr. Osuji, yes that Osuji! We need him! On the other hand, We do NOT need those like Rex Nwakanma, Ezeana, etc who have the tendency to palliate these problems to make Igbos "feel good" even as the core is being destroyed!) With all due respects, these do not help Igbos! (My opinion ofcourse). They should join in the meetings and discussions, but should not be key speakers, unless they are ready to stop this "make us feel good" approach that satisfies their selfish desires while giving the entire group a false sense of unnecessary "worth"! A feeling that clouds the future of a group and if not controlled, can lead to self destruction! 

3. These discussions would take more than one gatherings. Ten may not even be enough. Thus this rush for a quick fix must be thrown out before coming into the discussions. It may even take more than a year! Perhaps a lot more! 

4. We should invite those we know that still suffer from these practices to come and speak out. Similarly, those whose forebears participated directly or indirectly should feel free to speak. This group and the group above have lots of critical information to share! Just as Dan just did! 

5. Goal is "simple": bring out all the evil practices. Discuss them. Seek for solutions. 

Would doing above be easy,  especially with many of us at that age where rigidity in beliefs has set in. At that age where age-related debilities have set in. At that age where many have formed an opinion. Etc, etc. ofcourse not! But folks, not trying is a high level cowardice. At the minimum, we should begin the discussions. I would participate in many. In fact, I would volunteer to serve as a moderator for these meetings and follow up workshops. With time, I would even pay for the cost of some of these discussions! Yes, I would! 

Look, many of you on this forum has condemned me for not "being true Igbo" (whatever that means!) , for being a "sell out" (to whom I often ask as a laugh!), etc. I care less for if you truly know me, you would know why such accusations, insinuations, etc do not even come close to having any effect on me. My father was regarded as a great man by those who knew/know him well NOT for any riches (he was not rich materially. He was rich in principle, wisdom and humanness!) Lo, my father rejected all these practices, fought them and as he told me the story, was even nearly rejected by his community for openly speaking against these and many ugly practices that were in vogue during his time. Yet he remained firm on his conviction that such were ugly! Like a few others who were so brave to speak out against such injustices at the time, he lost some "friends" and even some family members but he persevered and won! Now how do some of you think that your threats, your accusations and your insinuations would discourage me, his son? Common! I have even seen signs in my children that they would carry this touch of fighting unjust practices! Thank god my current wife understands and has joined! How about you? You can start today! What holds you? Losing friendship? Being caused by a few on this forum? Common! 

Joe

Sent from my iPhone

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