Igbo traditional rulers have recently intensified efforts to rid Igbo Land of the so called Osu Caste discrimination.
It is in this atmosphere that a popular Nairalander named MANNABBQGRILLS took to social media to deliver a missile hit on the obnoxious system. Read what he wrote below that is generating reactions on the internet.
For those of us that have forever been wondering, what OSU OUTCAST means, here you have it…..
The Osu caste system, which is prevalent in Anambra, Imo and some areas in Ebonyi states, discriminates against families which in the ancient times were dedicated to the local deities because human sacrifice was required to cleanse the land of abominations. The Osu were mostly slaves and other categories of persons considered as “inferior”, as opposed to those who were “freeborn” or “Nwadiala”. As outcasts, they were discriminated against and not accepted by the mainstream of society.
In spite of efforts by clerics, political leaders and social crusaders to consign this system to the dustbin of history it is still being stubbornly observed in many communities. In 1956, the Eastern Nigerian House of Assembly had passed a law abolishing it, but it was not implemented.
There is no reason for this caste system to remain in these modern times. Slavery was abolished long ago, and no human sacrifice is going on anywhere in Nigeria except as a criminal offence linked to some dark cults. The constitution of Nigeria declares every person free and equal before the law. All Nigerians are constitutionally entitled to fundamental human rights, which include the right to freedom from discrimination and the dignity of the human person.
To end the Osu and similar inhuman caste systems wherever they are being practiced in Nigeria requires a combination of cultural reforms, law enforcement and active sensitisation. Serious legal actions need to be taken against any form of discrimination and dehumanisation.
We call on traditional authorities and churches in Igboland to prevail on every community still practising the Osu caste system to abolish it.
SAY NO TO OSU CASTE SYSTEM and let us all live as brothers and sisters in peace.
Thank you!
