What is Osu: Osu means an outcaste in Igboland. It is Igbo’s version of Apartheid which ascribes an inferior “Osu” status to a group of people that limits their social interaction, marriage relationship of love with the “Diala”. It is an ancient practice in Igboland that discourages social interaction and marriage with a group of persons called Osu which like I already explained means outcast in Igbo.

The Osu are treated as inferior human beings. 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 have sexual relations with Nwadiala, the freeborns. 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 which to me is absolute rubbish.

We are the most religious people on earth. Every Sunday almost 80% of Igbo people go to church so I wonder why this ancient, obnoxious and discriminatory Osu caste system is still prevalent in Igboland? How can we say we are Christians and still look down on some people as slaves or inferior? How can we progress with this kind of hatred, abuse, injustice and stigmatization

THIS IS WHY I HAVE MADE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS WITHOUT FEAR OF ANY CONTRADICTION:

1. If you claim to be a Christian but still call someone osu in this modern age and time then you are a hypocrite and you are going straight to hell.

2. If you have the guts and temerity to call someone osu but you go to CHURCH and pray to God for blessings and protection you are a hypocrite and your prayers can never be answered. Go home and make peace with yourself first.

3. It baffles me how Igbos are crying and shouting marginalization up and down but the same Igbo people ostracize their brothers calling them osu.

4. If a white man calls your sorry ass a black monkey you cry to high heaven's but you are happy to call your brothers osu?

5. I am a freeborn but I don't believe that I am better than anyone. Each time i say these things online some ignorant people will attack me claiming i am osu that's why i am defending them. Truth is I am well traveled free born and I have experienced racial discrimination so i know how the Bleep it feels. It makes you feel less human. It makes you wanna kill yourself.

6. When i was in primary and secondary school Osu used to be a very big issue in my village, BACK then I was ignorant and used to insult those innocent people but it's over 7 years now realized my mistake and asked God for forgiveness. Every right thinking freeborn must join me to speak openly against this injustice.

7. If i was not married I would happily marry an osu girl at worst friends will not want to associate with me and that's very fine with me. You stop feeding me init?

8. I did a research and discovered that the only crime these people committed was idol worshiping which all our forefathers practiced before the white missionaries brought Christianity to Nigeria. So if idol worshiping is what made these people osu then all of us are osu unless you have proof that your great grandfathers didn't worship an idol? We are all sinners but Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, so this Osu bs should stop already.

9. I believe that God created all of us for different purposes, I don't know what is your own purpose on earth if you are in support of injustice and racial discrimination. Apart from helping orphans, widows and the less privileged, part of my mission on earth is to fight injustice and racial discrimination.

10. My name is Ikechukwu but you can just call me Iyk for short. I'm a self-driven entrepreneur and part-time blogger. I established my blog to educate and enlighten people especially Nigerians. I stand for freedom and justice and I've written several articles on this osu caste system which is available at my blog: www.iykbethanygistville.com


Did you learn anything from this post? Or you have something contrary to say? Please let's have your views. Perhaps we can learn from each other. It's very easy to contact me. My handle on all social media is iykbethany (twitter, instagram, facebook, snapchat, linkedin etc.

Culled From IykBethany Blog: https://iykbethanygistville.com/2018/03/22/to-those-igbos-that-call-innocent-people-osu/

U are an idiot OSU no longer exist in iboland.
If it really does incan tell u the percentage is less than 1%. Ever since I was born I swaer I have Neva set my eyes on anyone tagged OSU.

Opening useless topics to get likes and frontpage

There is nothing like Osu again.

Those people above me that are shouting nothing like OSU again...



Were you not in Nairaland when a guy cried out that he was rejected by his fiancee family because he is an OSU and she is Diala (Whatever you call it)




Wait until you want to aspire for a political party, or you want to marry before you will know that OSU exist because people will start digging down to your ancestry

osu system no longer exists even if it does it's on a more lower scale, I don't why anything igbo give some people sleepless nights nawa ooo

fk002:
Those people above me that are shouting nothing like OSU again...

Were you not in Nairaland when a guy cried out that he was rejected by his fiancee family because he is an OSU and she is Diala (Whatever you call it)

Wait until you want to aspire for a political party, or you want to marry before you will know that OSU exist because people will start digging down to your ancestry

Fatherofdragons:
osu system no longer exists even if it does it's on a more lower scale, I don't why anything igbo give some people sleepless nights nawa ooo

sinaj:
There is nothing like Osu again.

Ok it no longer exists? So if your son, daughter, sister, brother etc, decides to bring someone home that they want to marry, and you discovered that person is an Osu, what will you say or do? Tell the truth and let the devil be ashamed, o! fk002, just sit in one corner and wait for his answer. People like Fatherofdragons and sinaj, like to play the ostrich!

LaudableXX:




Ok it no longer exists? So if your son, daughter, sister, brother etc, decides to bring someone home that they want to marry, and you discovered that person is an Osu, what will you say or do? Tell the truth and let the devil be ashamed, o! fk002, just sit in one corner and wait for his answer. People like Fatherofdragons and sinaj, like to play the ostrich!

Leave them they are good at it

PenisCaP:
U are an idiot OSU no longer exist in iboland.
If it really does incan tell u the percentage is less than 1. Ever since I was born I swaer I have Neva sety eyes on anyone tagged OSU.

You called me an idiot for speaking the truth? If you don't like my post why not ignore? Is it a must to comment on every post? I will not go on your level, I will ask God to forgive you.

Every right thinking man in IGBOLAND knows that osu is still a big problem that has refused to go away. Yes it's true that its not like b4 when i was younger and warned not to bath with an osu person. In ikeduru LGA where i come from most people forbid marrying from an osu FAMILY.

Even if you have a contrary opinion why resort to insults and name calling??

iykbethany:


You called me an idiot for speaking the truth? If you don't like my post why not ignore? Is it a must to comment on every post? I will not go on your level, I will ask God to forgive you.

Every right thinking man in IGBOLAND knows that osu is still a big problem that has refused to go away. Yes it's true that its not like b4 when i was younger and warned not to bath with an osu person. In ikeduru LGA where i come from most people forbid marrying from an osu FAMILY.

Even if you have a contrary opinion why resort to insults and name calling??

Maybe it exist in ur family we dont kno..
I still maintain i havent set my eyes on anyone tagged.
Yoruba's have their own abobaku they still practice till date but non1 is opening useless topic abt it.

iykbethany:
You called me an idiot for speaking the truth? If you don't like my post why not ignore? Is it a must to comment on every post? I will not go on your level, I will ask God to forgive you.

Every right thinking man in IGBOLAND knows that osu is still a big problem that has refused to go away. Yes it's true that its not like b4 when i was younger and warned not to bath with an osu person. In ikeduru LGA where i come from most people forbid marrying from an osu FAMILY.

Even if you have a contrary opinion why resort to insults and name calling??

No mind am, jare. He thinks by insulting people, he will succeed in intimidating them and covering up the truth. He has forgotten that the osu issue is like that of agaracha that has entered the market space, and has no hiding place. Trying to pretend that it doesn't exist, will not make it go away...!

PenisCaP:


Maybe it exist in ur family we dont kno..
I still maintain i havent set my eyes on anyone tagged.
Yoruba's have their own abobaku they still practice till date but non1 is opening useless topic abt it.

From your senseless rants it's easy to see how miserable and frustrated you are. Boy I am not the reason why your life is bleeped so kindly channel your frustration to the right quarters.

6. When i was in primary and secondary school Osu used to be a very big issue in my village, BACK then I was ignorant and used to insult those innocent people but it's over 7 years now realized my mistake and asked God for forgiveness. Every right thinking freeborn must join me to speak openly against this injustice.


8. I did a research and discovered that the only crime these people committed was idol worshiping which all our forefathers practiced before the white missionaries brought Christianity to Nigeria. So if idol worshiping is what made these people osu then all of us are osu unless you have proof that your great grandfathers didn't worship an idol? We are all sinners but Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, so this Osu bs should stop already.

Pls and Pls again if u were calling people osu during ur primary school days, don't come and start blaming other people for something they've never even done in their life, osu is more prominent in ur village why not start an awareness there instead of coming to nairaland to write trash, I have never seen an osu talk more of calling somebody osu, all these yolobas here talking about what dey have no knowledge of should face front and mind their business.
and op @ur no 8, I don't think that's true it was not because they worshipped idols, our father then worshipped idols so how can worshipping idols make someone an osu? take ya time ooo.

iykbethany:


From your senseless rants it's easy to see how miserable and frustrated you are. Boy I am not the reason why your life is bleeped so kindly channel your frustration to the right quarters.

No sense dispensed!

Fatherofdragons:

Pls and Pls again if u were calling people osu during ur primary school days, don't come and start blaming other people for something they've never even done in their life, osu is more prominent in ur village why not start an awareness there instead of coming to nairaland to write trash, I have never seen an osu talk more of calling somebody osu, all these yolobas here talking about what dey have no knowledge of should face front and mind their business.
and op @ur no 8, I don't think that's true it was not because they worshipped idols, our father then worshipped idols so how can worshipping idols make someone an osu? take ya time ooo.

At least I admitted what I did in the past out of ignorance unlike you lots that are running away from the truth. Back then it was so bad that we were warned never to patronize any osu owned barbershop.

Wetin even bring yoruba person into this topic? For how long are we going to run away from the truth? For how long are we going to continue to deceive ourselves?

Everyone of us has a mission on earth, maybe you don't know what's your mission but part of my job on earth is to fight injustice and racial discrimination.

It still does exist. Those who are claiming otherwise are lying or in denial. It's one of the biggest and shameful open secrets amongst igbo people.

iykbethany:


At least I admitted what I did in the past out of ignorance unlike you lots that are running away from the truth. Back then it was so bad that we were warned never to patronize any osu owned barbershop.

Wetin even bring yoruba person into this topic? For how long are we going to run away from the truth? For how long are we going to continue to deceive ourselves?

Everyone of us has a mission on earth, maybe you don't know what's your mission but part of my job on earth is to fight injustice and racial discrimination.

and u think bringing this on nairaland will automatically stop the osu cast system? oga abeg take up this matter to ur home town maybe ur aim could be achieved.

Fatherofdragons:
people should stop creating thread as important and sensitive as this on this forum, nairaland is filled with idi0ts who would use this thread as a medium for ethnic bashing, @op if u want a solution to this age long practice start first by seeking help on matured forums or other social media like facebook or whatapp or better still take it up to the people in ikeduru LGA I believe they have a council of elders there and am quite positive that their leaders are not on nairaland, if u really want to stop this osu of a thing, u can but it definitely will not be on nairaland.

This is one reason Nigeria will never move forward because most people hate truth.

First of all I shared this post from my blog to all social media netorks including facebook before i posted it here on Nairaland. I will not stop bc some idiots will use it to trash talk Igbos. SInce we know that other people will use it to abuse us what have we done to stop it? You admitted that it exists but we shouldnt talk about it in the open?

Its better its blown open so that all the clerics in Igboland will talk about it, including poticians, by so doing it will come to a stop bc most Nigerians fear their pastors more than God.

I wont stop bc some nonentities will use it to bash Igbo, I will continue to talk about it here and on other forums. I already started a crusade in my kindred though my uncles are saying they are not part of it bc their forefathers frowned aganst it so I shouldnt involve them and thats fine with me.
From my kindred i will move to the Local Government headquarters when next I come to Nigeria. From local government to the state capital.

It was a white person that stopped slave trade in Nigeria. And now another oyibo lady in Akwa Ibom is rescuing innocent children some fools tag witches.
How is the osu problem going to stop if all of us keep queit? One idiot on my facebook list even have the tenarity to ask me if Im osu otherwise why am i so worried about it? So its only an Osu person that should be concrened?
My take is, if its okay to abuse these innocent people then no Igboman should complain about marginalization. And when a white person calls you a black monkey dont complain. You cant eat your cake and have it. What is bad is bad