The Archaic Osu Caste System
The Osu caste system of the Igbos is a system whereby a person was dedicated to a god and becomes a thing set apart - a taboo forever and generations of his children after him have to become Osus like him. The Osu caste system focuses on the discriminate, segregation and psychology trauma suffered by those who were dedicated to the gods of the land and their descendants. This caste system is designed in such a way that the Osu becomes an outcast, living in a special area of the village, close to the Great Shrine.
In the past, the Igbo traditional society was divided into two: the 'Dialas' (freeborns) and the 'osus' (outcasts, strangers, slaves, untouchables). The Osus are defined as a cultural slave of the deities. They assisted the high priest of the traditional religion in serving deities or the gods in their shrines. The general belief was that they had been dedicated to the gods and that they belonged to the gods and not to the world of human beings. They are shunned in the society, banished from communal land, banned from active participation in village life, not allowed to break Kolanuts, not allowed to pour libation and refused the right to marry anyone who was from the family of a Freeborn. They had no land of their own, lived in the shrine of the gods or within marketsquares and were forced to farm the land close to the road. It was generally believed among the Igbos that a 'Diala' who socialized or married an Osu would become contaminated or polluted. They were therefore left on their own, to socialize and marry themselves.
The Osus are separated from the Freeborn in the society on account of their social status. They are shunned and banned from participating in any form of social activity. They live in the shrine of the gods or within market squares. They are not allowed to interact or socialize with the Freeborn for such interaction would contaminate the Freeborn.
The Osus are treated in a cruel and unfair way because they have been dedicated to a god alongside their descendants forever. They can neither marry nor be married to a Freeborn. They have their separate marker, clan and farm. The descendants of the Osus suffer untold psychological trauma because of the unfair and cruel treatment they receive from the society. Some end up committing suicide while others leave for faraway lands where they can exist freely without any form of discrimination or oppression.
In this modern age, it behoves on all and sundry to help eradicate this age-old practice by socializing and interacting with the Osus. By doing this, the Osus would be fully integrated into society and would have cause to smile again.