The Osu caste system is an ancient practice in Igboland that discourages social interaction and marriage with a group of people referred to as Osu (outcasts). This is because they dedicate these Osu people to the Alusis (deities) and are thus seen as inferior to the Nwadiala (free-borns).
Traditional Igbo attire.
Historical Background of the Osu Caste System
According to a journal, the system in Nigeria and southern Cameroon can be traced back to an indigenous religious belief system practiced within the Igbo nation. There were many historical accounts as to how the Osu Caste System began. Some pundits offered the idea of people being set aside to worship the community's deity alongside the Chief-priest (Ezemmuo or Dibia) often referred to as Osu; others said they were people cursed and an anathema placed on them and thus, separated or banished from the free people of the land.
In the old Igbo society in southern Nigeria, people were divided into four social hierarchies: nwa-diala (or diala), osu, ohu, and ume. Osu is a person dedicated to a deity by a family or community to avert a calamity or punishment from the gods. These forefathers pledged themselves and their descendants to these gods. They enjoyed protection and privileges but were segregated from ordinary folks. These Osu people married, fraternized and socialized among themselves. The veracity of the issue is that these people did not choose to be born as Osu.
In this 21st century, this form of discrimination is still very much alive among Igbo speaking people in states such as Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Edo and Delta in Nigeria. An osu has no privilege, freedom, or claim to anything in the community; in fact, they would have little to no interactions with the rest of society. Ume, the fourth caste, was a person who sought clemency from punishment by offering themself to some of the ruthless deities.
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Some Igbo communities categorize osu and ume as the same, according to Ichie Francis Akanugwu, a traditional head of the Ikeduru community (who is diala) in the country’s southeast.
Casteism is not inherently a part of Christianity - or any other religion - but in Nigeria, where Christianity has coexisted with pre-colonial caste structures since the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century, the two have intersected in complex ways, wrote Oliver Alozie Onwubiko in “Facing the OSU Issue in the African Synod: A Personal Response.” Christian missionaries reinforced caste divisions by incorporating local customs and traditions to ease conversion.
Igbo Masks.
Social Implications and Modern-Day Impact
The Osu Caste System came along with emotional, social, religious, economic, political and human rights implications for those tagged Osu. Victims of the Osu caste system could lose their sense of worth due to the segregation and discrimination against them. Segregation or discrimination of this kind breeds social disharmony and undermines cohesiveness in Igbo land (Eastern part of Nigeria).
Donatus’ ancestry surprised even her. Akanugwu, the Ikeduru head, said that a diala who marries an osu condemns himself and the rest of his family to the deity to which his wife’s ancestors were sacrificed. Igbo culture is highly patriarchal. Although someone of osu ancestry may receive a traditional title in another place, it is never at home. “There are no in-betweens,” said Akanugwu.
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Today, the lower castes - osu, ohu, and ume - enjoy the same constitutional rights as higher caste members and can engage in business within and beyond their communities, but the traditional caste structure continues to influence social dynamics like marriage; inter-caste unions are often frowned upon.
Before a marriage can commence in the Igbo tradition, the families of the intending couples initiate iju ajuju - an inquiry to investigate a person’s ancestry in order to determine family lineage, health history, religion, financial standing, and even procreational prowess to bear sons.
It’s been more than a year for Donatus since that fateful encounter. George is married now, and Donatus still remembers the day of his wedding. “I won’t lie to you, I cried,” she said, admitting that she’s still heartbroken.
Opata said that casteism across rural communities in southern Nigeria are living legacies of the Transatlantic slave trade: colonists exploited the pre-existing social hierarchy and fanned classism among and within tribes to create a supply market of slaves. The superiority-inferiority complex, he said, was built over time, and survives in Nigerian society today as a tool of oppression.
According to Ogbonnaya, the divide by caste will naturally resolve itself. “Maybe in about 20 to 30 years,” he said.
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Efforts to Abolish the Osu Caste System
Efforts have been made to eradicate the “Osu” caste system, as it is seen as discriminatory and contrary to modern principles of equality and human rights. In 1956, Nnamdi Azikiwe, then the premier of Eastern Nigeria and later the first president of Nigeria, spearheaded the passage of a law aimed at abolishing Osu and its social disadvantages.
A 1956 law abolished the Osu Caste System, but while it passed, the law was never implemented. “The law was dead on arrival without implementation,” argued historian Opata. Britain, Nigeria’s former metropole - and former client in the slave trade - only began to advocate for the abolition of slavery after the Industrial Revolution so that it had local labor to source raw materials, which it would then export to feed the industry at home. Past efforts to abolish casteism - most recently, in 2018 and in 2021 - across southeastern states have made little mark.
The Nneji Foundation, a transnational advocacy group founded under the patronage of a prominent Nigerian politician-from the osu caste-is currently adjudicating for a review in order to pressure the government to implement stiffer punishments for offenders.
Ogechukwu of IFETACSIOS said that even with reconciliation programs and pledges to stop caste segregation, families will still contest marriages between an osu and diala. Casteism in Igboland has yet to receive the appropriate attention from the government as an issue that borders human rights, she said, as women’s voices are degraded and dismissed in every caste.
“Osu [caste system] has no basis in contemporary society,” said Opata.
“We are in the same church, eat from the same Holy Communion, and when it comes to our daughters and sons getting married, we start telling stories,” said Reverend Divine Eches, PhD, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Owerri Chapter. He said the problem is that, while most church leaders preach acceptance without actively condemning caste stigma in marriages.
Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The Osu Caste System and Real Housewives of Potomac
The Real Housewives of Potomac is Bravo’s reality TV series following the personal and professional lives of wealthy women living in Potomac, Maryland. The show’s been praised for its representation of Nigerian culture, particularly thanks to Dr. Wendy Osefo and the introduction of Nneka Ihim in season 8. But a recent episode has caused some viewers to wonder what is Osu in RHOP and others have drawn issue with Wendy’s definition of it because they felt like she misrepresented its meaning.
In Season 8, Episode 2, the topic of Wendy being Osu or, rather, Ashley Darby’s lie about Wendy being Osu was a major plot point and some fans were upset about Wendy’s representation of it. To understand the root of Wendy and Nneka’s feud, some context is required first.
Taking information from the article above, Ashley told Wendy that Nneka considered her an “Osu”, meaning “outcast”-a definition that some fans thought was reductive.
As exclusively reported by AllAboutTheTea.com in 2020, an in-law of Wendy Osefo provided detailed information about her alleged Osu ancestry.
After the episode aired, members of the Nigerian community took to social media to blast the Real Housewives of Potomac star for her derogatory remarks.
Reactions from the Community:
- “As a Nigerian, this OSU thing is no joke, this is wicked, careless, reliving. Pls you guys need to read on this, Families have been torn apart, for Ashley to use this means she did her research, knew the implications and still went on to use it.”
- “Listen, as a full-blooded Igbo person, someone who believes in the well-being of the Igbo nation, you should never be seen talking about Osu cast. I’m not saying this because I’m an outcast … well if you think I am, that is your business! My problem is I can’t lay my hands on significant reasons for the stigma.”
- “Wendy loves making herself appear better than everyone else because of her education. I’m not surprised she’s denying her osu lineage.”
