Origin Of OSU Caste System In Igbo Land: A Detailed Explanation From The Igbo Worldview | By Igwe Chibe Uzzimba

The Osu caste system in Igbo land is a topic of enormous and dynamic proportions. It is so sensitive a topic that traditional and political leaders from across Igbo land have for the past 100 years tried to change its narrative in the hearts and lips of Ndi Igbo; but the Osu caste system in Igbo land still stands unshaken, with the modern Igbo society furthering its practice, with many misunderstandings as to the real origin and meaning of the Osu caste system in Igbo land.

The Osu caste system, just like many other aspects of the Igbo culture, tradition, and beliefs has been misinterpreted and given distorted meanings ever since the meeting of Ndi Igbo with the colonizers (and their missionaries). It is this distortion that we will focus on in this article.

When the ways of the Igbo people are to be discussed in the global arena, the view of who we are must come from the mouth of Ndi Igbo themselves – more, from the mouth of those who are knowledgeable in Igbo Odinana, Omenana, and history.

The Origin Of Osu In Igbo Land

In a detailed 18-part lecture on the Osu caste system in Igboland, a renowned scholar of Igbo cosmology, tradition, and culture, Igwe Chibe Uzzimba provided a factual and historical account of the origin of the Osu caste system in Igbo land. He started by stating that the OSU caste system is a recent cultural development, which is not more than three hundred years in Igbo Land.

According to Igwe Chibe Uzzimba, the advent of the Osu caste system in Igboland is tied to the transatlantic slave trade in Africa. Beginning in the 16th century, European merchants initiated the transatlantic slave trade, raiding, purchasing, and enslaving Africans from the West Coast African kingdoms and transporting them to Europe’s colonies in the Americas and West Indies.

The first time Africans were taken captive against their will and put on board European ships was in 1441 when the Portuguese (Potokiri) captured 12 Africans in Cabo Branco in modern-day Mauritania in North Africa and took them to Portugal as enslaved peoples. 

It is estimated that by the time the slave trade was abolished in the mid-19th century through the efforts of William Wilberforce and others, more than 20 million Africans from West and Central Africa had been transported to the Americas and West Indies to work in plantations, build the cities, and grow the economies.

But the most stubborn and proud of the enslaved Africans were from Igbo land – the brave and egalitarian Igbo. They gave the slave traders a run for their money by committing suicide, either individually or collectively. Through this act of defiance, the European slave traders registered many losses.

Throughout the era of the transatlantic slave trade, Igbo people were the most highly sought after among all the enslaved Africans, because of their robustness, strength, and stamina to work under any difficult conditions or circumstances.

Igwe Chibe Uzzimba, in part 3 of his lecture, pointed out that before the introduction of the Transatlantic slave trade into Africa, Igbo people were living peacefully and happily with their neighbors. These neighbors were the Yalla, Andoni, Ibibio, Efik, Ijaw, Edo, Ishan, and Urhobo. Others were the Idoma, Tiv, and Igala. During this period Igbo people’s mainstay was agriculture, black and iron smithing, woodcarving, and clothes weaving. 

Ndi Igbo traded agricultural products, such as salt and fish. We also traded on other crafted materials such as masks, woven bags, clothes, and caps. There were internal but not external wars between village groups in quest of arable land for farming. People traveled leaving their homes temporarily or permanently in search of gainful employment as farmhands, carriers, Oracle agents, diviners, or craftsmen. Oracles such as Ibinu Ukpabi of Arochukwu, Igwekala of Umunneoha, Ojukwu Diobu, Agbala Awka, etc. made IGBOLAND enjoy unchallenged ascendency. 

Those people who left their homelands in search of agricultural greener pastures evolved into Oru or Riverine Igbo. Elders, diviners, and traditional priests/kings chosen by the Gods saw the impartial political and judicial administration of our Igbo communities. Security of the villages was in the hands of age grades, Okonko, Akang, Ekpe, and masquerade societies. It was an honor to serve one’s fatherland as everything was pro bono. Between our neighbors there were trade, intermarriage, and cultural exchanges. Many of the Igbo neighbors claimed Igbo ancestry directly or indirectly. This period in Igbo land was what Prof Adiele Afigbo called the AGE OF INNOCENCE.

All of this would change with the coming of the transatlantic slave trade, introduced by the Portuguese. The Atlantic slave trade introduced intertribal wars between Ndi Igbo and her neighbors in the quest for slaves who were used as merchandise. Slaves comprised victims of kidnapping, aggression, criminals, and plain no-gooders. Ostentatious living and man’s inhumanity to man became paramount. People could no longer travel freely because of slave raiders.

Most of the Africans who were captured in battles or were kidnapped became enslaved. Although many were sold to the slave merchants, some others were also sold into servitude (a subtle form of slavery) back home, for debt or as punishment. The captives who were to be sold to the European merchants were marched to the coast, often enduring long journeys of weeks or months, shackled to one another.

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Apart, Ikemefuna is a lad who was given as a war prisoner in exchange for a daughter of Umuofia-Obododike who was murdered by their enemies. The Igbo system of slavery/servitude was humane as Ikemefuna was absorbed and consequently treated as one of the sons of Okonkwo.

Those who were taken into captivity, or those who offered themselves as help and farmhands, usually worked as domestic servants. Some worked as farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, bakers, etc. These servants or Ohu/Oru were also hired out by their masters for a day or up to several years. Sometimes, the enslaved/servants are allowed to hire themselves out to pay back the money invested in them to secure their freedom. In a traditional Igbo society, with her belief in fairness and justice, an enslaved person or the son of a peasant/servant can through hard work achieve nobility.

The stories of Jugbo Jugboha, a servant who worked his way into nobility to become King Jaja of Opobo, and Okonkwo the son of Unoka (a poor peasant) who worked his way up to become one of the noble and celebrated great men of Chinua Achebe’s THINGS FALL APART, explains this better.

So, it was this system of servitude, either by volunteering to be a farmhand/servant or by employing captives to work as servants, which was highjacked by the transatlantic slave trade, that laid the foundations for what would later become the Osu caste system in Igbo land.

Meaning Of Osu In Igbo Cosmology

Going deeper into his lecture, and explaining the very meaning of Osu in Igbo cosmology, Igwe Chibe Uzzimba stated that the OSU caste system is a recent but sadly inhuman development in most communities of Igbo land. He went further to state that its development is not more than three hundred years in ala Igbo. The OSU caste system in Igbo land came with the introduction of the slave trade in Igbo land, as mentioned earlier.

Before the introduction of the OSU caste system in Igbo land, such practices were more pronounced in other cultures such as India and Israel. India up till today still have the Sikhs, Harijans, Brahms, etc. These are classified into two classes: the Freeborns and the non-Freeborns. The Christian Bible classified this same type of caste which operated in the Jewish culture into Scribes, Pharisees, Publicans, and Eunuchs.

OSU caste is one of such castes found around the world, and in Igbo cosmology, it means an expert in certain areas/fields on one hand and/or a servant, on the other hand. Hence, when looking at OSU from the angle of an expert, the Igbo have titles such as Osueke, Osunkwo, Osuji, Osuala, Osuorji, Nwaosu, Osuokwu, Osumgba, Osunwa, Osuiwu, Osuakwukwo, Osuegwu, Osuahia.

The meaning of OSU in IGBO is a servant on a special spiritual assignment. Or an expert in a chosen field of positive human endeavor such as Osunkwo (market master), Osuala (land vendor/agent), Osuoji (timber merchant), Osuji/Ezeji (great farmer), etc. OSU is different from OHU (Oru) which is a slave!

Some people, because of persecution, willingly decide to embrace, serve, and become the property of the Gods/Deities whereby they become untouchables. But it must be reiterated that those who committed various abominable acts (nsoala) don’t serve our Gods/Deities. They are in most cases rejected because ha ruruaru, they are spiritually contaminated; hence they are not holy.

Before the introduction of the slave trade into Igbo land, nobody spoke of any aspect of OSU in a derogatory form. It’s the Caucasian divide and rule that introduced racial segregation, caste, and class system into our lexicon.

Before the Transatlantic slave trade, Africans practiced slavery whereby one could use his child or brother/sister as collateral to borrow money or services but not slave trade where human beings were used as articles of merchandise. 

Some people served prominent rich men for several years to marry their daughters without undergoing the rigors of traditional marriage rites.

When It comes to the servant class, there are two types of OSU in Igbo land: those slaves who were bought to oversee shrines; and Osunwa, who are Freeborns, sons of the soil, and anointed priests ordained by the Gods to oversee shrines. These are the original priests who wielded more powers than the Kings. Their words are directly inspired by the Gods and their ancestors as they are their mouthpieces. 

Igwe Chibe Uzzimba stated that In Uzii, his hometown, his culture area before an osunwa assumes duty officially he is duly initiated into the renowned prestigious, and sacred Nzenaozo institution so that he won’t use his office and powers to do evil or intimidate others. He must always speak the truth and defend the rights of the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed. But the slave that becomes OSU Arushi or servant of the gods does not take the prestigious Ozo titles.

To have the full allegiance of the OSU so that he does not run back to his root or ancestral home, a body part, maybe the ear, finger, or toe is cut, ritualized, and buried with ogwu (charms) inside the shrine so that he becomes the full property of the shrine and the gods. That’s the origin of Umeh or Aturu Ahiara!

Igwe Chibe Uzzimba went further to emphatically state that “It must be borne in mind that “How are you?” is different from “How do you do?” Both don’t mean the same. In some cultural areas, Ume is the traditional title of those who after taking the Nzenaozo titles top it up with ivory (ume) wearing. Such names like Umeononakume, Umeodurukwe, Umennajiego, Umejiriakuchieozo, etc. have to do with ivory-wearing title taking. Not the ume agbaragba.”

“People misconstrue Ume agbaragba/Aturu ahiara with the ordinary OSU. They are not the same. The ordinary OSU is a slave bought and dedicated to a shrine without cutting any part of the body, ritualizing it, and burying it inside the shrine. But ume is not only a slave bought but a part of the body cut, ritualized, and buried in the shrine. Ume agbaragba is the highest and the most troublesome form of the OSU caste in Igbo land. They are the most segregated against.”

“My people of Uzii in the Ideato Culture Area do not have the slave/ohu-osu. What we have is Osunwa. It’s the gods that choose him from among the aboriginal males or females of the Land!”

Osunwa is not segregated because he is freeborn, nwaafo/nwadiala. He is holy. And whatever he says or supports is sacrosanct, carrying a seal of authenticity. Whenever, as I observed in 1992 in Achina AGUATA LGA ANAMBRA state, Ezeimo who was the Chief priest of Ezekoro Achina, blew his trumpet after the community’s deliberations nobody dared raise any objection or point of order; even information!

In part 12 of his expository lecture, Igwe Chibe Uzzimba went on to say that the OSU caste system in Igbo land is not Odinala (tradition) but Omenala (custom). Tradition is divine injunction while custom is human establishment.

The supreme deity (Chukwu Okike) did not create an inhuman caste system. The creator only created positive and negative, just as we were created male and female. There is no distinction between the blood composition of OSU and nwadiala. There is no difference between the money in the hands of OSU and that of nwadiala.

OSU is man’s inhumanity to man. And a sad development in the history of Ndi Igbo, and Africa at large. Osu is worse than all the wars such as the Punic War, World Wars 1 and 11. Even the American War of Independence!

It’s gratifying to note that since this caste system didn’t emanate from odinala which is nature, Chukwuokike in his/her infinite mercy and grace blesses them (the OSU and their lineage) with wisdom, intellect, high intelligence, wealth, popularity, beauty. Hence, you find them at the topmost echelon of the social, political, educational, and economic strata of all aspects of positive human endeavors!

The Social Impacts Of The Osu Caste And The Way Forward

Legislating against the OSU caste system since 1956 by the various IGBO governments has not solved the problems of this social stigmatization. Even preachings by the various churches have tended to worsen the situation. The only solution is by applying an African socio-cultural cum spiritual approach by consulting the Gods of those areas where the OSU caste system is prevalent!!!

In his 1987 Imo State government-sponsored Ahiajoku lecture, Prof Angulu Michael Onwuejeogwu, the renowned Igbouzo-born professor, historian, archaeologist, anthropologist, and sociologist, wrote on the origin of the OSU system as follows:

“Apart from NRI civilization, the most exalted civilization in Igbo land by writers is the Aro which flourished in the Dark Age of Igbo history between 1700 and 1850. It’s here given civilization, not much because of its contribution to Igbo civilization but for the fact that it portrays a pragmatic aspect of Machiavellian comprador capitalist political economy in Igbo culture history.

Ethical remarks aside, it was a civilization sustained on what may be called Machiavellian diplomacy. It demonstrated how a black decadent civilization grew out of opportunities created by other white decadent civilizations. The Aro are not to blame for the beginning and development of the slave trade: Western civilization had to take that blame and many historians, economic, and political philosophers have done that. But the Aro of 1700 to 1910 had to take the blame for the Machiavellian role they played in the Eastern Igbo land despite warnings from NRI.”

Fuming with anger Prof Angulu Michael Onwuejeogwu continued: “The Aro civilization generated trade in which the Igbo were commodities for trade. Their action of instigating warfare between towns caused a great population movement. They created greed and wars by manipulating the “Long Juju” at Arochukwu – indigenously known as the Alusi Ndi Arochukwu. 

Igbo scholars have glorified the Aro civilization but when placed side by side with other Igbo civilizations one concludes that the Aro civilization of the 18th and 19th centuries was extremely materialistic and dehumanizing. It gave a terrible blow to the economic development of Igbo land. 

It is no wonder that when the Aro sphere of influence overlapped that of NRI, the Eze NRI Enweleana, 1795 – 1888, relentlessly opposed the brutal activities of Okoli Ijioma, the Aro slave dealer of Ndikelionwu, an Aro town southeast of NRI. To stop Ijioma from instigating towns to fight and from using Abam, Abiriba, and Ohafia mercenaries, Eze NRI Enweleana pronounced an anathema (spiritual curse) on Ijioma. Ijioma was forced to repent and peace was negotiated (ONWUEJEOGWU 1974; 1981).”

In his conclusion, ONWUEJEOGWU emphatically stated that the Aro civilization was not a blessing to Igbo land but was indeed a retrogressive civilization because the slave trade brought into Igbo land slave raiding, depopulation due to instigated wars, family disorganization, ritual cannibalism, human sacrifice, and the development of the OSU system.

ONWUEJEOGWU lamented that “By 1700 the Igbo had reached a level of civilization which might have developed along a different path were it not for the intervention of Atlantic slave trade generated by Western civilization which was devastating to the American Indians. Between 1700 and 1900 the devastating effect of the slave trade on Igbo culture and civilization was total and final. The ancestors of Igbo were beaten hands down by European cannons and guns between 1880 and 1920; the longest history of European resistance in Africa South of the Sahara, apart from that of the Zulu.”

On May 28, 1803, about 75 Igbo slaves who were being transported by sea to America revolted by capsizing their ships and drowned themselves.

While they were drowning, they were singing:

“Mmuo mmiri du anyi bia

Mmuo mmiri ga-edu anyi laa 

(The water spirit brought us

The water spirit will take us home)”

They accepted the protection of their God, Chiukwu, and death over the alternative of enslavement. They preferred to die as heroes than subjugate themselves to white man’s foreign imperialistic and dehumanizing supremacy. (Compare Okonkwos death in Chinua Achebe’s THINGS FALL APART)!

Igbo Landing is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simon’s Island, Glynn County Georgia. It recorded one of the largest mass suicides of enslaved Africans. This is the first major freedom march in America’s history.

The Effects Of European Invasion On The Spiritual Leadership Of The OSU-Nwadiala

Igwe Chibe Uzzimba went on to say that since our traditionally anointed and genuine priests have become too arrogant and proud thereby becoming nshiko (crab), they started abdicating, discarding, and abandoning their powers which initially and originally, they did not fully delegate to their OSU. Many communities started damaging their ancestral Ofo, uprooting their ikenga, akwari, ihundiichie, etc. It was after this that the Caucasians started deriding us saying that African gods were powerless.

When the white invaders having surveyed and monitored the Africans and discovered that they had completely and fully divested and neutralized their traditional powers and embraced useless, impotent, and noneffective foreign powers of Jehovah, Jesus, and Allah, they struck and overpowered our people with their sophisticated guns and weapons.

We abandoned our odieshi, ekwuikiri, igbushiahu, etc in preference for foreign vaccines and cults. Hence, we have developed various low immunity disorders, prostate cancers, HIV/AIDS, fibroid tumors, diabetes, impotence, etc.

It’s a sad development as Africans started tottering in their gait and stuttering in their speeches with traditional title holders removing their caps and using two hands to shake the hands of, their imperialistic foreign colonizers, overseers, and brainwashers. Hence such cliché as “Bekee wu Agbara” entered our traditional lexicon. Our people became apologetic, begging for crumbs from their foreign master’s table!!!

People have been wondering whether Caucasians used charms to convert our people. They first sent their missionaries to clear the ground for their political, economic, spiritual, and sociocultural exploitations.

The missionaries started by arousing our people’s greedy appetites. They backed this with autosuggestion and hypnosis. This is by repeatedly coming to our houses and continuously repeating the same things over and over again.

The African hospitality of accepting strangers and not doing them any evil contributed to our undoing. The Caucasians having been equipped with Western education and military training abused this virtue of African hospitality without remorse or apology.

The Caucasian is always ruthless in his pursuit of any project he believes in. He applies sorcery, magic, witchcraft, hypnotism, and even assassinations to achieve his objectives!

In a speech he delivered at the palace of HRH Igwe M. Kelly, the Okalakwu of Igbariam in September 2018, Igwe Chibe Uzzimba stated that the OSU system is not an all-Igbo but a community affair; that all those who have OSU in their towns should consult the Gods of their land to know what’s required for its abrogation.

He firmly stated that the OSU caste system is a subtle but destructive dehumanizing social incursion into Igbo culture. In the next 100 years, it will also subtly and peacefully diffuse and fizzle out into nothingness. And Igbo Land will become once more a land of equity devoid of social segregation and stratification!!!

Effect Of The Osu Caste System In The Modern Igbo Society

The OSU caste system in Igboland as regards the Ume agbaragba (those whose body parts were cut off and dedicated to a God/deity), despite the degradation and abandonment of many unique Igbo cultures, have stood the test of time. The segregation of the Ume agbaragba (one aspect of the OSU) has remained unshaken by the Igbo traditional institutions, Christianity, and the government. Even the most decorated Igbo Christian, with all the preaching of “Christ’s love” and “oneness of the brethren” will not marry from a family who is designated OSU – He won’t allow his son or brother to marry an OSU, whether they are Ohu or Nwadiala. 

This then leaves us with a society of hypocrites, who claim that they are now advanced in faith and belief, yet hold on tenaciously to the beliefs which they consider barbaric.

However, it is important to note that the modern Igbo, having thrown away the real accounts of such events as the OSU caste system in their history, now out of ignorance, group the OSU (spiritually gifted priests) together with the ORU (uninitiated slave) and Ume agbaragba (dedicated to the Gods).

The classification of these groups as one, and the rejection of all, points to the fact that ndi Igbo are indeed lost. If we didn’t allow ourselves to be deceived by the European invaders, we would be able to differentiate the OSU caste system and tackle the stigmatization from the core traditional (Odinala) and spiritual way of Ndi Igbo. But since we are now a people divided in belief, it is only nature herself that will solve the stigma that comes with the OSU caste system in Igbo land, especially when it comes to marriage.

Many outsiders and observers of the Igbo culture have opined that the OSU caste system in Igbo land has some inhumane practices attached to it. They say the OSU faces violations of their fundamental human rights. It is essential to state here that aside from the discrimination when it comes to marriage, the OSU, in some parts of Igbo land (not all), live everyday lives. No one harasses them or deprives them of access to any social amenities. However, there are few cases, where an OSU no matter how wealthy cannot take certain titles or be made a traditional ruler. These instances are what we would social segregation, and not violation of fundamental human rights – which are the right to live. 

However, there is room for argument in this regard, as the practices regarding OSU are different from town to town and region of Igbo land to the other. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, in consonance with the law of Nature, the consequences of whatever a man/woman thinks say, does, or even fails to do at the most appropriate time lie squarely on his head. This simply means that whatever one sows in this life one must surely reap either in this present or subsequent incarnation. The Christian Bible says the wages of sin is death; and every soul that sinneth must surely die. 

Igbo people have fought three wars since 1914. These are World Wars 1 and 2. The third war which is the most devastating and destructive is the 1967 – 1970 Nigeria/Biafra War which reduced Ndiigbo to second-class citizens. It must be noted that before the mistake of the coup d’etat of January 15th, 1966, the Igbo people occupied the highest echelon of every cadre of the Nigerian society in civil service, the military, culture, education, economy, businesses/trade, sports, etc. Indeed, it was the apogee of Igbo civilization.

Ndiigbo were woefully defeated in that War because of a lack of adequate and strategic preparation and also because the Nigerian government had the backing of foreign neocolonialist imperialistic powers. This has made the Igbo to be presently subdued slaves in Nigeria despite the mantra of “no victor, no vanquished”. This war was karmic. It’s designed by nature to be a payback time for the inhuman slave trade!!!

Most of those fighting for the liberation or freedom of Alaigbo are those who participated in the nefarious slave trade, where brothers used, without remorse or humanism, their brothers as wares, commodities, or merchandise. They have all reincarnated to right the wrongs they committed during the slave trade. And those fighting them are also reincarnated of those who suffered during the slave trade.

This Article Was Written By Igwe Chibe Uzzimba and Edited By Chuka Nduneseokwu, Editor-In-Chief, of Voice Of The Sun

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