Unfortunately, because we have been (mis)educated in the English language, we have become very succeptible to terminological errors in our current conception of the Igbo world. The writer of this article "The Osu in Igbo land" says the meaning of "Osu" in Igbo is slave; a bit like the Ohu or even the Umeh. In fact these are wrong definitions. Ohu for instance is no slave - he is an indentured servant. Strictly speaking, slavery does not exist in the Igbo world, because there is nothing final to that relationship.
For isntance, the Ohu can work themselves out of their indenture; in many instances, the Ohu may even become fully adopted into the family to which it is indentured, after a particular ritual to ala, which confers a ritual link -amadi - to the individual, who is then accorded all the rights of the Diala. But speaking specifically aout the Osu - there were two phases: in the first phase,
the "Osu" was part of the complex priestly system to the Igbo ritual world. It is not easy to go into detail in a very short space, but the Igbo world was a highly spiritual system in which all the four elements in nature were recreated and symbolized: Ala (Earth) Ogwugwu/ Ime muru ochie/ Idemili (water) Agwu ( wind)
Anyanwu (Fire). In a later phase, as a result of a historical accident in which an Igbo tyrant and King (Amadi-oha) tried to domesticate energy as an instrument of war and was blown skywards, the Igbo instituted the rites of Amadi-Oha as a reminder against the use of force, or the domestication of energy for deployment
in war. Amadi-oha was an engineer, and that is why, you have the symbolic piece of iron at every shrine of Amadi-Oha.
It was part of the covenant with Chukwu, and it was also the begining of the pacific idea in Odinala, that the Igbo would never use such instruments of massive force which this famous Igbo tyrant was attempting to produce, this experiment with "ike" - energy/electricity. Amadi-oha, blown sk ywards and trapped between
the sky and the earth is supposed to remind us never to succumb to the rule of one man or king or tyrant. The serpent of fire - the sign of Ogwugwu - is said to guard Amadi-oha from returning with his fiery energy to earth. It is also asid, that whoever commits the high abomination on earth suffers the fate which Amadi-Oha exemplifies, which is what gave rise to the myth that Amadi-Oha is the earth's messenger in the event of alu.
The Igbo had shrines to all these forces in nature. Every community had the shrine of Ala, Ogwugwu, Agwu or Amadi-oha (which gradually replaced "Ihu-Anyanwu"). The priests of these shrines were called Ezeala, EzeOgwuwgwu, Eze Amadioha, or EzeAgwu - ndi "isi mmuo". Each had specific rituals and specific
seasons all conected with the movement of the nature; or with the celebrations, festivals, or according to the covenants of each clan. There were traditionally in the Igbo world, those who dedicate themselves, or are dedicated to the service of these shrines: they were called Osu. It does not quite mean "slave." The
closest example of the function of the Osu in the traditional Igbo world is what monks do in Catholic church or the in Budhist temples. They chose a life of complete surrender to the deities.
Traditionally, they were regarded highly. In fact, the names, Osuji, Osuagwu,
Osuala, Nwosu, etc; did not confer extraordinary negation; it was a declaration
of piety. To this day, many Igbo bear these names, and they are not "osu" in the
caste notion of the word. The writer's family name is Osuji, and they still are
keepers of the shrine of Amadi-Oha; which means they are Diala; it should say
something about the traditional meaning of "Osu." However, the second phase of
the Osu system, when it became endowed with increasing negative connotations was
at the height of the slave raids in the Igbo world in the 19th century. By this
time, the Osu had begun to be seen as largely a parasitic institution - they
were immune from too many things, they had the best portion of the land, they did not
work - and they became subjects of both envy and derison in a most difficult era
in the Igbo world which demanded hardwork and enterprise for survival. At the
height of the slave raids, some very vulnerable people chose to dedicate
themselves to the service of deities, or were dedicated by their families to the
altar, so that they would become literally "untouchable." In time, these group
morphed into isolation from the rest of the community, and became subjects of
both fear, envy and disdain.
This was the state of affairs until missionaries entered the Igbo world late in
the 19th century. The first group of people to be evangelized were the Osu, and
the missionaries of course saw in their ritual isolation, a condition akin to
the Indian caste system, and propagated the dubious picture of a ritually isolate,
ritually ex-communicated caste community, and gave the Osu the bad name that it
bears today in Igboland. In fact traditionally, there was no hereditary Osu.
Aside from the fact that it contradicted the Igbo view of the individual and the
world, it also totally negated the very principle of the ritual purity of those
traditionally dedicated to the altar of Mmuo. I have been labouring here to say
that Osu in Igbo did not mean slave, and that traditionally, it had no negative
connotation; it was in fact a privileged institution, until its desacralization
both by evolving political and economic reality and by the transformations in
the ritual meaning endowed upon it by Christianity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE OSU IN IGBOLAND
by Charles Uzo Maduka
The word Osu literally means slave. To be an Osu is to be a slave. There is
also another type of servitude in Alaigbo, Ohu. An Ohu is more or less like
what in the West used to be called indentured servant. If a man is poor he could indenture himself to a rich man, say borrow money and agree to be an Ohu to the person he borrowed money from, for a specified period of time, say, five years,
and work for that person, for free, and when his time is up, he regains his
freedom. The children of Ohu are not Ohu. Osu, unlike Ohu, is sort of like
permanent slavery. Once an Osu, one supposedly remains one. The Osu’s children
are also Osu…there is no accepted way of getting out of Osuhood.
I do not know when the institution of Osu began in Igboland. I have
tried to ascertain this fact, but nobody has yet enlightened me. We can,
however, make certain assumptions about the origin of slavery in Igboland.
Like most of us, I studied West African History in secondary school.
The books we read told us that Islam was instituted in Ghana, Mali and Songhai
Empires. Ghana, West Africa’s earliest empire of note, was already practicing
Islam by the tenth century. The history books tell us that the rulers of Ghana
(as well as Mali and Songhai) went on pilgrimages to Mecca. (See Askia Mohammed,
Mohammed Ali etc). Some of these pilgrimages took place in the tenth century.
We are told that these African leaders took slaves with them to Arabia.
We can, therefore, infer that there was slavery in West Africa in the tenth
century? I do not know the facts, for certain.
If there was slavery in West Africa in the tenth century, one can
assume that the Igbos, being West Africans, were practicing slavery at that time?
Again, I do not know for sure. I am not a historian.
The Portuguese came to West Africa around 1460s. Records indicate
that they visited the Oba of Benin, Nigeria, around 1487. Subsequent to the
discovery of America in 1492, history books tell us that West African slaves were
transported to the Americas. We can assume that some of the slaves were Igbos.
As a matter of historical record, we know that by the 1600s, the Aro, an Igbo
clan, had worked out an arrangement with the rulers of Calaba and supplied them
with Igbo slaves.
Igbo slaves were transported to the Americas from Calaba and Bonny. I
am assuming that Igbos have been sold to the Americas since the 1500s? I do not
know the dates for certain, and the Igbo history books, such as Elizabeth
Isichii’s, that I have read, do not enlighten me.
For our present purposes, we can assume that slavery has existed in
Igboland since the tenth century of our common era? Correct me, if you know
better. We are all students of each other and teachers of each other.
In Igboland slavery was practiced until 1902 when Frederick Lugard and
the West African Frontier Army stormed the long Juju of Arochukwu and
subsequently marched through Igboland, pacifying it, putting a stop to the
practice of slavery.
As a result of Lugard’s intervention, those slaves in the various Igbo
villages that had not been sold were retained where they were. Thus, it came to
pass that in most Owerri villages there is a section reserved for ex-slaves,
Osus. These people are treated with discrimination. They are second-class
citizens.
The non-Osus, called Diala, (freeborn) do not mingle with the Osus. The
Diala does not marry the Osu. (Please see Chinua Achebe’s novel, No Longer At
Ease, for a more literary representation of Osu at work in Alaigbo. The chief
character of that fictional work, Obi Okonkwo, a western educated person, could
not marry his love object, Clara, I believe is her name…I read that book when I
was a kid, so I may have miss- represented the name…because she was an Osu.
Achebe seems to be crusading for the Igbos to let go of the Osu institution and
intermarry with them.)
The term Igbo is too general; so let me restrict myself to the Igbo
that I know very well, Owerri Igbo. I know very little about Onitcha or Ikwerri Igbo.
I am from Owerri. Owerri is an omnibus term for a group of villages that speak the
Owerri Igbo dialect. My mother is from Owerri proper. My father is from Umuohiagu,
about fifteen miles from Owerri city. The culture of all the villages
generically referred to as Owerri tend to be similar. For our present purpose, these
villages
all seem to have Osus.
Before we explore the phenomenon of Osu in some detail, let us take a
cursory look at Igbo pantheon of gods and goddesses. The Igbo believe that
there is a supreme God, called Chukwu. Chukwu is unknowable. Chukwu, however, has a
creative aspect that created this world. That aspect of God that created this
world is called Chineke (God the creator). (Some Owerri Igbo call that God
Obasi, pretty much as Efiks do, telling us that there was intermingling of the Igbo and
Efiks.) Chineke created Chi. Chi is akin to what Christians would call soul.
In each of us is Chi, soul/Christ. Chi is the God in each of us.
As it were, the supreme God is extensive: Chukwu extends to Chineke,
who extends to chi (in each of us).
If you like, Chi is the personal God. Each Igbo prays to his Chi, to
the Christ in him or her. My grandmother, Matha/Mgbere, God bless her heart,
taught me, every evening before I go to bed, to pray thus: “Chim, akam ndu
ucha”. Literally, my God, my hand is clean. The idea is that one must come clean to
ones god before one goes to sleep. One must make sure that whatever one does in
life that one’s chi approves it. And if one did something wrong, that one must
confess it to ones god, and promise to make amends for it. In a word, one must
be honest before God and man, if one wants peace and happiness in ones life. (We
have a concept called Ogu, truth. If you are truthful we believe that things
tend to work out well for you in life, hence Ogunyere, truth gives….)
In addition to the above universal Igbo gods, each Igbo town has its
own Pantheon of gods. Usually, the village’s chief god is a goddess, called Ala.
As an agricultural people, it probably made sense for the village’s god to be
female, for females are the creative agents of life; they produce children. In
Umuohiagu, my town, we have Ala-Umuohiagu also called Afo-Umuohiagu, a goddess.
Umuohiagu has four villages. Each village has its own gods. My village
is called Umuorisha. (I have connection with the pseudo Igbo called Olisa; Olisa
is the same as Orisha, in Owerri Igbo. No wonder I took interest in his peculiar
madness and wanted to help him heal it.)
My village’s god is a male god and is called Amadioha. (God of
thunder). For over five hundred years, members of my family, the Osuji-Njokus, Umuamadi,
literally, children of Amadioha, children of God, have produced Amadioha’s high
priests. High priesthood (Onye isi Muo) in Owerri is inherited.
We also have an institution called Dibia (for men) and Lolo (for
women). In western categories, the Dibia is equivalent to shaman. Certain
persons are said to be god possessed, Onye Agwuisi. These people, right from childhood
are perceived to be different, to be intensely insightful into spiritual
matters. The elders generally select one child in every generation as Onye agwu isi.
These people are compelled to undergo certain spiritual initiation training, which
often lasts months, then go through a an agonizing ceremony and become Dibias
and Lolos. They then are called the healers of the people. They are said to have
insight into the gods.
(At age six, the elders of the village truly judged yours onye agwu
isi. At age eight the oracle of the village, said that he is the next onye isi
muo, the village’s high priest. Thus, not only is he from the high priest’s
family, he is also judged a Dibia and compelled to undergo the Dibia
institution. It should also be noted that had things not fallen apart and Igbos are now
scattered all over the world, and had had he chosen to live in his village, that
he would have been the village’s high priest. As Achebe said, things have fallen
apart, and Igbo institutions are allowed to die. Christianity gradually replaces
Igbo religion. Any way, this writer’s background, probably accounts for his
interest in mental health and spiritual matters.)
Now to the Osu. As already observed, each town has its section for
Osus. In Umuohiagu, we have a section reserved for Osus called Amuuga. Folks in
this section of the town are treated as second- class citizens. The Osus were
in my village before the advent of the white man. Our goddess, Ala-Umuohiagu and
her high priest (the current one, by the way, now lives in California, so I will
not mention his name) had have many Osus, slaves helping him to work the lands
assigned to the priestly family and perform other chores. In my village, the
high priest of Amadioha also had his own Osus performing chores for him and the
god of the village.
And here is the part of Igbo culture that most of us do not like. In
the past when important men died, some Osus were buried alive with him. Bad,
bad, bad, but such was our history.
Now let us explain Osuji. The Igbos was an agricultural people. Their
chief crop was Yam (Ji). Each village has a god of yam, and has an elaborate
yam festival. In August, when yam is first harvested, before it is eaten, each
village undergoes an elaborate festival called Ahanjoku. The individual who
leads this festival is called Njoku or Osuji. (My family name is actually
Osuji-Njoku). A child was dedicated to performing this ceremony to the yam god.
His name is always either Osuji or Njoku. If you have read the Christian bible,
Osuji-Njoku is akin to the name Samuel, a child dedicated to serving God.
I am an Osuji-Njoku, a member of the high priest’s family. I am
dedicated to God. I am the people’s leader in serving our Gods.
Since the word Osu means slave, would a slave call himself a slave by
going by the name of Osuji? (Literally, God’s servant)? If the ill informed
creature who considered an Osuji an Osu had some brains in his thick head he
would have wondered why a slave would call himself a slave? The Osuji’s are
God’s servants, the highest class in their society. In Hindu categories, they
are the Brahmin class, the priestly class and the intellectual class. (My family has
several PhDs, including research scientists at the Center for Disease Control,
Atlanta. All young persons in the family go to universities, as a matter of
routine).
The Osuji-Njokus, if they wanted, could take pride in their
traditional priestly status. We are the head of the Dialas, the freeborn. When
the village gathers to talk, an Osuji must first talk before other villagers can
talk. We are the Opara of the village, the first-born, and must take whatever is
divided before others can take. We perform all god related ceremonies in our
village. We lead the people in prayers. We are, if you like, the Levis of
Israel, the elect of God. I will stop there before pride in family makes me
loose my rationality.
Now back to how the Osus are treated in Igboland. These people are
treated in the most awful manner. We treat these people in a barbaric manner and
ought to stop it. Achebe has made that point. I recall when I first visited our
village, (from Lagos) and went to our town’s Catholic Church, St Michaels
Church…. I had been sent to the village to understudy my uncle, Akakporo, the
high priest, for a while. I became friendly with a child from the Osu section
of town. His name is Jeremiah. After Church, I invited him to our house. The
elders asked me where he was from and I told them. They quietly told me that we
do not mingle with “those kind of people”. They tolerated him for my sake, but
made it crystal clear to me that he was not permitted to visit again. I used to
sneak out to go play with him.
The institution of Osu is something we Igbos ought to be ashamed of,
and eradicate. But the empty head chap that misread the import of my name, as he
misreads the meaning of just about every thing he reads, is not ashamed of the
practice of Osu. His goal in life is to put people down so as to satisfy his
warped mind’s craving to seem superior to people. He probably feels that by
telling folks that I am an Osu, that that would make him feel superior to me.
What this stunted mind is yet to learn is that we are all children of God and,
as such, the same and equal. I do not care how intellectually bright one is, one
is the same with other people. Even if you have an IQ of 140, best of the best, you
are not better than a mentally retarded person (IQ under 70).
As they say, some good always come out of the bad. A culturally challenged
brother aimed at putting me down by associating me with the Osus, aiming to
humiliate me, but he has given me the opportunity to explain the nature of the
Osus.
In conclusion, I am proud to identify with all oppressed people of this
world, and in that sense, even though I am a Diala, an Igbo freeborn, I
pronounce myself an honorary Osu.
Ozodi Osuji.
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