OSU/OHU PRACTICE IN IGBO CULTURE: AN ESSAY FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This paper discusses Osu/Ohu practice in Igbo Culture from the insights of the Christian understanding of the dignity of the human person. The practice of osu/ohu in Igbo society and its folk religion is an ancient tradition. However, it is one of the most dehumanizing aspects of human culture. It defaces the image of the human person as God’s creature made in his likeness.  This tradition which still rears its ugly head in many ways is believed to have been abolished in different places. Today, there still exist modern ways of practicing it. The people whose ancestors were said to have been bought as slaves (ohu) in Igbo land in the olden days are still marked and identified as such. Even though they have been liberated by relevant provisions of civil laws and the potency of Christian faith, the stigma still goes on with them in many communities. The osu on the other hand is a cult slave, dedicated to the service of his owner’s deity. The osu could be compared to the untouchables of India and even suffers worse marginalisation. He is seen as a “sub-standard” human being who is not fit for the association and companionship of the free-born in the society. He is an object and not a subject, an outcast fit only to be sacrificed to the idol in order to appease the gods of the land. The findings of this paper reveal, among others, that the osu/ohu is still discriminated against today. Therefore, the narrative of its abolishment is unreal and untrue in many families and towns across societies.  The robust advocacy of this work is the need to sincerely abolish slavery in its shades and grades in Igbo land and beyond. The methodology adopted in this work is historic-descriptive which means that the osu/ohu (slavery) practice in Igbo culture was carefully studied and analysed based on its discriminating indices and dehumanizing consequences.