Introduction
The sacred persons of south-eastern Nigeria, a region inhabited by
the Igbo race are persons dedicated to powerful deities and referred
to as "osuagbara". The word "osu" in Igbo language literally means
prince. There are Igbo names like (1) Osuji(prince of yam) (2)
Osuagwu(prince of gods) (3) Osueke(prince of destiny), e.t.c.
Osuagbara is however, contextually different from other osus, even
though agbara will also mean agwu in some contexts. Osuagbara in the
context in which it is usually used, refers to persons dedicated to
powerful deities. The term refers to both male and female.
Origin
Before the advent of christianity which is presently the dominant
religion in Igboland, the Igbos worshipped powerful deities like (1)
Amadioha(god of thunder) (2) Ala(god of land) (3) Igwe(god of sky)
and others. These deities were believed to carry supplications of
worshippers to Chukwu(Supreme God). Most of these deities have
troublesome and diificult to please dispositions. Situations arose
in which it was difficult to clean the shrines of these deities and
to carry materials for sacrifices to them. Most times, the priests
and their servants while performing these tasks often ended up being
killed or inflicted with deadly diseases for inadvertent
infractions. It was then resolved that to contain this situation,
some persons would be dedicated to these deities to be performing
these inevitable tasks. The idea being that since these persons and
their descendants would be seen by these deities as their property,
they would be spared in the event of the usual inadvertent
infractions. This idea when put into practice, worked.
The Osuagbara Institution
The insitution of Osuagbara was regarded with great awe. The
Osuagbaras like the sacred rams were avoided by other members of the
society, because of the spirituality surrounding the institution.
Osuagbaras for instance, must not be harmed, insulted/spoken to
harshly, mistreated/maltreated and/or offended in any way. Doing any
of these would definitely attract the wrath of these deities. For
this and other related reasons, the Osuagbaras lived separately from
the rest of the people. Noteworthy is the fact that any form of
interactions with an Osuagbara made one automatically an Osuagbara.
Noteworthy also is the fact that the induction of persons into the
institution was both coecive and persuasive, depending on the
situation.
Contemporary Practice
The fact that there are very few adherents of traditional religion
in Igboland presently have driven the institution into obsurity. The
vestiges however, still exist in the minds of the people, since it
is a known fact that beliefs take time to erase from the mind.
Contemporary modes of social and other forms of interactions now
makes it difficult to differentiate between Osuagbaras and non
Osuagbaras. Descendants of both interact in all ramifications in the
contemporary Igbo society.
Misconception
Human nature is inquisitive. This inquisitive nature often triggers
off the urge to investigate, but when investigation is made
impossible by forces/factors beyond the investigator, speculations
with the attendant distortion of facts usually sets in, this
situation often leads to misconceptions. The Osuagbara insitution in
its nascent years had this problem, which resulted into the
misconception which gained currency over the years that Osuagbaras
are cursed persons.
(This article was first published on Google knol by this author)
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