The Unconquered Grounds

The traditional religion of the Igbo of Nigeria stratified the society into two major groups namely the Diala and the Osu. The former enjoys every right and privilege in the community while the latter has limited acceptance. There are also other areas of social inequality which the paper addresses as social stigmatization that make the so-called Osu second class citizens in Igbo land. All these are based on Igbo traditional religious beliefs and/or superstitions. The continued existence of these stigmatizations in the twenty-first century and in the land where Christianity has stayed for more than a century is a major of the study. The paper, therefore, investigates into different dimensions of the discrimination and inequality against the Osu even after they have been converted to Christianity. It further looks at the reason why these have remained unconquered grounds when writers claim that Christianity conquered Igbo land many decades ago. The paper presents an ecumenical model that could be explored in handling the delicate issues so that conflicts could be avoided while trying to make the Osu assert their full fundamental rights in Igbo land

Caste · Igbo · Linguistics · Political science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria

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