Impact

Source

I recently watched a young lady narrate on Facebook how she was a victim of the Osu caste system in Eastern Nigeria.

The video was a cry for help, as it was discovered that she came from the Osu bloodline, which invariably makes her a “slave,” and the implication of this is that she cannot marry a “freeborn

I saw her weep as she narrated bitterly how her fiancé called off their engagement because upon introduction of both families, it was discovered that her family were descendants of “osu (slaves).”

According to the lady, the issue wasn’t just about her fiancé’s family refusing to let them be married, but the fiancé himself stating that he loved his unborn children too much that he wouldn’t want to subject them to a life of stigmatization. It was such a heart-wrenching video, so much so that I felt her pain as I watched.

The most heartbreaking part was when she blurted out, I thought he loved me. In that moment, I remember the saying that love is not enough.

While I come from a very liberal family, who do not discriminate, I couldn’t help but put myself in the fiancé’s shoes. I wondered, as I pondered, what I would have done if I were to be in the fiancé's position. Would I have heeded my family’s rejection of my intended union, or would I have fought for love?

Marriage is quite a dicey affair, you know. It’s not only about the two people in love but also about the other human beings who would be brought forth as products of that union.

You know there is nothing worse than being children of rejects. Life is already challenging; no need to make it harder by bringing forth children whom society would render miserable.

At some point, the lady cried and wished that she was never born, as the pain was too much to bear. In the midst of her anguish, she called on her fellow easterners to be liberal and stop the segregation, as we are first humans before anything else.

Disappointingly, as heartfelt as that video was, I went on to read the comments, and I cringed because I thought that we had long moved past the era of branding one another as “slaves.”

Quite unfortunately, people are still being stigmatized, and while I do not subscribe to the Osu Caste system as I’m not from the East, it gets really difficult fighting not just your family but the society and having your children pick up that fight at the start of their lives.