THE OSU CASTE SYSTEM IN THE SOUTH-EAST REGION OF NIGERIA AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE AND DISADVANTAGED GROUP: A LEGAL APPRAISAL

Abstract

In some communities in the South-East region of Nigeria, there still exists the degrading and discriminatory practice of Osu caste system despite its abolition many years ago. This continued practice of the caste system has been perceived as constituting a violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution1 as well as regional and international human rights treaties. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine how the practice of the Osu caste system violates certain provisions of domestic, regional, and international human rights laws and makes recommendations on how it can be eradicated. The paper adopts doctrinal legal research methodology using analytical and critical approaches in actualizing the objective of the research. It also makes use of primary sources of literature on the subject matter such as statutes and case law as well as secondary sources such as textbooks, journal articles, internet materials, and so on. The author finds, inter alia, that the practice of the Osu caste system flagrantly violates the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution as well as regional and international human rights instruments. The paper concludes, among other things, that the continued practice of the Osu caste system in the South-East region of Nigeria is gravely discriminatory, illegal in all its forms, and runs contrary to the core principles of dignity of human person and equality of persons inherent in all human beings as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution. The author, therefore, urges the Nigerian Government to, as undertaken in article 4(a) of the International Convention for the Elimination of All Form of Racial Discrimination and other human rights instruments, take the necessary legislative measures towards amending its existing criminal laws or enacting new ones, criminalizing the practice of Osu caste system by making it an offence punishable by law.