History of Igbo Calendar Traditional System.
By Jennifer Okonkwo.
The Igbo calendar (Ògụ́àfọ̀ Ị̀gbò) is the traditional calendar system of the Igbo people from present-day Nigeria. The calendar has 13 months in a year (afo), 7 weeks in a month (onwa), and 4 days of Igbo market days (afor, nkwo, eke and orie) in a week (izu) plus an extra day at the end of the year, in the last month.
Although worship and spirit honoring was a very big part in the creation and development of the Igbo calendar system, commerce also played a major role in creating the Igbo calendar which was emphasized in Igbo mythology itself. An example of this is the Igbo market days of which each community has a day assigned to open its markets, this way the Igbo calendar is still in use.
Market days in Igbo land are very significant, so much so that the four market days mentioned above are uniformly observed within every community in Igbo land. It was during the reign of Eze Nrijiofor I (1300-1390 AD), -the fifth Eze Nri in the line of succession- that the Igbo tradition of four market days was instituted.
According to Igbo historical records, one day, during the reign of Eze Nrijiofor I, four wise strangers came to visit him at his palace. When they arrived, these four men pretended to be deaf and dumb. They did not say their names or their mission to Nri kingdom. They were welcomed by the king of Nri. When it started to get dark, one of the servants in the palace was instructed by the king to lead them to the visitor’s chamber, where they were to pass the night.
Later that night, Eze Nri went with his kolanuts to their chambers for discussion but the visitors neither uttered a word nor accepted his kolanuts. The king out of curiosity consulted his native doctor, who devised a way of getting the names of the said visitors.
While they were asleep, the native doctor sent a rat to the visitors chambers and when the rat got to one of the baskets belonging to Eke, Oye who was still awake, subconsciously called Eke with the intention of telling him about the rat, without knowing that he had revealed the name of his brother. This continued until all their names was unveiled that night.
In the morning, the king went to their chambers and as usual, they pretended to be deaf and dumb. But the king, after breaking kolanuts, called them by their names. They were astonished at how the king knew their names.
However, they accepted the kolanuts and after chewing, they gave the King ite ano (four earthen pots) and directed him to keep the pots in front of the Nri shrine outside the obu (palace) with each pots facing the sun. Eke, who was the spokesman of the visiting wise strangers, told Eze Nrijiofor I that the first pot was owned by him, Eke, the second one by Oye, the third by Afor and the last by Nkwo. He told the Eze that the four pots were sent down from Chukwu (God Almighty).
He instructed Eze Nrijiofor I that he and his people whom he ruled should observe those names daily as market days, during which they should be buying and selling. These market days are used in Igboland to count Izu (Igbo native week). Therefore, Eke, Oye, Afor and Nkwo (four market days) became one Izu (week) in the Igbo calendar.
Eke later instructed the king to name every igbo child after the four market days. That is why we have Igbo names such as Okeke or Nweke, Okoye or Nwoye, Okafor or Nwafor, and Okonkwo or Nwankwo. In the same order, female children were to be given ‘Mgbeke’, ‘Mgboye’, ‘Mgbafor’ and ‘Mgbankwo.’ This is still practiced today.
