The Igbo Calendar – Izu Igbo | Igbo heritage

Igbo calendar- Igbo Heritage

In the Igbo calendar, the Izu Igbo which translates to days of the week in the Igbo language is; Eke, Orie, Afor, and Nkwo. Unlike the Gregorian calendar which has 7 days in a week, the Izu Igbo calendar has 4 days in a week.

In the Igbo calendar, Onwa(month) has a total of 7 weeks in a month, which makes up 28 days in a month. The months which are mostly named after Igbo gods are known as Ọnwa Mbụ, Ọnwa Abụo, Ọnwa Ife Eke, Ọnwa Anọ, Ọnwa Agwụ, Ọnwa Ifejiọkụ, Ọnwa Alọm Chi, Ọnwa Ilo Mmụọ, Ọnwa Ana, Ọnwa Okike, Ọnwa Ajana, Ọnwa Ede Ajana, Ọnwa Ụzọ Alụsị.

The Igbo calendar Structure

The calendar also has 13 months in a year, 91 weeks in a year and 364 days in a year. In the last month of the year, an extra day is added. The Igbo calendar is described as ” something not written down but followed”. Although the traditional timekeepers are the priests or Dibia, the calendar is rather being observed in the mind of the people.

The year in Igbo traditional calendar begins on the third week of February, on the 18^th of February.

No.	Months (Ọnwa)	Gregorian equivalent
1	Ọnwa Mbụ	18^th February– 17^th March
2	Ọnwa Abụo	18^th March– 14^th April
3	Ọnwa Ife Eke	15^th April– 12th ^May
4	Ọnwa Anọ	13^th May– 9^th June
5	Ọnwa Agwụ	10^th June– 7^th July
6	Ọnwa Ifejiọkụ	8^th July– 4^th August
7	Ọnwa Alọm Chi	5^th August– 1^st September
8	Ọnwa Ilo Mmụọ	2^nd September– 29^th September
9	Ọnwa Ana	30^th September– 27^th October
10	Ọnwa Okike	28^th October– 24^th November
11	Ọnwa Ajana	25^th November– 22^nd December
12	Ọnwa Ede Ajana	23^rd December– 19^th January
13	Ọnwa Ụzọ Alụsị	20^th January– 17^th February

names of Months in Igbo and their start dates on the Gregorian calendar

Eke	Orie	Afọr	Nkwọ
		1	2
3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26
27	28

An example of a month

Special days on the calendar

The beginning of each year is celebrated with a festival known as Igu Aro. Ọnwa Anọ is when the planting of seed yams starts. Onwa Ife Eke is a month dedicated to the people fasting in sacrificial harmony to the Goddess Ani of the earth. Many communities during this time hosted competitive wrestling events. The new yam festival is celebrated on Onwa Ifejioku

Each day is assigned as a market day for different communities and towns. For example; in the city of Awka, Eke is the day chosen for market days; Mgbakwu Nkwo day is chosen as the market days; in Ebenebe, the Orie day is chosen as the market days; in Umunya and Onitsha, the Afor day is the chosen as the market days.

Here’s an example of the market days against a Gregorian Calendar

AUGUST 2021
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat
1 Nkwo	2 Eke	3 Orie	4 Afor	5 Nkwo	6 Eke	7 Orie
8 Afor	9 Nkwo	10 Eke	11 Orie	12 Afor	13 Nkwo	14 Eke
15 Orie	16 Afor	17 Nkwo	18 Eke	19 Orie	20 Afor	21 Nkwo
22 Eke	23 Orie	24 Afor	25 Nkwo	26 Eke	27 Orie	28 Afor
29 Nkwo	30 Eke	31 Orie