Origin of the four market days
Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at
1:31 pm
The four market days which make up the native week in Igboland namely- EKE, ORIE, AFO, NKWO; are attributable to the four chief messengers or Arch-Angels of God guiding the four corners of the earth and heaven.
EKE – Michael (East)
ORIE – Reuel (West)
AFO – Raphael (North)
NKWO – Gabriel (South)
Filed under: Igbo Calendar
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I heard that in some Igbo communities that in addition to Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo they also have Eke-ukwu, Orie-ukwu, Afo-ukwu, and Nkwo-ukwu.
If this is the case in your community or you have also heard of this and know more about it please feel free to share with us.
Yes, in Ikwuano Abia State, we have Eke, Orie, Afo, Nkwo, Ekeukwu, Orienta, Afoata.
In as much as I am Catholic, I find it a bit difficult to comprehend the obvious fact that the Igbos do not have any name for their days until the coming of the white man as is obvious by the ascribing of the days to Arch angels. Please cross check your facts very well. According to Prof. Achebe, Igbos have been writing and documenting long before the interactions with Europeans. If that is the case, surely they would have recognised the need for naming days of the week or days of the year as the case might be.