By Anayo Okoli, Chidi Nkwopara, Steve Oko, Ugochukwu Alaribe, Jeff Agbodo & Chimaobi Nwaiwu

IN Igbo land, there are four market days — Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo. These market days are very important to the Igbo. 

Every Igbo community has one of these days as its particular market day and revere it. On that day, no social ceremonies such as marriages, burials, and other gatherings are allowed to be held in the community. The entire day is devoted to buying and selling in that market. 

Those who have nothing to buy or sell remain at home to rest and spend time on other domestic engagements. Despite trends in modernity, development, and changes, this age-long tradition remains and is still respected in many communities. 

SEV went to town to try and trace the origin and reasons for this strong lasting tradition.

Many market days are tied to deities — Octogenarian

An octogenarian in Osina, Ideato North Council of Imo State, Chief Declan Ezenna, explained that many market days are tied to the gods of the communities.

He said that the honour accorded the market day is in appreciation of the god of the land which the progenitors of the community worshipped.

According to him, in many communities, staying away from farming, marriage, burial, and similar activities on a market day serves as part of the rites of a covenant the progenitors of the village must have entered into with the deity of the village.

“Many market days are tied to deities in the communities. In those days, many villages or communities had deities believed to be protecting them.

“The market days were chosen in honour of the deities. So, when people honour a particular market day, it is not just about trading, it is in appreciation of the god of the community.

“It is a product of covenant. The forefathers of these communities must have entered into a covenant with the deity for protection. So, honouring a particular day as the market day is usually part of the rites of the covenant.

“If you check very well, most communities that honour Eke market day have something to do with Amadioha”, he submitted.

The village market is like the artery of the village.

The forebears of Ndigbo had serious reasons for everything they did, including cultural and religious observances. Sadly,  a lot of these Igbo beliefs and observances were largely undocumented but passed on from generation to generation by mere word of mouth. In the case of Igbo market days, there are only four of them. It is not clear, how or why Ndigbo settled for the four market days. These four market days also constitute the Igbo week. Each community in Igbo land has a deity. Each deity is celebrated and/or venerated on a particular market day.

According to Professor Bertram E. B. Nwoke: “In my village, Umuariam Obowo, Afor market day is believed to be for Amadioha spirit and to those who believe in it, no marriage or burial is celebrated. It is important to note that this belief is gradually going down with the advent of Christianity.”

It’s for economic olamd social needs – Imo Commissioner

Former Imo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mazi Uche Ohia, chose to place economic value on the embargo on all other activities  on any market day, not because of any deity or related things.

Ohia said: “I choose to place simple logic and common sense in explaining why our forefathers decided to keep our market days sacrosanct. The village market, then and now, is like the artery of the village.  Traditionally, markets serve economic and social needs in every village.  

“It stands to reason that if anyone is allowed to schedule or host an event on the market day of his village, he would have succeeded in doing one of the following:

Disrupted the forum for public economic activity, on which the life of most households in the village depend; disrupted the Igbo week’s social interaction for which the marketplace serves as a fulcrum as social cohesion is very fundamental to every village and important for community bonding.

“That could also have disconnected the indigenes from the global news network, which the village market provides and had provided before the radio, newspapers, television, and social media were invented and possibly interfered with spiritual and religious obligations, as the market day was also a day for honouring deities and ancestors that are revered by the villagers, and reduced the integrity of the village by allowing one man’s event to override a communal event of ancient origin.”

We revere Nkwo market to promote, and strengthen it — Community leader

A community leader in Ikwo community in the Ikwo Council of Ebonyi, Chief Jacob Ogodo said that there are no spiritual or traditional rituals attached to the markets but to strengthen and promote the market development. He said that the market day helps the economic activities of the community to grow.

“There may not be any traditional thing attached to it. In some places, it is a result of trying to promote the market. Just like if a community establishes a particular market for the sake of proximity. Take, for instance, Eke market day; the Eke they have been going to buy and sell maybe far from them and they now say, okay, let us have Eke market in our community. Then, in trying to build it and make it strong, they will mandate all the members of the community to ensure that they have no other thing to attend to on that market day like burials, weddings, or farm work. None of these are allowed on that very market day.  

“The essence is to promote the market. That is what I know. They want the market to stand.

“And this thing has been going on for years and unconsciously it becomes the way of life of the people around that community.  

“We discover that even when they want to go to farm, on their own, even without being compelled, somebody will say, no, no, on the Eke market day?

“So, before you know it, it will become a kind of tradition in that community. So, I am saying, it is one of the ways of establishing the market, making it stand, and then attracting people to come and buy and sell in the market. 

“In my community in Ikwo, we have Nkwo market. On Nkwo market day, if you schedule anything like a burial, wedding, naming ceremony, or farm work, people will tell you no. The reason is that the majority of the people in my community will go to that market to buy and sell.

“If you go to the farm, nothing will happen to you. The gods will not be angry with you but it has become a kind of lifestyle that on Nkwo market, it is either you go to the market or you rest in your house.

“For now, there is no penalty attached to it or given to the violators but before now, there was a penalty when the market was being established or taking off to enable it to stand.

“The penalty is when you don’t go to that market, they fined you. At the initial stage, there was always a penalty. But as time went on, they stopped the penalty because at that point, it had become their way of life. They will continue to maintain the status quo unconsciously,” Ogodo stated.

It is an ancient tradition that must be upheld — Ibeku traditional prime minister

Deputy National Chairman of Nigeria Association of Traditional Prime Ministers, and the Traditional Prime Minister of Ibeku ancient kingdom, Umuahia, Chief Uche Akwukwuegbu explained that the reason various communities in Igbo land do not hold marriage or burial ceremonies on their market days predates living elders, and cannot be discontinued.

He said that the practice is an ancient tradition that must be respected and upheld by every generation, noting that attempts by Christians to break the age-long tradition had not worked out.

He said: “It is an age-long tradition that is respected by every generation. In my Amuzukwu Ibeku Community, for instance, we have Orie market day but we don’t hold marriage or burial on Eke days. In fact, anyone who dies on Eke market day is regarded as one who died a bad death.

“We don’t marry or hold burials on Eke market day. Christians have tried to defy this tradition but they have not succeeded. So, this is a traditional practice that we met and we don’t intend to break it.”

Igbo have 8 market days, not 4 — Obingwa community leader

A community leader in Obingwa council, Abia State, Chief Osondu Ukaegbu, maintains that it is erroneous to say that there are four market days in Igbo land. He said that there are eight Igbo Market days.

The traditional title holder told SEV that there are major and minor market days which form the eight days of the Igbo week. He listed the market days as; Eke ukwu, Orie ukwu, Afor ukwu, Nkwo ukwu, Eke nta, Orie nta, Afor nta and Nkwo nta. He, however, added that the veneration of any particular market day varies from community to community.

“There are 8 market days, 4 major market days, and 4 minor markets. The market days are; Eke ukwu, Orie ukwu, Afor ukwu, Nkwo ukwu, Eke nta, Orie nta, Afor nta and Nkwo nta. These form the 8 days of Igbo week.

“The veneration of any particular market day varies from community to community, but the special day is usually Eke Ukwu, Orie Ukwu, Afor Ukwu, or Nkwo Ukwu. These are the major market days which fall once  in two weeks. In the olden days, people sat at home to hold communal meetings on any of their major market days”, Ukaegbu explained.

Respect for the market is something we inherited from our forefathers, it is beyond civilization.

Chief Pius Okoye, the National President of Igboezue International Association, Nigeria and the Diaspora, said respect for Igbo market days is not something that came by accident or design but was inherited from the forefathers that is beyond civilization.

“We cannot change it; it is permanent and will continue to be part of our identity. No community in Igbo land jokes with their markets, that is why even Igbo who live outside Nigeria, when they come home, do some shopping in their local markets, which shows the level of their attachment to their markets.

“Ndigbo prefer to sell their farm produce on their chosen local market days because that is the day different people from other communities visit the markets to buy some goods, and that is the day they believe such goods will be prized better and it serves as a day of showcasing their produce because they come to the market with the bests of their farm produce and make more money from such produce.

“It is indisputable that in Igbo land, there are four market days, namely, Eke, Orie, AfÍ, and økwÍ. Every community has one day devoted as a special market day, and venerate it, because it also serves as their identity and that informs why no social activity, including burial, marriage, and other gatherings is allowed to be held in the community on that market day.

“Women also use that day to buy the best food materials to cook for their husbands and children. Every Igbo man knows that the kind of food their wives cook for them and the entire household on their market day differs from what is obtained on ordinary days, that is not the community market day.”

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