First and foremost, we must give kudos to S.F Nadel an Anthropologist who first consulted Nupe people and came up with the idea of Nupe Calendar in his book Black Byzantine written in 1915 while Isyaku Bala Ibrahim (Nupe Writer) who took his time to research further on Nupe Lunar Calendar base on the periods and it is generally acceptable except some Hausa words like Azun that ILLEC changed to its Nupe equivalent as *Eminwan.*
Introduction
Isyaku (2014) state that, the idea of Nupe Lunar Calendar project is aimed at promoting the way our people structured their activities which covered the 12 months in the past and how it became a concept of awareness, currently.
However, the first written document on the Nupe calendar was in Banfield & Macintyre’s Nupe Grammar Book published in 1915. It documented the days and the months, and the various activities and festivals in each of the Nupe month in the calendar year. These festivals became symbols or names of months which could be traced to the time Nupe people used it in the past, orally and greatly influenced when the kingdom embraced Islam as its religion. The only evidence we have of our Islamic heritage could possibly be in the 15th or 16th century of the Gregorian calendar reckoning. That is around 9th and 10th century of the Hijrah (Islamic) calendar.
For centuries, Nupe people used the moon for counting the days which were primarily to celebrate their pagan feasts, rites and rituals of the old Nupe religion such as Gunnukó (fertility god), zhiba (god of commitment), Sako (hunting ritual), Wasa (snake medicine festival), Tsari or Gani (strength/power/wrestling contest festival), Dzako (the god of Ndaduma) etc. The fixed months of the festivals or rituals were Etswa Gani, Etswa Togaya, Etswa Gunnuko Gunnu/ Egunnu, Etswa Wasa, Etswa Dzako and others. They were largely oral in recognition to celebrate the festivals through the constant and gradual phenomenon of appearance and disappearance of the moon, tracked through mere observation and counting of 29 or 30 days for a month.
So the Pagan calendar was later overshadowed by the Islamic calendar as most Nupe people converted to the new religion. The names that still reflect the past pagan festivals were rejected while those that were ordinary were retained by the Islamic orientation of the kingdom. Some retained ones are: Etswa Gani, Eyazhe, Eyazoci, and Togaya.
However, efozhi (days) of the month are not tentatively grouped in weeks,but counting of the days are done to meet up with daily and monthly engagements i.e. fixed market days, feast days or any important schedules/activity known to each community.
Therefore, below are the ways Nupe people counted days that make up a month and so on.
Etswa Nupe – Nupe Months
Etswa ninfu – January,
Etswa bedzo Gani – February,
Etswa – Gani – March,
Etswa Togaya – April,
Etswa Togaya-ebaci – May
Etswa bedzo eminwan ezagbakozhi – June,
Etswa eminwan ezagbakozhi – July,
Etswa bedzo eminwan – August,
Etswa eminwan – September,
Etswa Sowungi – October,
Etswa Sowunko – November,
Etswa Tizogi – December,
Efo Nupe – Nupe Days,
Fonni – Sunday,
Fobaci – Monday,
Fotaci – Tuesday,
Fonici – Wednesday,
Fotsunci – Thursday,
Fotswanici (Bombogi) Friday,
Fotwabaci – Saturday
Kamin Nupe – Nupe Calendar
Efo – Day,
Gokati – Week,
Etswa – Month,
Eya – Year,
Zhizhi – Annual,
Tswafo – Date,
Eyaguwo – Decade,
Eyashitsun – Century.
Lazhin – Morning,
Yigidi – Afternoon,
Lozun – Evening,
Yeshi – Night,
Fafa – Dawn
Yigidila – Sunrise,
Sadu – Midnight,
Sadugandu – Deep-night
The backward counting of days:
1. Yabaci / Eyabaci – last year
2. Ah gun tswa guta – three months ago
3. Ah gun fogwegi /two weeks ago
4. Ah gun fogutota /a week ago
5. Ah gun fogunni /three days ago
6. Tsotaci / a day before yesterday
7. Tsuwo / yesterday.
SIGNED:-
Adamu Idris Manarakis niw,
Nupe Language Professor Honourary,
Tashiru Nupe & Founder / Director ILLEC,
13th September, 2024.
