Okonko Research: Igbo Calendar vis a vis Igbo Cultural Revolution

Humans have made certain notable achievements on the march to progress. Human language and the calendar are some of the prominent cultural elements that are universal and still represent human creativity in any given society. The Copernican Revolution of 1540 AD was only about the movements of the sun and the earth: it did not touch the issue of the calendar. The human computation of time remains one of the basic foundations upon which human civilization is founded. Time means more to humans than we can imagine.

Scientists are in agreement that the current Gregorian calendar does not represent the cosmic order as we know it, and that there is need for calendar reform. A lot of economic and political factors have stood on the way of the calendar reform. In general, scientific discoveries are graded in terms of their nearness or approximation to the order that is inherent in nature.

Unknown to the scientists who are asking for the world calendar reform, the Igbo calendar represents the cosmic order more than any known world calendar. The scientific details and genesis of the Igbo calendar are available in a treatise entitled: "Symbolism In The Philosophy of Science", by Jon Ofoegbu Ukaegbu. The work will be published before April of 2005.

It is and should be a source of Igbo pride that the Igbo ancestors were able to develop such a scientific calendar. The Igbo 4-day week has a paradigm that is more solid than the 7-day week pattern. Both numbers four and seven have very high symbolic contents; but the number four has more cosmic symbolic views than the number seven.

The Igbo calendar reflects Igbo cultural identity in a special manner. Of the two Igbo calendars in existence, one is an Igbonized edition of the Gregorian calendar with 12 months in a year; while the other one is the original Igbo native calendar that has 13 months in a year. The original Igbo calendar is a product of an ongoing study that needs to be revisited and updated in due time.

Ọkọnkọ Research Foundation endeavors to maintain current versions of the Kalenda Igbo and the Original Kalenda Igbo online. We also stock bounded copies of the two calendars for the next year. Please, see http://igbology.igbonet.com. Future years’ editions of Kalenda Igbo and the Orijinal Kalenda Igbo may be purchased for a small fee.

How to get copies of the Igbo Calendars:

Visitors to our site may download and print the calendars for their own use. Payment for downloaded Calendar is on an honor system; one simply donates any sum to the Ọkọnkọ Research to support the continued production of the calendars. In effect, there is no obligation to pay to download the calendars that appear online.
If you would prefer bound copies of the calendars or if you would like to get future years’ calendars, send payment to the Ọkọnkọ Research at the address below and indicate which calendars you wish to purchase.

How to make payments:

You may make payments for the calendar(s) of your choice through our PayPal payment system. We accept major credit cards via PayPal as well as electronic checks. Please go to http://igbology.igbonet.com/payments/ or click on the Pay Now or Donate buttons on the left panel of the site. We have the calendars in two sizes: 81/2 X 11; and 4 X 5 Letter size. Allcalendars are in color adorned with Pan-Afrịkan design. A copy of the large edition, plus shipping and handling is $14.00, while the small edition is $8.00 for those in the US.

You may also send check or money order made payable to Ọkọnkọ Research and mail to: The Administrator of Ọkọnkọ Research, P.O. Box 070824, Brooklyn New York 11207, U.S.A. E-mail: okonko@igbonet.com Tel.: 718-348-5674: Fax: 718-348-0599
If you live in Nigeria and you are not able to use PayPal, you can donate any sum and make check or money order payable to: New Afrịka Publishers, and mail to 100 Zik Avenue, Ụwanị Enugwu, Enugwu State, Nigeria. Tel. 042-25.86.54.
Persons in Nigeria can get bound copies by placing orders to the Enugwu address above.

Those outside the USshould add appropriate postage. Thefront cover of the calendarhas a study map of the Igbo nation that reflects the authentic spellings of some Igbo towns. Theback coverhas a map of Afrịka with the location ofNigeriaand the Igbo Nation.

We have two types of calendars:

Kalenda Igbo i.e., the Igbonized form of the Gregorian calendar with emphasis on the Igbo market days of: EKE, ORIE, AFỌ & NKWỌ. We stock the current year’s calendar and the calendar for the next year.
Orijinal Kalenda Igbo. This is the real Igbo native calendar and its details can be gotten in the work cited above. We also stock the current year’s Original Kalenda Igbo and the Original Kalenda Igbo for the next year.

For further information, contact:

Fada Jọn Ọ. Ụkaegbu, Ph.D.

The Overseer

The Administrator of Ọkọnkọ Research

A Corporation Sole, Afrịkan Cultural Heritage.

E-mail: okonko@igbonet.com

Web site: http://www.igbology.igbonet.com