Where it sits in the week
The four turn in that order and begin again, so Afọ comes round every four days. Each one belongs to a market, which is why a town has an Eke market or an Orie market, and why the days turn up in people's names.
The next five
- Sat19 Septtoday
- Wed23 Septin 4 days
- Sun27 Septin 8 days
- Thu1 Octin 12 days
- Mon5 Octin 16 days
These dates count back to 1 January 2026, which was Orie. Seven published Igbo calendars put that day there, among them a day-by-day table of 2000 to 2050 that was drawn up before 2009. A day traditionally turns at sundown rather than midnight, and some communities keep the cycle a step apart from this count. See where the count comes from.
How the name is written
The app writes it Afọ. You may also see Afor, the common spelling in Nigerian writing, where the dotted ọ is often dropped. The historian Elizabeth Isichei records the four days as answering to the four compass points, with Afọ to the north.