Why are people afraid of ‘ember’ months?

Okereke Juliet, a makeup artist in her late twenties said, “In Nigeria, people have this perception that the ember months are tender, risky, and dicey. She explained that it is tender because it is believed that is a time when the death toll increases. Many relate it to spiritual issues, others the wickedness of men.” […]

Okereke Juliet, a makeup artist in her late twenties said, “In Nigeria, people have this perception that the ember months are tender, risky, and dicey. She explained that it is tender because it is believed that is a time when the death toll increases. Many relate it to spiritual issues, others the wickedness of men.”

Explaining what she meant by risky and dicey, Juliet said, “Risky because the crime rate increases. Many want to make quick money so that they can meet up with expenses in the season. Some want to travel and would want to compete with others. 

According to her, the period is dicey because fraudulent activities are on the rise. “If you are not smart, you will be caught in the web, especially for those who are greedy. To a very large extent, although no research or census has been done to prove this fact, the ember months are a time that reflects some, if not all of the things I have listed above.”

Musa Abubakar, an engineer in his thirties said many relate the ember months with so many atrocities. He went on to give a personal experience. “Recently, I was in Utako, Abuja on a queue at the ATM, trying to withdraw money when a man suddenly drew our attention to another man who looked insane. The man dropped money on the floor, kept moving, after a while, he stopped, looked back at the money he dropped, then returned to pick the money. Immediately the man who drew our attention said he was a ritualist,” he said. Now, there could be two sides to this story. It may be that the man was actually insane and acted based on that or it could be he had ulterior motives. But either way, the man who was with us, drew his conclusion because we are in an ember month.

He kept saying, they had started again in this ember month, and that he paused to see if anybody would pick the money.  Abubakar however feels that people are unnecessarily scared. According to him: “An ember month is just like every other day to me, we should all just be grateful for each new day and stop thinking that one particular time is risky, or tensed than another.”

Esther, a yam seller, said if one scales through the ember months to a new year, one should thank God. 

“Have you not noticed how people have been dying? Recently, it was a church that collapsed and killed many in Uyo. I heard of one youth corps member that died in Kano. If you ask people, they would tell you how many relatives they have lost in a space of three to four months. I have lost three. I don’t want to sound all superstitious, but I think the ember month is a scary time for many,” she said.

A netizen, RichDad1 on a social network, alluded the fear to anxiety of not achieving set goals. He said: “I guess it’s because of the Christmas and end of the year. People tend to lose concentration and throw everything into the wind all in the name of ‘I must make money before this year ends.’ It’s like the widely accepted official time for individual review performances especially for people that prefer spending their end of year holidays at their home town.”

According to him, as a result of this, motorists are prone to accidents due to lack of concentration, thereby making people to be wary of the last four months of the year.

Even though there are yet to be scientific studies, there is increased deaths and crime rates in the ember months. The fear of this period of the year is shared by many.