Traditional measurements in the Nigerian Open-air Markets

- By Adebayo Ebenezer Mayowa

One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions-Grace M. Hopper

Measuring is as old as man. People always have measured things; distance, length, weight. Measuring
has become so easy that we don't even think of the act. This simple act has gone through an evolution.
Finding a standard measurement was difficult for our ancestors in the very beginning.

One of the earliest methods of measuring is the use of the human body. Africans measured things
differently with body parts and sometimes with objects or farm tools. In Igbo, the length of the middle
part of an average person's index finger is called Ntaji and is equivalent to twenty millimetres in
western measurement standard. The Yorubas measure litres of water in garawas, and oil in Ìgò which
means bottle. The most everyday places you can notice how measurement works are the market places
around Nigeria and Africa at large. A little observatory walks around famous open-air market around
Nigeria such as the Balogun Market, New Benin Market, Oja Oba in Ilorin, Ibadan's Bodija Market and
Enugu's Ogbete Market or even the Yankaba market in Kano shows grains and spices have a particular
unit of measurement.

Before colonialism, our forefathers have several ways of measuring their farm produce and quantifying
them for sale. Most of these practices are still quite in use today, and most have come to stay. Let's
explore a few.

Mudus, Kongos and Rubbers

Mostly in Northern Nigeria, the mudu [pronounced:moo doo] is the unit of measurement. Although all
the mudu are not of the same size; they are typically identical in design, mostly cone-shaped. The one
found in Kaduna, Taraba, Kastina and Abuja are similar dimensions, and the ones in Kano are twice
bigger. Therefore people of Kano refer to that found in Kaduna as half mudu or tiya. A mudu can be
filled with about 0.17 kg of grains for the smaller one you see in the capital city Abuja and 0.32
kilograms of the bigger mudu common in Kano.
The smallest unit of measurement is the tin, mostly tins of evaporated milk brands. Often referred to
as goni goni  named after a famous tin manufacturing company. A smaller container is the empty 170g
milk tin or 410g for the bigger. About eight of the big milk tins would fill the typical Kano mudu and
about nine of the smaller would fill up the Kaduna/Abuja mudu. As you move towards Southwest
Nigeria, Kongo is the prevalent unit of measurement. For example, in Balogun market, most sellers fill
sacks using kongos and buyers are typically asking for the price of a kongo of rice or beans. Oyo,
Ogun, Osun have the same size while Lagos, Kwara and Ekiti are slightly bigger. A kongo takes around
1.5-1.7 kg of grains for local measures, which is about five times of a big mudu. The smaller unit is
called the derica, which is named after the tin tomato brand ; a derica is half of a kongo.
In South-Eastern Nigeria, crayfish and most grains are sold in plastic paint containers which they often
referred to as painter. These are empty plastic container used to store paint or popular custard brands.
These four-litre containers can hold grains or food items of about 2.75 kg. In Enugu's Ogbete market,
egusi, ogbono seeds or bambara nut are sold in smaller tins; milk tins, tomato tins, margarine tins,
similar to what you find in Northern Nigeria.
The equivalent of a painter in Benin city, South-south Nigeria, is "the rubber." In Marian market
Calabar, "Cups" are standard for selling gari, rice, beans, melon and other seeds. 

Baskets or Plates
 Onions, sweet potatoes or Irish potatoes and tomatoes are mostly sold by volume in baskets, plates or
bowls in most Nigerian markets. Arranged in heaps or mounds, the tomatoes, onions or pepper balance
on each other in a pyramid shape to fill this medium size plastic basket commonly used as domestic
bins, and on a larger scale, big hand-woven baskets are used in wholesale and retail market sales. A big
basket of tomatoes weigh between 40-60kg with the tomatoes mostly sold by volumes, and those that
can't afford to get in bulk go for the smaller plates or bowls, which are usually plastic dinner plates. 

These system of measurements are far from perfect as they are measured in volume which depends on
the size and density of the products and also how the seller fills them, instead of their weight.