Pope John Paul II Journal of Philosophy

The term “Digital” has become the buzzword of the modern age. In a sense it captures trend, modernity, currency, latest and so on. Digital is the adjectival rendition of the word “Digit” which derives from the Latin “Digitus”. Digitus is finger. The ancient tradition of counting with the fingers made the fingers associable with numbers. Today Digit has come to refer to number itself. Digit refers to individual numbers in a group of numbers. Igbo vigesimal numeric system was replaced with the decimal system by those who failed to explore the numerological values of numbers in Igbo and the intrinsic connection of numbers to the mechanics of physical bodies. This work explores the real connection of numbers to physical entities in the Igbo Afa system which opens up the past, present and future. Afa juggles and conjures two hundred and fifty six dualized entities built on base 4. It has both heuristic and algorithmic predictability. It promises to contribute to the digital algorithmic system and may offer faster computing procedure. Unfortunately, Africa has shown itself a consumer population of western inventions and technology. This position is a deficit to African global identity. This work proves that Afa gives Africa the possibility of a continental identity in a digital age. This study deploys the ethnomethodological approach in the study of culture.

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