THE PLACE OF KOLANUT IN NIGERIAN CULTURE.
In most Nigerian gatherings especially among the Igbo tribe, in Houston and of course elsewhere, you will witness them present, blessed, break, distribute and eat kola nut in a ceremony or funfair. It’s usually served in a wooden bowl or plate together with Alligator pepper [or pepper nut] and sometimes with bitter kola. It is the first and most important cultural item among other in entertainment such as drink, food etc. Its prime position is non negotiable. Little wonder the “presentation and breaking of traditional kola nut” often singled out for mention, occupies prime position in most program of event. Where inadvertently omitted, custom obliged the chairperson of the occasion to include it. Yet many people wonder why this tasteless tropical nut commands such importance. Kola nut is a Nigerian cash crop from native kola nut tree of tropical woodland and sultry forest. Even though its origin is not well documented, yet its seed is planted and eaten in different regions in Nigeria as well as other African countries. The kola nut is planted in great and commercial quantity in the western Nigeria by the yoruba’s; the Hausa tribe in the Northern region happens to consume it in large quantity while the Igbo’s in the Eastern region celebrate it.
There are two main species of kola nut: “Oji Igbo” or Oji abata [cola acuminate] is the type grown and indigenous to Igbo land. It usually has four or more disease resistant cotyledons called segments or lobes. The variances in lobes differentiate one type from another in symbols and significance. The Igbo’s have great penchant for the nut with four lobes. It’s believed to signify progress and blessings. The second species is known as “Oji awusa” popularly know as “gworo” [cola nitida]. It usually has two segments and more disease-prone but readily available and less expensive. Its grown by the Yoruba’s in the West, processed and shipped from West to the North, to the Hausa land where it has consumption and commercial value. From there some are bagged and trans-shipped to the East.
Each time Kola nut is presented to a guest whether a visitor or a relative, it’s a way of expressing hearty welcome and a mark of hospitality. It speaks without a word that the guest is accepted and protected in the house or family visited. Kola nut is a unique expression of love, peace and good wishes. It also has Spiritual symbolism, in that each time it’s presented, it initiates prayers and social interaction; it’s an object of divination. One great significant of the nut is that it fosters unity among brethren and community. Each time it’s presented, broken and eaten, it’s shared in communion and fellowship after prayers have been offered to the God of creation, seeking His blessings, protection and for progress. It’s a bond of love, peace and good wishes; a covenant binding the people together. No wonder the adage “He who brings Kola, brings life” follow the presentation of the nut.
Even though Kola nut is accorded significant reverence in Igbo custom and tradition, other tribes in Nigeria have great respect for this unique seed. The Edo’s have great regards for the nut and also use it to offer prayers for both the living and saints in great beyond. The Hausas in the North offer the nut as a symbol of hospitality and eat it as snacks. The Yoruba’s offer guest a small basket of Kola nut as a sign of good faith.
In any Igbo gathering, Kola nut is served first in the list of traditional menu, because of its symbolic importance in prayers, blessings and injunctions, etc. As the nut is presented, its language sort of introduces and defines the purpose and intention [s] of the gathering, be it family meeting, marriage, peace talk, and in all facets of Igbo social activities. Apart from introducing the purpose of the gathering, it’s customary a time to get acquainted with everybody present. Being relayed [passed around] in certain pertain, people present get to know who comes from where and the relationships binding them, be it kindred’s, in-laws, grandchildren, visitors, etc. It also helps to satisfy that they are properly constituted, such that unwanted persons could be asked to excuse them. The nut is also a symbolic item of prayers and divination. With it in hand, we commit the event into God’s hands, offer thanks for His numerous and manifold blessings and protections; ask for peace, love, fruitfulness and prosperity. It’s not uncommon to remember our fallen heroes, our saints whom God used in the past, some who died for the cause of the community, fighting for freedom, peace and unity. Indeed, their death was their success. We therefore share in communion with them; ask that their soul continue to enjoy peace in the land of the dead. As an object of divination, Diviners or soothsays prays, breaks and throws the broken pieces into a container or onto a drawn circle on the ground and start to explain or interpret the supernatural face of events. There could be some predictions depending on which position the lobes of the nut on the ground face.
PART II – the presentation, blessing and sharing of kola nut
The presentation of kola nut is one fragile issue that must be handled with great care and caution, or else it could create unforeseen problem. This brought to mind a wedding reception I attended here in Houston a couple of years ago. It was an intertribal marriage between two Nigerians families [Igbo and Urobo]. Probably, out of ignorance or mischief, the bridegroom’s family did not pass the kola nut to the bride’s family [their in-laws] as custom demands, thus denied them the right of participating in the presentation [relay of the kola nut]. The bride’s people spotted this flaws and drew their in-law’s attention to the oversight but, without any atom of redress, a spoke man for the bridegroom’s family who appeared to have added more insults to the injury said “we have married your daughter traditionally, we owe you no further obligation; the wedding is completely our affair.” What a way to begin a surpassingly life long relationship? I think they wumbled and fumbled in their reaction; they exhibited not only fickleness but down right negligence of cultural norms and values, and showed no regards to their in-laws in the present of such crowd of witnesses.
Kola nut, where not properly presented, could cause fracas, because it represents not only one’s cultural right but who one is and what he represents. Most times the biggest problem with kola nut rests on the presentation and distribution process. Different tribes carry out this function differently. Even among the Igbo tribe, one still finds some variance in the manner each group presents and shares the nut, making the process more complex sometimes cumbersome.
However by custom, the host or head of the welcoming household always present kola nut to his guests, through a close relative or known friend among the guests, who in turn direct it to a traditional chief [if any] or most elderly man. The elder who must be well groomed in kola-nut rites reiterates the purpose of the gathering after which, he passes it around in a pertain, a little bit too complicated to fully explain here. This process is very intriguing and interesting but sometimes delaying depending on the vast congregation of people of different communities present. Even though kola nut has no legs but it’s said to travel or better put embarks on a journey to establish lineages through this process. After the relay, it reverts to the elder who may pray and consecrates the nut or pass it to the host for consecration. The host or the guest elder or an appointed young person then breaks it into smaller lobes and distributes in the same pertain. It’s customary to recognized title holders present, who may be invited to pick up the nuts as mark of respect for their status. It’s always very solemn to watch each gathering share in communion these pieces of nut.
There seem to have evolved an unwritten new system in the presentation of kola-nut which has become a contentious component of modern – day kola-nut communion. As part of the relay process, representatives from other tribes and state blocks are invited to pick kola-nut in recognition of the bond of fellowship that holds them together as a people. In my opinion, this process seemed to have solved no problem but muddled it and help in reminding them that they are a divided whole.
In ritual instances, the host or the eldest male in the immediate kindred of the host consecrates the kola-nut. The reason being that the guests do not know the deities, spirits and ancestors to whom the host prays or its proper name or language of address. It does not matter the rank or how highly placed the guest is, the host is king in his house or domain. Anything contra to this is considered counterculture. However in most religious functions, the priest or pastor or ordained Church elder is usually called upon to bless the kola-nut. They are regarded as God’s servants or messengers and God is believed to have sovereignty over all creation. This practice has been challenged by some cultural rites conservatives. For example, M.O. Ene’s discussion on “kola-nut communion” provoked this thought “blessing of kola nut is not a Christian or political rite; it is an African ritual, a communion of the living and the host’s dear departed and deities. It is not the covenant between Moses and Hebrews, or Jesus and the Gentiles or Gingrich’s contract with America; it is about a covenant between the person and his ancestors [Chi] and all benevolent spirits”. He further said “No person walks into a Church and bless the Holy Communion. No priest goes to another parish and says a mass without explicit permission of the Bishop. No one goes into a synagogue and flips the Torah. The imam leads the Muslim faithful in prayers. The same way, no priest, rabbi or imam should walk into a household and consecrates the kola-nut”
It’s worth mentioning at this point that relay of kola nut is not very common during wakes and funerals. Also there are few instances where the guests present kola-nut to the hosts; where the guest is asking for favor or assistant and where he is paying a fine charged by the community.
In some part of Igbo land, for particular mention, in Arochukwu, kola nut is first divided into four segments or pieces, no matter the crowd, for specific cultural reasons, among which is the belief that kola nut with four parts carries with it impending blessings – long life, prosperity, peace and unity bestowed to all who participate in eating it. From historical prospective, until recent times, and even presently in some Igbo areas, an Arochukwu [Aro] man was given the honor and perhaps rightly so, to bless and consecrate kola nut in a gathering in which an Aro man was present. Some Northern Igbo’s cede this right to bless the nut to the Nri clan or people.
Part iii: kola-nut – symbols and significance.
The kola nut “oji” without denying the importance of cultural diffusion is apparently unique with the Igbo’s in Nigeria and in Diaspora. Great advocates of Igbo culture and tradition have defined “oji” to mean “omenani ji Igbo” [‘O’ meaning omenani or omenali, ‘J’ meaning ji, and ‘I’ meaning Igbo]. ‘Omenani ji Igbo’ means the culture that binds the Igbo race in unity. Onyekwe, National Museum, Enugu, Nigeria writing on “a cultural communication symbol” said, “in Igbo land, sharing of kola nut in any human interaction determines collective love of sharing and maintenance of structured norms, values, roles, an action which is structurally function because it is structured around norms, roles, and institutions”. Also Christopher Ebighbo was also quoted to have said “the main function of ‘Oji’ is to preserve the norms and values of the society. It’s a way to Chuku”. In effect, it’s a way of preserving the society and our culture. Kola nut [Oji] when presented speaks without a word, who we are, what we believe in, our present, past and future; bringing both the living and the death into communion. It’s something that transcends beyond things, people, behavior or emotions. Cultural institutions exist to satisfy the needs of the individual and society as a whole. T.S. Eliot defines culture to include all the characteristic activities and interest of the people. Kola-nut “oji ugo” seems to satisfy these needs in Igbo society.
Apart from being a symbol of unity and hospitality, the kola nut serves other medical purposes. Even though kola nut therapy is not common, kola nut pods are used to ease labor pains, and the seeds to relieve diarrhea, nausea, and hang over. Nigerians somehow chew the nut as a stimulant; even students have been known to chew it to stay awake and alert when preparing for examination. In some places, the roots and tree branches are used as chewing sticks, chewed to clean teeth and sweeten breath. In a place like Senegal, a West African Country, it has been known for its Viagra effect. Friends send the nut as invitation or congratulations. The Fulani’s crush, sock it in water and used the product to dye cloths. I also learn it’s used in the manufacture of certain wine product.
Theresa Emenike writing on ‘Tradition – Breaking of kola nut’ said, “Our tradition believes that kola ‘oji’ neither speaks nor understands English language; we bless the nut in our linguafranca. Our tradition also does not permit women to plant, climb, pluck or break kola nut. The primary reason for this is that kola nut epitomizes headship, thus requires a man, to bless and break the nut”. Secondly from spiritual viewpoint, women are considered the vessels of creation or production. It will be imprudent to involve them in dealing with spirits and deities. Ene also opined that “Women are not allowed to officiate at kola-nut communion for roughly the same reasons the Catholic Church does not allow the reverend Sisters to consecrate Holy communion.” However a wife or woman can bring out the bowl [or plate] of kola-nut and pass it to the husband or head of household for presentation. It’s not uncommon to announce to the women that kola-nut has been brought but no one presents or relays it to them. In occasions where men and women sit together, as they pass the nut bowl around, the men pick two pieces and pass one to their wives.
As l could vividly recollect when I was growing up, I observed and listened to my father present this fruit to various guests. And I watched and marveled as each guest use this kola nut as an object of prayers to God [or gods] and as tool of blessing for all. I noticed many a time that each guest chose different words to present and break the nut. The language of presentation is guided by or an intimation of the event. Some of the guest began by referring to kola nut as if it had a mind of its own, while others present the nut as if it preserves life in it, and whoever partakes in eating it is charged with new life. Little wonder the saying “He who brings kola nut brings life”. Elsewhere a story has it that one who presents kola-nut to his guest [s] cannot at the same time harbor evil thought in his mind; meaning that the kola nut and evil cannot co-exist in the same place. However in recent past, there was an unconfirmed speculation that a lot of people have been poisoned through kola-nut in social gatherings. How that works is a mystery since he who brings kola nut usually takes the first piece and eat it. This help to establish the purity of the nut, prove its wholeness and the sincerity of the presenter.
Sharing my views on the significance of kola-nut with a colleague [Mr. A Iloka, Houston] – a strong believer and advocate of our cultural values, he paused and pondered in amazement about the role this ancient fruit plays in our culture. Mr. Iloka said that he has never stopped to wonder, why this fruit commands the kind of respect and reverence that we have witnessed for such a very long time. Why is this fruit among others like it accorded such respect and meaning? Could it be that this fruit has some divine origin which has been lost in antiquity? Or could it be that some story existed somewhere back in time concerning this fruit which we know nothing about to this day? As I listened to Mr. Iloka think aloud, I seem to agree with him that there could be more to the fruit, kola-nut than we know about. If these thoughts are true, then the earlier speculation that the kola nut could have some divine nature stands a place. This calls for further exploring of the spiritual significance and sacramental symbolism of the nut.
Reach: Evangelist Ogbonnaya, Godswill @weefreeministries.org or P. O. Box 720035, Houston, Texas, 77272.