KOLA NUT AND OUR CULTURE

    From the tropical rain-forests of Africa. I bring you Kola nut, a fruit of kola tree. Kola nut is a caffeine containing nut of evergreen trees of the genus cola, primarily the species cola acuminata and cola nitida.

“He who brings kola brings life” these are the words of many elders during their meetings in the eastern part of Nigeria. In terms of taste, Kola nut is not very sweet rather it has a bittersweet taste and so are its significance and variance in our different and wonderful cultures.

The Hausa-Fulani of Nigeria treat and respect the usage of kolanut which they refer to as “gworo”. Since kolanut contains caffeine, it is used by most people to stop sleep or better still regulate their sleeping time to suite themselves. In Yoruba religion, kola nut is the favourite food of Ifa, the divination deity. Kola nut (Obi abata) in Yoruba land is treated with prestige probably because of its status as the favourite food of Ifa.

In Nigeria, almost if not all the groups have several uses for kolanuts especially during meetings by elders and during ceremonies. According to a book by Dr. M.O. Ene titled kola nut: food of the gods, “the Igbos hold the kola nut sacred, offering it at every gathering and to any visitor as a blessing, as refreshment or to seal a covenant. The prayers that precede the breaking and sharing of the nut are 'he who brings kola brings life'. This is the kola nut. This is the star. This is life. This star is us”.

Studies have shown that chewing kola nut can ease hunger pangs. Medically, it is also used to treat asthma and whooping cough because the caffeine present acts as a bronchodilator expanding the bronchial air passages. A notable disadvantage of chewing kola nut is that it changes the color of the teeth after continuous chewing for a long time, most likely years.

I leave you with this saying, “he who chews and swallows the kola in a huff hearkens to the call of his ancestors”. Dear reader, how often do you chew kola nut?