Abstract:
Kola nut is a nut content of a pod produced by a tree called kola nut. In English, it is called kola acuminate. A pod may contain two or more nuts interlaced in their setting depending on their size. Kola nut is reddish in colour and smallish in size. It is not sweet. To Igbo extraction of Nigeria, kola nut is so important, so indispensable in almost all their cultural and ritual activities. Kola nut occupies a significant position in Igbo culture. Kola nut is highly honoured and respected in that no meaningful gathering in Igbo land can take place without first of all honouring kola nut - kola nut must be brought, prayed with, broken and eaten by all the people present before important discussion begins. The eating of kola nut by all the people present signifies that they all have clean mind. They have no evil in their hearts, so they are qualified for blessings that accompany the eating of kola nut which the ancestors, the gods and the great God send to them. Kola nut is a means through which the living maintains a link with the ancestral world, the gods and the great God. In this paper, the writer investigated why kola nut is so highly respected in Igbo land and its position in the present society in Igbo land. The writer is arrived at the conclusion through oral interviews conducted on the elders in society and through extensive reading of books that treats kola nut.
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