Nigeria's Seed Of Togetherness That Produced Billionaires In America

By Okechukwu Okugo

Kola nut, grown in western and central Africa with over 70% of global kola nut production in Nigeria, according to Samson Babadara, the national president of the Association of Kolanut/Bitter kola Marketers and Exporters of Nigeria, changed the world and producing early millionaires and then billionaires in America.

In 1886 a pharmacist in Atlanta Georgia, John Pemberton took extracts from kola nuts and coca and mixed them with sugar, carbonated water and other ingredients to invent the first cola soft drink. He gave the drink to his accountant, Frank M. Robinson, who tasted it, fell in love with the fizz and shouted the name “Coca-Cola.”

This product revolutionized America’s beverage company, a beverage invented from a seed that bound Nigeria together in hospitality and culture.

Thus kola nut was used to create what became the world’s number one selling sparkling beverage.

The first servings of Coca-Cola were sold for 5 cents per glass which during the first year sales averaged a meek nine servings per day in Atlanta. Dr. Pemberton later sold portions of his business to various parties in U.S. And the business continued to grow. Today daily servings of Coca-Cola beverages are estimated at 1.9 billion globally.

But what is kola nut and why is it special?

A kola nut is the fruit produced by a kola tree. It is bitter at the first chew in the mouth but later sweetens as the chewing progresses. It is usually a reddish brown seed and has different number of lobes, 3, 4, 7 etc., and they are about the size of a walnut.

                                         Kola nuts in its pod on the kola tree

                                   Kola nuts emerging from the pods

                                     Kola nuts

The kola nut is introduced to Europe in the mid-16^th century by Portuguese traders.

Throughout western Africa a small piece of kola nut is chewed before each meal to promote digestion and it has been proven that the chewing of this nut counteracts the effect of drinking tainted water.

Some of the other benefits of kola nut which sets it apart from other nuts of African origin are:

1.     It offers a natural weight loss benefit: The Nigerian Journal of Physiological Sciences reported that the experiment carried out on rats which were placed on a steady intake of kola nuts reduced the rats’ natural food intake and their considerable bodyweight without altering the rats’ water intake.

2.     Kola nut extracts also contains nonsteroidal plant compounds that have the ability to induce death of cancerous prostate cells. And plays a role in the checking of this type of cancer.  

3.     It is an antibiotic and used in African traditional medication, soaked in alcohol to make tinctures. It helps to increase oxygen levels in the blood and promote better concentration. The powder can be taken in capsule form.

4.     It is used as a beverage and can be drunken in tea, though bitter. The kola nut contains more caffeine than coffee. And further goes to prove its superiority over coffee by containing theobromine, an alkaloid compound found in chocolate. It also contains another stimulant known as the kolanin. These are nervous system stimulants which increase cerebral circulation. This explains the kola nut’s ability to contribute to a sense of alertness and well-being and the reported sense of happiness experienced even after chewing the nuts.   

5.     The chewing of kola nut also has been proven to ease hunger pangs.

Today almost everybody on this planet know the two products Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola but not many of them know that the word “Cola” originated from this special African nut, the kola nut. And not many of them know that for many years this special nut was the main ingredient in their cola drinks even though today many no longer use them in the manufacture of their sodas.

But how is the kola nut, Nigeria’s seed of togetherness?

First of all, kola nut is predominantly produced in Nigeria with Osun State in the west the highest producers of the nut in Nigeria, but the overall emotional and cultural attachment to kola nut in Nigeria makes it even religiously infectious.

In fact the Igbos in the south-eastern part of Nigeria believe that the kola nut tree, is the first tree on earth and the nut, the first fruit to be produced on earth. And because of this the take the kola nut as a symbol of hospitality, kindness and fraternity. There is no social setting in Igboland kola nut is not broken and eaten; presented to chiefs and to guests.

An Igbo chief presented with a kola nut at a social function

They use it in their naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals and even in the settling of disputes. Considering the kola nut cultural importance to the Igbos and the fact that it is not significantly produced by them what would they have done if the Yorubas had not sustained the steady planting, harvesting and supply of the kola nut?

Even though the kola nut is also of a cultural importance to Yorubas too.

                 An Igbo traditional wedding (kola nuts are conspicuous on the table)

Again the Hausas another predominant tribe in the northern part of Nigeria depend on the kola nut almost like a “sacred” food eating it day and night; and many of them hawking and selling it almost in every part of Nigeria. Yet they don’t produce it at all or at least significantly.  

Hausa men selling kola nuts they call "Gworo" in their local parlance

One can easily see how this nut ties together the 3 most predominant tribes that are culturally, linguistically and otherwise diverse from one another.

There are different kinds of fruits and nuts produced and enjoyed exclusively in the different parts of Nigeria but go round the country, from east to west, north and south and you surely would be presented with a kola nut.

Note: The opening image is a warm ceremonial welcome of Hillary Clinton by Liberia's traditional leaders with rice and kola nuts in a calabash. Photo Credit: Meg Riggs