The Kola Nut

"This is the kola nut. This seed is a star. This star is life. This star is us."

"The igbo hold the kola nut to be sacred, offering it at every gathering and to every visitor, as a blessing, as refreshment, or to seal a covenant. The prayer that precedes the breaking and sharing of the nut is: He who brings kola, brings life."

The above excerpt is the opening to the first chapter of Book I in GraceLand. Though it is the first of many entries about the Kola nut, it is perhaps the most important to the reader. It works as a foundation for the non-Nigerian reader for how the kola nut is to be understood. Apparently, the kola nut comes to represent more than itself. But the effect of introducing such a powerful and important cultural symbol is a strange one; the reader is confronted with an aspect of culture that they are most likely unfamiliar with. Beyond that, though, the symbol of the kola nut is a positive one. It is a symbol of life and of "us," which is an inclusive, but also a symbol of a star, which is a very distant, albeit visible metaphor. The mention of the star is important, however, because the symbology lies within not only the kola nut, but the star that the kola makes. The star is a wide-spread symbol, generally used to show power, royalty, rank, or ideology. Additionally, the star of david was featured in the British Nigeria flag. You can see that here.