The blessing of kola, igo goi in Izzi land, is the right of the eldest
person in any gathering
or it may be that of the Eze
(King) as the case may be. However, the oldest person is preferred in most cases
because he is the custodian of truth and closer to the ancestors. In the
evolutionary trend of the tradition, an ordained minister or one consecrated to
God now takes precedence in the blessing
of the kola, but the eldest person or the Eze who has this right will give or transfer it to
minister as a privilege, not as a right . The ndi icheie iboko Izzi mythology
gives an account of the blessing of the oji in Izzi land, “ the principle behind this Izzikola culture is
that the nut cannot be broken without saying of prayers or incantations by the eldest in the gathering.
This gave rise to the proverb”. He
who brings kola brings life”
because in the kola nut prayers, the elder in addition to his wise sayings normally requested for peace,
prosperity, long life, happiness and protection from all ill fortunes”.
Not only
do the Izzi people say prayers before the breaking of the kola nut, no
traditional Izzi man would drink or eat
without sharing at least, with the ancestors, thus, writes E . Elochukwu
Uzukwu that “ the kola nut,
a symbol of life and commensality which is never omitted in the morning cult, is broken, the
traditional part for the spirits is given to them, and those present share the
rest” the kola libation or blessing is
employed in all occasions, formal and informal. Thus we now present a case of an old man who called his sons to
give them his final blessing before he would join his ancestors. The man is
question is Ezekuna, the father and founder of the Izzi, Ikwo and Ezza clans, the meeting
opened with the normal blessing of kola
nut when they were all seated. He took one kola
nut and sad to his dead father these are the sons, the sons
EKE KEREUWA gave me, and to whom
I am now giving my blessings as you my father once gave to me”
He raised the kola and said
“Eke kereuwa, this is kola,
My father and the ancients this
is kola,
Ala Izzi, this is kola
Four days that make eight , this is kola”
Eke kereuwa is one of the Izzinames
for God in this case it means “ the one who made the world” iboko is
a local deity to whom the towns
market, iboko is dedicated. A brief
analysis of this kola – prayer shows
that all beins, spiritual and human are invited to partake of the kola and
therefore accompany this family meeting. But ultimately the blessings to the sons come
from eke kereuwa (God) THEORUGH
THE DIETIES AND ANCESTORS. This cosmic
meeting is made possible, thanks to the kola symbolism of commensality. Here the kola sysmbolism
unites man, the ancestors, cosmic
forces, the deities and God. As a
symbol of life, the kola libation makes clear this truth when ever it is
celebrated.