Eze Ugo III of Nwezenyi says that
“ the kola nut is the bread of Izzi sacramental
communion and must therefore be
specially presented, broken, shared
and partaken by all the parties
and families in every marriage ceremony
as the final consummation and
blessing” the reference to the
bread of Izzi sacramental communion reminds us
of the fact that in Izzi traditional
religion, everyone present at a sacrifice participates in the consumption of
the sacrificial meal, and the children are not left out. The
importance of the people communion in Izzi the importance of the people
communion in Izzinative rites is analogous to the priests communion in the Christian churches in the sense that every priest who celebrates is bound to partake of
the communion. No other symbol
represents Izzi communal spirit more
than the
kola nut.
The Eze goes on to talk of kola
presentation “Oji is the first thing
served in every function or ceremony personal or communal agreements, welcoming of
a visitor to an Izzihome, and
settlement of family disputes in Izziland. Eze silver Ibenye Ugbala stated that Izzi welcome is not complete without the sharing of the kola nut. Immediately
after the prolonged greetings in the traditional manner, “… the kola nut is
brought forth on a dish or saucer or, what is more correct, on a wooden platter (really a
small box fitted with a vocer) prepared
and kept for the sole purpose of presenting kola nut”. He goes deeper in the
description of the kola presentation. In
the dish are one of more nuts. The owner first receives it form the slave attendant or one of his wives. He takes a nut and puts it to his lips, thus signifying that
it is about to be offered in good faith. This symbolic action proves him to be free from malice. The dish is, there upon, passed to the visitor”. The kola
presentation is not essentially descriptive, rather it is at the same
time a symbolic action.
The symbolism is the kola nut
presentation comes out clearly when many people are in attendance.
The social aspect is clearly brought
out because of oji is
carried from one person to
another according to a trace of kindship
relationship starting form the home of the host, spreads out in the
direction of left to right movement and
comes back to the host. This symbolic action is a manner of head count or a way
of checking the identify of all the people
in attendance in any gathering before
any type of discussion could be
had.