The History of Kola Nut Trade

ABSTRACT

This dissertation studies the kola nut trade in Sokoto city from 1900-to 2014. The virtues of kola nut as masticatory to the people of Sokoto as well as the roles it plays in the promulgation of socio-cultural activities cannot be over-emphasized. Just like coffee, Kola nut is among the stimulants which Islam does not prohibit and this makes its trading the only ancient existing trade that is still lucrative despite the present-day technology at man’s disposal. The kola nut trade between Sokoto and other parts of West Africa had been in existence even before the Jihad of 1804. During this period, many products were traded between Sokoto and Asante, and Kurmi in the southwestern part of Nigeria. But kola has usually been singled out as the commodity of most interest by Sokoto people. This study examines the Socio-economic and cultural contact between the Hausa (Sokotawa) kola nut traders and the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria. Relations between different societies could derive from a common origin, trading connections, and similar religious beliefs. This trade also brings about the emergence of certain settlements for both indigenes and Yoruba settlements as well as the emergence of certain kola nut markets within Sokoto like Sharon Goro and the famous kara market. The trade has also led to the emergence of prominent kola nut merchants who had contributed immensely to the development of the kola nut business in Sokoto city. In the present era, due to the advancement in the technology, uses of mobile phones, modern means of transport, e-banking systems, etc. have come to affect the changing nature of kola transactions

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Despite the economic revolutions which hit Nigerian vegetable products following the advent of European occupation, the kola nut remains the only produce the value of which still seems to exceed the money paid for it.

There are people in Hausaland who are addicted to kola: if they don’t eat it they feel like vomiting… the Hausa people are so fond of kola (Goro) that they will buy anything a man can give it as payment and it will be accepted.

Kola, a member of the family Sterculiaceae, is a nut that comprises a large amount of caffeine and other substances like kolatin, kolanin, glucose, starch, fatty matter, tannins, catechins, betaine, and protein that act as stimulants which may also be like coffee as it is mildly addictive. There are two major species of kola-cola nitida and cola acuminate. For nitida, the specie was originally found along the western coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to the Republic of Benin with the highest frequency and variability in the forest areas of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. These areas have been accepted as the centers of origin of Cola nitida. The areas remained for long the most prominent source of kola nuts (Gwanja kola nuts) to the West African trading routes. In the early twentieth century, kola trees were seldom planted, the nuts used for trade and local consumption being obtained from spontaneous trees.

Cola acuminata, the second important commercial species of kola, has its original area of distribution stretching from Nigeria to Gabon. The Cola acuminata could be found spontaneously in mountains areas of Angola, Zaire, and Cameroun, while it has long been in cultivation on the islands of Principe and Sao Tome. However, in Nigeria, the areas of Idanre and Ijare all in Ondo state are currently regarded as the place where Cola acuminate originated.5Meanwhile, kola nut has a long history in Sokoto city and the use of kola nuts among the people of Sokoto featured prominently in their religious, social and ceremonial activities. Kolanut is used during ceremonies relating to marriage, naming ceremonies, as well as coronations.