A typical African traditional prayer.
Breaking Kolanut ,
God the Creator
Who lives on high And his eyes cover the whole ground
Who lives under the ground And no dirt soils him; Who lives in the waters And is dry;
Who moves with the winds The wind is never seen by eyes – And yet air is everywhere, I come with greetings And with pleadings!
GOD THE TRYST MAKER
Who makes tryst with men, Makes appointments with them Where and when he pleases, And they cannot escape! God who creates and who destroys
Who beats up human beings And consoles them;
Crushes them and remains their friend; Who brings and who takes away,
And who creates Before the created knows, At down we open our doors and our mouths,
At night we close our doors But not our minds!
It is KOLA I bring!
It’s all I can offer! A little baby Can only hold its mother As far as its hands can go!
KOLA is small And yet is big! Like the sacrificial food,
It is more important that it goes round Than that it fills the stomach Our fathers’ fathers And their fathers before them – All our ancestors – Saw all the fruits of the land But thy chose kola As the prime substance for hospitality And for offerings:
What an old man lying down has seen, Has the young man ever seen better Though he perches on the highest tree.
Of all food on earth, Only kola Is not cooked by water and fire But by spoken word!
The rich can afford it! And the poor can afford it; And kola is the biggest offering Men bring to you GREAT GOD To whom the swallower of what swallows an elephant And with an hippopotamus tucked into its mouth And palmyra as chewing stick, Whistles freely, Is smaller than spittle!
It is not that kola
Is the sweetest food on earth, Or that it fills the stomach fastest; But it’s only with kola That we pray for life. And whoever brings kola Brings life, And brings health, And brings prosperity, And brings peace,
And children, And what we shall feed them with! For it’s YOU, God Who brings kola And ordains its manner of breaking.
The KOLA Is like a mound in the middle of the arena, On which we stand and speak in the assembly
Of people, and of spirits, And our ancestors,
And YOU Great God The TRYST MAKER,
As the words reach the ears they’re made for! So our fathers’ fathers’ fathers Hear my voice! God hear my voice!
I am a little innocent child who washes his stomach only!
But your eyes see me And you can judge; If I’ve ever touched the wife of a relation Or seen the unclothedness of a sister;
If I’ve ever stolen what belongs to any human being Or oppressed a widow or cheated an orphan;
Or borne false witness, or spoken calumny; If I’ve killed any human being With knife or spear, Or arrow or rope, Or poison or witch-craft,
If I‘ve done any of these things, May this our land And the Mother Earth EAT ME!
But if none of these is my guilt
And my fellow-man would afflict me Because of anger of the heart or anger of the eye,
Then let whoever comes to kill me KILL HIMSELF!
Anybody who says he must see me and my household
With evil eyes Let his eyes perish in the seeing! Any person who says an innocent house-hold May not sleep Make him roost with the chicken I pray for the good of the people in the bush,
And the good of those at home; For the good of those in the hills And the good of those in the valleys; For the good of those at work And for the good of those at play,
But if a man I can stand by does not stand by me Let what kills traitors kill him
If a spirit I can vouch for does not vouch for me Let what kills spirits kill it.
If anybody would bring poison into this house
Let his polluted hand enter his mouth! Let no guest bring evil to his host; On his departure May no hunch grow on his back.
Let a rat not dare to eat the bag of a medicine-man And let the medicine-man not dare curse the rat. It is said that an innocent man, Guiltless of any sin big or small Crosses the waters on a piece of calabash; That it’s with a snail’s good tongue That the snail moves over thorns. So I’II keep clean my hands;
You will defend me from cows: A man cannot wrestle with a cow.
If I must suffer for my offences
It is just; If for the guilt of my children I’II bear it – The mouth speaks what earns the jaw a slap.
A man’s head shakes the ant’s nest. His trunk suffers for it.
What is good is what we want. I have not asked you to give that to me only: Eating everything alone is bad eating! If the kite perches, Whichever denies the other the right to perch. May its wings break.
GOD
May we never be in need and find no helper.
A man who has friends is greater than a wealthy man! Give our wives fruitfulness – One blow, one fall. Give us children And give us the means to feed them.
Let any of us or our children Who goes out to work Come back With plenty of money, And come back safe. Let any weed that brushes us On our departure. Brush against us on our return – It is not an evil weed.
When we are at the back, Let evil be in front; And when we are in front Let evil be behind Let no illness come And let no doctor cure. Let no one be ill And let no one heal.
But I have not spoken and it is final You have the yam; And YOU have the knife. To whomsoever you give And in whatever measure, he will eat!... I break the KOLA NUT Oh God.


Our forefathers in their traditional religion believes that what you sow is what you will reap .The deities were there to checkmate excesses, that was why there was; love, peace and long life. And everybody where happy, but today the reverse is the case .

May we never be in need and find no helper.
A man who has friends is greater than a wealthy man! Give our wives fruitfulness – One blow, one fall. Give us children And give us the means to feed them.
Let any of us or our children Who goes out to work Come back With plenty of money, And come back safe. Let any weed that brushes us On our departure. Brush against us on our return – It is not an evil weed.
When we are at the back, Let evil be in front; And when we are in front Let evil be behind Let no illness come And let no doctor cure. Let no one be ill And let no one heal.
But I have not spoken and it is final You have the yam; And YOU have the knife. To whomsoever you give And in whatever measure, he will eat!... I break the KOLA NUT Oh God.

Iseeeeeee!!!!

ofo solu ibe ya leee!! Omenana!

When some people dont know what to say again, then you will hear :
Fire fire fire fire fire fire fire