Kola Nut ( Oji) Cultural Festival in Ezinihitte M baise, Imo State N.C. Ihediwa, V. Nwashindu, and C.M. Onah Department of History and International Studies University of Nigeria, Nsukka A bstract The common saying in Igboland is that every other culture group in Nigeria eats kola nuts, but it is only in Igboland that kola nut oji is not only eaten, but also celebrated. This position is true of the Igbo who do not cultivate kola nuts in abundance as a commercial venture like the Yoruba, but have deep reverence for the fruits because of its significance in the Igbo worldview. The Igbo do not eat this fruit like other groups in Nigeria, who essentially eat it for its sedative qualities as well as a hunger therapy, or who use it because of its role as stimulant and aspirin, nicotine and caffeine put together. The social significance of this fruit has lifted it from a mere unprofitable luxury to a vital necessity in the social and cultural settings of the Igbo, particularly the Ezinihitte Mbaise group in Imo State. Here kola nut cultural festival is celebrated annually and on rotation amongst the sixteen communities that make up the local government council area. The Oji Ezinihitte Mbaise cultural festival is not only an occasion for the communities to examine their progress and challenges, but also one for attracting visitors, friends and well-wishers from far and near to be part of a cultural fiesta that entertains guests to their souls. It is also used as a medium to attract government in their developmental projects as well as brain storm on other possibilities. No doubt, the social relevance of the Oji ceremony now out-weighs the traditional especially with the passage of time and the stripping off of the ritualistic aspects of the ceremony. The paper will examine the social ramifications of the Oji Ezinihitte cultural festival and its significance to the overall life and culture of the people of the area. Background The area known today as Mbaise is situated at the very heart of Igboland; located in the central part of Imo State (Njoku: 1978, 36), with the Imo River separating the eastern part of the area from Ngwaland in the present day Abia State. Mbaise as a culture group has a land area that is approximated to be about 479 square kilometers, and has a population whose figure has been digested to be 374,793 by the then East Central State of Nigeria Statistical Digest of 1971. Prior to this report, the earlier controversial census of 1963 allotted a population figure of 307,712 to the area. But most questioningly, the population result of the 1991 census which was highly flawed by irregularities as usual, allotted a total figure of 304,338 to Mbaise, showing an absurd decrease of 20,789 in 28 years to the area from the 1963 census without any epidemic or catastrophe (Agulana: 1998, 30); even the civil war did not take that toll of lives in the area to occasion such sharp decrease in population. Though the 2006 population census of the area is not available to Journal of Tourism and Heritage Studies © 2014 N.C. Ihediwa, et. al. Vol. 3, No.1, 2014 38