It was a gathering of some of the most important personalities in the cultural setting of Ibadan, and the Yoruba nation at large, on Saturday as foremost lawyer, Niyi Aborisade launched his book on the late Balogun Oderinlo.
The book, titled: Balogun Oderinlo in Yoruba History, chronicles the prowess and military intelligence of the late Ibadan warlord.
Speaking at the launch of the book, which held at the University of Ibadan, former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, noted that the historical facts provided in the book provides a template for the Yoruba nation to battle the many challenges it faces today.
“The importance of our presence here today is to say what happened. Albert Einstein once said, ‘there is no distinction between the past and the present and none between the present and the future,” Farounbi said.
“Anyone who does not know yesterday can’t know tomorrow. The author want us to know yesterday so that we can know the way to the future.
“One of the factors that helped Oderinlo was that he studied in Ilorin and understood how they behaved, this made it easy for him to battle them when he met them at the warfront in Osogbo.”
He noted that Balogun Oderinlo won the battle against the Fulanis because of three things which the Yoruba nation must learn today.
“The first lesson is that he knew them very well and their weakness, which was that they they could fight only during the day. So he fought them in the middle of the night.
“During those days, when Oderinlo wants to head to the warfront he pray to the deities who guide him and pre-inform of what he would encounter. He also had a bird that go ahead of him for a surveillance of what his opponents are doing. Today, do we have have surveillance and espionage,” he asked rhetorically.
He empbsized that the third factor which worked for the late warrior, which is absent in Yorubaland today, was that he had strategy. “When he got to the warfront, he divided his army into three and they fought from all sides,” he noted.
Farounbi’s analysis of the book and its importance to ensure the Yoruba nation overcome the many challenges it faces today was emphasized by numerous dignitaries who spoke with OYOINSIGHT at the book launch.
According to the Eekefa Olubadan of Ibadanland, Chief Lekan Alabi, noted that Balogun Oderinlo and his peers strategized and followed it with actions.
While commending the author, the foremost cultural Icon noted that there “must be a film or documentary on the strategies of warlords like Ogunmola, Ojo, Ibikunle, Oderinlo, for us to learn that they didn’t just rush to war, they planned, stategized and it paid off.”
Responding to questions from newsmen on the importance of the book to the security challenges in the country, Aborisade emphasized that the strategies used to win wars during the days of people like Oderinlo are still relevant and as such must be studied and documented.
The event had in attendance various dignitaries including the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, former Attorney General of the federation, Akin Olujimi (SAN), Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oloye Lekan Balogun among others.
