There came a time when courage was lost,
And fear gripped the elephants and ants of the Ijesa people.
Then it seemed un-borns will jump out of wombs,
And barrens might be forced to accept their fates.
The gods have to be consulted.
Yes, the gods!
Those who see what ordinary eyes could not.
On the first whip of the Ifa cowries,
There it displays…
‘A saviour will come’…
A saviour, Orisaraibi Ogunmola.
Born in the unknown town of Ijesa-land, Ijoka Ilesha,
To Borijiwa, a hunter who lived at Oke-Orisa.
A birth that came with it downpours of childbirths
To those who are ballooned and those who had bear no seeds.
Saraibi will drink from the skulls of his enemies
And pick his teeth with each thigh of their souls;
So they were left headless, thighless and even soul-less.
He was not to be named Ogedengbe Agbogungboro,
Not until he floored and was not floored.
A name the Ibadans will never forget for its notoriety,
Likewise the Benins and their subordinates.
A name that is as fearful as the man himself,
So that anywhere it rings,
Fear engulfs the hearts of its audience.
Why wouldn’t it be so?
He once glued his head back after being beheaded in a battle field,
Leaving his enemies in the fear of their own souls.
He once led a hundred soldiers to a great war,
Only to return with a thousand of them
Bearing beads and cattle for a battle won.
When many think it is over,
Ogedengbe, the husband of Orisaleke, emerges
In a fiery never-give-up manner,
Till his enemies are being grounded to pulp.
Then he can relax in pride, drink in fame, and then laugh in courage.
If you are going to Ijesa-land,
In the heart of Osun where minds are plain,
Find me a place where hearts are raw,
And sweat and blood are being spent for all;
But say my greetings to a fearless warrior,
Dead yet alive with his undaunting exploits,
Saraibi, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro;
The fortress that could check all wars.
