- 7/6/2025
Category
š
LearningTranscript
00:00Nestled in the southwestern region of present-day Nigeria stood Ogbomosho, fierce, proud and
00:20unbroken. Once a refuge for the displaced, it would become more than a city. It would
00:27become a defining symbol of Yoruba resilience against the advancing tide of the Sokoto
00:33Caliphate's expansionist jihad. From the ashes of the old Oyo Empire to the iron advance of
00:40the Fulani Cavalry, this is not just a story of conquest. It is a tale of betrayal, resistance
00:47and survival. In a time when empires clashed and warriors rose with muskets and machetes,
00:54Ogbomosho became a battlefield, a sacrifice and a symbol of what was to come.
01:03In the early 1800s, the mighty Oyo Empire, once the hammer of Yoruba land, began to crack.
01:10Internal strife, rebellious vassals and the collapse of central authority all conspired to weaken
01:17its once unshakable grip. But as Oyo stumbled, a new threat emerged from the north. The Fulani
01:25Jihad, led by Usman dan Fodio, a firebrand reformer determined to spread Islamic authority across
01:32the region. The Jihad swept through the Hausa kingdoms like a storm, toppling emirs and replacing
01:39thrones with turbans. One by one, powerful cities fell. Kano, Zarya and Katsina.
01:48And then came Ilorin. Ilorin had once been a Yoruba border town under Oyo's control. But behind its walls,
01:55betrayal was brewing. The Are Onakakanfo, Oyo's mighty military general, Affonja, in a moment of
02:02desperation, invited Fulani warriors to help him break free from Oyo's grip. It was a fatal mistake.
02:09The Fulani took the city. And Affonja paid with his life. A story for another day.
02:17Ilorin became an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate, a dagger thrust into the heart of Yoruba land. And from
02:26this Islamic stronghold, the raids began, merciless, strategic and relentless, targeting Yoruba towns,
02:34one after another.
02:56The next target was Ogba Mosho. As Ilorin fell under the green banner of the Caliphate, waves of terror
03:04swept south. Yoruba towns, once vibrant with markets and music, were now haunted by fear.
03:11Towns like Ophir and Orisa burned.
03:21Survivors fled and many ran to one place. Ogba Mosho. Ogba Mosho stood like a stone in a rushing flood. The last Yoruba
03:47stronghold before the path to Ibadan, Ile-Ife and beyond. The city swelled with refugees. Farmers became
03:57fighters. Hunters turned into warriors. Ogba Mosho braced itself no longer just a sanctuary, but a city
04:05preparing for war.
04:22The 18th century in Yoruba land has been rightly called a century of conflict. A time when the land was torn by waves of insurrections,
04:32shifting alliances, and the constant thunder of war drums. From the north to the south, east to west,
04:40war tore through the land like wildfire. No corner of Yoruba land was spared from the chaos.
04:47No city untouched by the cry of battle. The invasion from the north was led chiefly
04:52by Illurin. A Yoruba city turned Fulani stronghold. Now under the command of jihadists, driven by a
05:00singular vision, to dip the Quran and the sword into the sea. It was a euphemism, a chilling metaphor for a
05:07campaign of total domination. To overrun all of Yoruba land by force of arms. To Fulanize and Islamize
05:15every town, every village, every soul that stood in their path. It was driven by something deeper,
05:24an inordinate ambition cloaked in religion but rooted in imperialism and ruthless expansionism.
05:32Ogba Mosho, positioned along the direct route from Illurin to the southern coast,
05:37became the obvious target, one the caliphate could not ignore.
05:42To reach the sea, the jihadists had to break through Ogba Mosho. And so the town found itself
05:48caught in the path of empire and destiny. To the Fulani, Ogba Mosho was more than a stronghold.
05:56It was a threat, a defiant city standing in the way of conquest. And for that it was marked for fire.
06:04Ogba Mosho must be conquered. Inside the walls of Ogba Mosho they knew it was only a matter of time
06:10before the Fulanis came calling. As the threat loomed closer, Ogba Mosho looked beyond its walls.
06:18They reached out to Ibadan, then the undisputed military titan of Yoruba land,
06:24for aid in halting the advancing jihadist tide. At that time, Ibadan was under the iron grip of Iba
06:33Oluyole. A warrior feared as much as he was respected. And out of deep resentment toward Ogba Mosho,
06:41Iba Oluyole refused the plea. No reinforcements came. No warriors marched. Ogba Mosho would face the storm
06:50alone.
06:50A few months earlier, during the Batedo war, a brutal conflict driven by territorial expansionism
07:01between Ibadan and Ijaye, the two leading military powers in Yoruba land,
07:06both sides had turned to Ogba Mosho for support. As far as Ogba Mosho was concerned, Ijaye was fighting
07:13a just cause. And so the town pledged its warriors to Ijaye's side, an act of loyalty born from
07:20conviction. But that decision enraged Iba Oluyole. To him it was betrayal, and he would not forget it.
07:28Still burning from what he saw as betrayal, Iba Oluyole sent a message, calm but cold,
07:35to the Emir of Ilorin. Ibadan would not interfere with any hostilities against Ogba Mosho,
07:42so long as its trade remained untouched. But he gave a clear warning. Any threat to Ibadan's interest
07:49would mean war. With Ibadan's silence echoing across the land, Ilorin's army was poised to strike.
07:57In the palace of the Sound, Idowu Bolanta Adegun, the war council of Ogba Mosho assembled.
08:07Tension hung thick in the air, news of betrayal, the threat of invasion, and the silence from former
08:14allies weighed heavily on the gathered chiefs. They concluded that if none of their brothers and
08:20friends will come to their aid, if death must come, let it find them on their feet, not on their knees,
08:26to war. The war drums sounded. There were no more debates, no more warnings.
08:34The time for decisions had passed. Ogba Mosho is at war. Sacred oaths were taken beneath the moonlight
08:40at ancestral shrines, binding men to fate and to one another. Under the strong leadership of
08:48Saun Idowu Bolanta Adegun, a storm of Yoruba resistance gathers, and their message echoed through
08:55the dust and drums. This city must not fall. As the thunder of impending war rolled across the land,
09:04Ogba Mosho stood ready. Hunters gripped their charms. Blacksmiths set down their hammers and
09:10picked up their blades. Warriors tightened their belts. These were just mere farmers, hunters,
09:17blacksmiths, ordinary hands shaped by soil and flame. But in the face of invasion,
09:24they became something more. They became defenders. Behind the city's earthen walls together they waited
09:34for the Fulanis to come. In the distance the metal heads of spears caught the sun glistening like stars
09:42on the move. An infantry force was marching toward Ogba Mosho. Saun Idowu stood tall, his eyes fixed on
09:50the advancing ranks. And then, like wind through dry grass, the word spread. Ijaye had answered the
09:59call. A surge of hope swept through the city. Hearts lifted, eyes filled with tears, and warriors
10:06tightened their grips. Ogba Mosho would not stand alone. The gates of Ogba Mosho opened wide, and
10:14through the rising dust, the warriors of Ijaye marched in, proud, fierce, and ready for battle.
10:21Their footsteps thundered against the earth, their war chants rising like a second heartbeat over the
10:27city. From atop the battlement, Saun Idowu gazed down at his warriors. For a fleeting moment,
10:34his solemn mask cracked, replaced by a rare quiet smile. It wasn't just relief that stirred within
10:42him. It was pride, deep, unspoken, and earned.
10:46A few days later, it began at dawn. Then they came. The Fulani forces emerged like ghosts through
11:05the mist, mounted warriors, swords and spears gleaming in the sun. And at the head of the Fulani
11:12charge, rode none other than Balogun Ali, the warlord of Ilorin. To his warriors, he was commander.
11:21To Ogba Mosho, he was the storm itself. The Fulani cavalry tore through the outskirts of Ogba Mosho with
11:29terrifying speed. Their horses thundered across the red earth, kicking up dust like smoke from a burning
11:35world. They encircled the city. On open ground, the Fulani cavalry were unbeatable, swift as lightning,
11:44striking with brutal precision, ruthless and exact. And the people of Ogba Mosho knew this.
11:52Behind closed gates and towering earthworks, they found a fragile sense of safety. But to breach the
11:58gates was never truly Balogun Ali's plan. His weapon was not brute force, it was time. His strategy,
12:06blockade, surround the city, cut off its lifelines, let hunger do what swords could not. Driven by the
12:14fury of starvation, the people of Ogba Mosho would be forced to do the unthinkable. Come out from behind
12:21their walls and face the Fulani cavalry in the open, where they stood no chance. It was a slow battle,
12:28a cruel war. And the Fulanis were determined to reduce the town by starvation before finishing off
12:35the remnants by conquest. Day and night, the Fulanis taunted them, trumpets blaring beyond the walls,
12:43war cries piercing the darkness. They circled like vultures, daring Ogba Mosho to break.
12:49But the Yorubas stood their ground. They would rather die within their city walls than kneel in
12:56surrender. The Fulanis were relentless, disciplined, determined, and driven by a fire that would not die.
13:05Horsemen galloped relentlessly around the walls, ensuring a complete barricade across all five
13:11entrances into the city. The Ijaye warriors on the battleman kept watch. No one in, no one out.
13:18The noose was tightening, and Ogba Mosho was trapped within it. The Fulani forces set fire to every
13:25farm that surrounded the city. Fields of yam, maize, and millet consumed in smoke and flame. Every crop,
13:34every life-sustaining plant was destroyed. It was not just war, it was starvation by design.
13:40The message was clear. Ogba Mosho must capitulate. The siege was not just meant to conquer the city,
13:48it was meant to break its spirit. In a final act of mockery, the Fulanis gathered fresh fruits and
13:56heaped them into a mound before the city's main gate. From behind the walls, the Yorubas watched in
14:02silence as birds feasted on the bounty they could no longer reach. The siege dragged on for four
14:10agonizing weeks. Four weeks without food. Four weeks without rest. Inside the walls,
14:18famine took hold. Cries of hunger echoed through the compounds. Mothers clutched their children.
14:25Warriors clenched their jaws. The air grew thin with desperation. Ogba Mosho was starving,
14:32but still unyielding. While the siege raged on, the warriors of Ogba Mosho and Ijaya watched and waited.
14:41Through exhaustion and hunger, they observed a pattern. At a certain time of the moon, a short window,
14:46the raids would stop. The enemy's drums fell silent. The trumpets ceased. A stillness blanketed the fields,
14:55they knew what it meant. At that hour, the Fulani warriors were asleep, vulnerable, unprepared.
15:02And in that quiet window, they saw their only chance. The Ogba Mosho War Council was summoned
15:09without delay. Time was slipping away and so was hope. Ultimately, they devised a bold and tactical
15:15offensive to break the siege. For men of valour, Ogba Mosho and Ijaya had no shortage. Four divisions
15:22were swiftly assembled, each one forged with urgency and precision. Every division was led by two seasoned
15:29warlords, Ogunrumbi and Barmeke. Areago Ori Oro alongside Abes Obiri Yeku. Saun Adigan himself
15:38flanked by Lalud, Oluya Agbandu and Lagbedu. Their mission was clear. Strike the enemy from four
15:47directions. Swift, silent, devastating. Under the cloak of night, they moved like shadows. Silent,
15:58focused, unseen. The Ijaya warriors stayed behind to defend the city.
16:04They knew the terrain, intimately. The forests, the hidden footpaths, the sacred groves where spirits
16:23whispered and warriors watched. This was their land, and on it they held the advantage. Every tree was an
16:32ally. Every shadow, a weapon. The night belonged to them.
16:37They took out the sentinels.
17:07The Yorubas took their positions and waited. Then the signal was given. A sharp call in the dark.
17:25A sign the enemy did not expect, but would never forget.
17:29From every front, the warriors of Ogbomoshor surged forward. Fierce. They fell upon the Fulani like
17:39thunder in the night. Steel met flesh. War cries split the silence, and chaos exploded across the enemy
17:47camp. It was a camp. It was mayhem.
17:59The Fulani's were cut down mercilessly.
18:15The Fulani's were cut down mercilessly.
18:25To be continued.
18:37The Fulani's were cut down terce And that was not a mess.
18:41It was a campfire.
18:43The day of the match was killed by their enemy.
18:48The Fulanis fled in a rowdy and precipitate manner, disoriented.
19:00Through the chaos, through dust, fire, and the falling of his men, Balogun Ali slipped away.
19:07Wounded in pride, but not in flesh, the warlord had escaped, but the defeat was undeniable.
19:21The siege was broken, but the cost?
19:25The Fulani camp ran red with blood.
19:28What began as a siege ended in slaughter.
19:31It was written in the hollow cheeks of the survivors, and in the silence of those who never returned.
19:38It was carved into memory, into a story that would never die.
19:44Balogun Ali returned to Ilorin, having failed to break the spirit of a people, yet still
19:50hailed as a war hero by the emirate, feared by many, admired by some, and remembered as
19:56the man who almost brought Ogba Mosho to its knees, but didn't.
20:01For Ogba Mosho's victory was more than a battle won.
20:04It was defiance immortalized, a message etched in blood and dust.
20:10This land would not fall.
20:13The victory sent ripples across Yoruba land.
20:16The town's confidence soared, its will fortified.
20:19The Fulani, relentless in their ambition, now faced something they could not conquer, resolve.
20:26Today the wars are gone.
20:27The drums are quiet, but the unbreakable?
20:31It remains.
20:32In the soil.
20:34In the songs.
20:35In every fruit that ripens, uneaten by birds.
20:40Twice.
20:49In the song.
20:53Yuura KoalaÄe oäø TCP
20:57IyiŠŗŠ¾Š²Ä.
20:57Do ŃŠ¾Š²ŠµŃŃ.
20:58Tocque ricosti.
20:58No.
20:59Fe iŔsk.
21:00Fine.
21:01Ibnu.
21:02Why bu.
21:02Wednesday.
21:02Go.
21:02Team.
21:03Bin.
21:03Iyi kiss.
21:04This.
21:05See you.
21:05Day.
21:06Is it.
21:07The.
21:07vom.
21:08The.
21:08The.
Recommended
8:50
|
Up next
2:20
1:59
2:07
2:16
2:35
0:46
2:11
11:13