Ogundipe oluwatoyin amos Olunloyo (c. 1820 – 1857)
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According to Samuel Johnson, a foremost Yoruba historian, Olunloyo or Olumiloyo means “the king is at Oyo” (due to the significant importance attached to Oyo town being the Yoruba capital at the time). However, history has it that after an extensive futile effort to have a child, a woman of Owu, Yoruba country, relocated to Oyo for fertility treatment. Subsequently, she became pregnant and had a son whom she named Olunloyo in about the year 1820. Olunloyo then grew up to be a warrior of valor in the Yoruba city of Ibadan. He was a beloved of the people; fond of riding his favorite horse around the city of Ibadan, building comely rapport with the people.
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Upon their final arrival in Ibadan in 1853, European missionary couple, David and Anna Hinderer, were placed in the care of Olunloyo, who at the time had risen to the status of Balogun (Yoruba war captain) in the Kudeti area of Ibadan. On a particular occasion when Mr. Hinderer was down with fever, Olunloyo reportedly “mounted his horse and galloped off to several farms, and brought back eleven oranges with great delight.” (Anna Hinderer, 1877) Olunloyo at the time had 2 children, Yejide and Akinyele, ages 6 and 4 respectively. The Olunloyo kids were among the first set of pupils in Ibadan. Someday, after playing the evening away at the mission house, Yejide could be heard beseeching her younger brother: “Akinyele, you must not stay, don’t you know that when it gets dark the white people kill and eat blacks?” And so Akinyele unwillingly ran home with his sister. However, Akinyele soon started passing the night with the Hinderers at the mission house. He was described to be of very high spirit with a loving heart as a child. He was later trained at the C.M.S Training Institute at Abeokuta, and then he was employed as a schoolmaster. Later he was employed as a catechist in 1885, and finally as an ordained missionary of the C.M.S, at Ogbomosho in 1892. Yejide Girls Grammar School, Ibadan, was named after Yejide.
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In 1857, during an expedition to rescue Ise, a Yoruba town in Ekiti area, Olunloyo was ambushed and killed by an army dispatched by a rival, the King of Ado. The Hinderers were devastated at the news of the demise of their beloved friend, Olunloyo.
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Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, a politician and an ex-governor of Oyo state is a direct descendant of the late Ibadan warrior, Balogun Olunloyo.
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By: Adegolu AD
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