Guregu and Ogedengbe are linked by a striking description associated with a colonial-era photograph. Guregu is identified as Ogedengbe’s “principal Lieutenant” and described in the same wording as “a great scoundrel”. The brief caption has preserved his name, but little of the man himself.
To understand where Guregu belonged, it is necessary to understand Ogedengbe and the turbulent military world in which he rose to prominence. Nineteenth-century Yorubaland was transformed by warfare following the decline of the old Oyo imperial system. New centres of military power emerged, old political relationships broke down and ambitious commanders acquired influence that could extend far beyond their home towns.
Ogedengbe became one of the leading military figures of this period.
Ogedengbe and the Rise of Ekitiparapo
Ogedengbe, commonly known as Ogedengbe Agbogungboro, was an Ijesa warrior who became one of the most prominent commanders of the coalition generally known as Ekitiparapo, or Ekiti Parapo.
The alliance developed in opposition to Ibadan’s growing military and political power across eastern Yorubaland. During the nineteenth century, Ibadan had emerged as a formidable military centre and extended its influence over numerous Yoruba communities.
One source of resentment was the system through which Ibadan representatives, often called ajele, exercised authority in subordinate towns. Complaints about the conduct of some of these officials contributed to growing resistance.
By the late 1870s, opposition hardened into war.
The conflict that followed became one of the longest and most important episodes in nineteenth-century Yoruba history. It is commonly associated with the name Kiriji War, derived from the sound attributed to artillery fire during the fighting.
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
Ogedengbe became an important commander on the Ekitiparapo side. His military reputation rested on his experience, his network of followers and the substantial force that he commanded.
S. A. Akintoye’s study of nineteenth-century Yoruba politics places Ogedengbe among the leading military figures who resisted Ibadan expansion. His position gave him influence not only during the war but also during the unsettled years that followed.
Guregu in Ogedengbe’s Military Circle
The description of Guregu as Ogedengbe’s “principal Lieutenant” places him, at least in the surviving caption tradition, close to one of the most powerful military commanders of the period.
Nineteenth-century Yoruba armies were not organised exactly like modern European armies. Military leadership often revolved around powerful war chiefs, personal retainers, subordinate commanders and groups of fighting men bound together through loyalty, patronage and political alliances.
A lieutenant serving a commander of Ogedengbe’s stature could therefore have occupied an important position.
Other Ijesa commanders are better represented in surviving accounts. Arimoro, for example, appears in histories of the military struggles involving the Ijesa and their allies.
Guregu, by contrast, remains obscure. His wider life, family background, campaigns and military responsibilities are not preserved in the same detail.
The short description attached to his name consequently carries unusual weight. It connects an otherwise little-known man directly to the political and military world surrounding Ogedengbe.
The End of the Great Yoruba Wars
By the 1880s, years of warfare had devastated many parts of Yorubaland.
The Kiriji conflict and related struggles disrupted trade, displaced communities and consumed enormous human and economic resources. Attempts to secure peace were complicated by rival political ambitions and the power of military leaders whose influence depended partly on armed followers.
British involvement gradually became more important.
Officials based in Lagos sought to stabilise commercial routes and extend British influence into the interior. Missionaries, traders and political intermediaries also played roles in negotiations.
Peace agreements eventually brought the principal fighting to an end, but peace did not immediately dissolve the military organisations created during decades of warfare.
War chiefs still had followers.
Weapons were still widely held.
Old grievances had not disappeared.
Some armed bands continued raiding or intimidating communities, while former commanders retained political influence that could challenge rulers and the emerging colonial administration.
The transition from warfare to colonial rule was therefore gradual and often confrontational.
Captain Bower and British Expansion into the Yoruba Interior
One of the most important British officials involved in this transition was Captain Robert Lister Bower.
Bower served as Resident at Ibadan and became deeply involved in British political intervention across the Yoruba interior during the 1890s.
His authority represented a very different system from the one that had produced war chiefs such as Ogedengbe.
Where Ogedengbe’s influence had been built through military achievement, personal followers and alliance politics, Bower represented an expanding colonial administration backed by treaties, armed constabulary forces and the growing authority of the Lagos government.
The two worlds eventually collided.
EXPLORE NOW: Military Era & Coups in Nigeria
In June 1894, Bower arrested Ogedengbe during a meeting at the palace of the Owa of Ilesa.
Ogedengbe was taken to Ibadan and imprisoned.
The location of his detention was particularly sensitive. Ibadan had recently been the principal military enemy of the Ijesa and their Ekitiparapo allies. Ijesa authorities protested, and Ogedengbe was subsequently transferred to Iwo.
The arrest was more than a personal confrontation between Bower and a famous warrior.
It demonstrated how rapidly political authority was changing.
A commander who had once led large forces in one of the great wars of Yorubaland could now be detained by officials representing a foreign colonial administration.
The Photograph of Ogedengbe After His Arrest
A remarkable photographic record associated with this episode survives in the Colonial Office photographic collection.
The image describes Ogedengbe as:
“Ogedemge Seriki of Hesha, recently arrested by Captain Bower.”
The photograph forms part of the Colonial Office photographic series preserved under CO 1069.
The old wording also illustrates the inconsistent spelling of African names and places in European records.
“Ogedemge” clearly refers to the figure now generally written as Ogedengbe, while “Hesha” reflects an older or inaccurate rendering associated with Ijesha or Ilesa.
Such variations were common.
European officials often wrote African names according to their own understanding of pronunciation. Errors could then be repeated when documents were copied, catalogued or transferred between offices.
For this reason, a single historical figure can sometimes appear under several spellings in nineteenth-century documents.
Colonial Photography and African Political Figures
Photography became an important part of the documentary culture of European empire during the nineteenth century.
Colonial governments, travellers, missionaries and officials photographed landscapes, buildings, rulers, soldiers and ordinary inhabitants across territories in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
The Colonial Office photographic collection now preserved at The National Archives in Britain contains tens of thousands of photographs, drawings and related images.
Some were produced as records of government activity. Others documented people and places considered noteworthy by colonial officials.
Photographs of prominent African leaders could serve several purposes. They might record a ruler, identify a political figure or document someone who had come into contact with colonial authorities.
The accompanying caption could be as important as the image itself because it determined how later viewers understood the person being photographed.
In Guregu’s case, the words associated with his image have almost eclipsed everything else about him.
Why Was Guregu Called “A Great Scoundrel”?
The description of Guregu as “a great scoundrel” is among the most striking elements of his surviving portrayal.
The expression was a severe insult in nineteenth-century English. It could be applied to someone regarded as dishonest, troublesome, violent or morally disreputable.
The exact circumstances behind its use for Guregu are not recorded in the brief description itself.
The wider period, however, was turbulent.
After the great Yoruba wars, some former soldiers and military followers struggled to adjust to peace. Historical accounts describe problems involving armed retainers, raiding, intimidation and other forms of violence.
Samuel Johnson’s The History of the Yorubas contains accounts of the insecurity that accompanied decades of warfare and the difficult transition that followed.
British officials also regarded the surviving power of some war chiefs with concern.
For colonial administrators seeking to establish a new political order, heavily armed commanders and their followers represented potential obstacles.
Guregu’s description must therefore be read within this unsettled world rather than as a complete biography.
The phrase tells us that the person responsible for the wording held him in considerable contempt. It does not tell us the entire story of the man.
Warriors in a Changing Political Order
The careers of Ogedengbe and the men associated with him belonged to a particular moment in Yoruba history.
War chiefs had acquired enormous influence because warfare had dominated political life for decades. Some commanded thousands of men. Their authority rested on courage, battlefield reputation, personal loyalty and control of armed followers.
The coming of colonial administration undermined that system.
British officials sought rulers and towns with whom they could negotiate through recognised political structures. Independent military forces complicated that arrangement.
Former warriors were increasingly expected to surrender political autonomy, limit armed activity and submit to the authority of colonial officials.
This change was not completed overnight.
The arrest of Ogedengbe in 1894 demonstrates the tensions involved in dismantling the older military order.
If Guregu occupied a senior position among Ogedengbe’s followers, he too would have experienced this transformation from the age of independent Yoruba war chiefs to the beginnings of formal colonial government.
Guregu Beyond the Old Insult
Guregu’s historical importance does not depend upon whether the man who described him as a scoundrel liked or disliked him.
His significance comes from the political world in which his name appears.
He was associated with Ogedengbe, one of the most important Ijesa military leaders of the nineteenth century. That connection places him in the aftermath of the Yoruba wars and close to the generation that experienced the transition to expanding British authority.
Yet he also represents a much larger group of Africans who remain only briefly visible in colonial and military records.
Commanders such as Ogedengbe became major historical figures.
Their subordinates often disappeared.
Some survive only because a photograph was taken, a name was written down or an official mentioned them in passing.
Guregu belongs to that shadowed part of the historical record.
His photograph preserved his face.
A short description preserved his name.
The wider story of his life remains largely hidden.
Conclusion
The story of Guregu and Ogedengbe belongs to one of the great turning points in Yoruba history.
Ogedengbe rose to prominence during the wars that followed the breakdown of older political arrangements in nineteenth-century Yorubaland. He became a leading commander of the Ekitiparapo coalition and helped lead resistance to Ibadan’s dominance.
The end of those wars did not end his influence.
By the 1890s, however, the political environment was changing rapidly. Captain Robert Lister Bower and other British officials were extending colonial authority into the Yoruba interior and confronting the military power of former war chiefs.
Ogedengbe’s arrest at Ilesa in June 1894 captured that transformation dramatically.
EXPLORE: Nigerian Civil War
Guregu appears on the margins of this larger story, remembered through a description linking him closely to Ogedengbe and condemning him in unusually harsh language.
His life cannot be reduced to those words.
What survives instead is the outline of a military figure connected to a famous commander during the closing years of the independent warrior era in Yorubaland.
His story reminds us that behind every famous general stood numerous lieutenants, retainers and soldiers whose lives helped shape history even when their own biographies were never fully preserved.
Author’s Note
Guregu’s story illustrates how unevenly the past survives. Ogedengbe remains prominent because his military career, political influence and confrontation with British authority were recorded in substantial detail. Guregu survives principally through his association with that larger figure and through a memorable description attached to his name. Together, their stories illuminate the transformation of nineteenth-century Yorubaland from an era dominated by powerful indigenous armies and regional warfare to one increasingly controlled by British colonial authority. They also remind us that history is made not only by famous commanders but by the many lesser-known people who served beside them.
References
The National Archives, United Kingdom. Colonial Office and successors: Photographic Collection, CO 1069.
The National Archives, United Kingdom. CO 1069/80, photograph of Ogedengbe described as “Ogedemge Seriki of Hesha, recently arrested by Captain Bower”.
Akintoye, S. A. Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland, 1840–1893: Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of Ekitiparapo. Humanities Press, 1971.
Akinjogbin, I. A., ed. War and Peace in Yorubaland, 1793–1893. Heinemann Educational Books Nigeria, 1998.
Adeniji, B. F. “Ogedengbe: An Ijesha Warrior in the 19th Century”, in I. A. Akinjogbin, ed., War and Peace in Yorubaland, 1793–1893. Heinemann Educational Books Nigeria, 1998.
Johnson, Samuel. The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. Edited by Obadiah Johnson. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1921.
Ajayi, Adeyinka Theresa and Lateef Oluwafemi Buhari. “Political Activities in Ado-Ekiti during Colonial Era”. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 10, 2017.
