The autobiography: “Victory in Defeats: The Manifestation of God’s Power,” is written by Rev Brigade-General (rtd) Larinde Laoye, and published in 2021 by Daybis Limited, Ibadan. Right from the beginning of the book, the author lays out his mission in the book.
The author’s mission in the book is to set the records straight and correct misinformation that had been previously published about him.
He writes (p3) thus: “The fall-out of Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (otherwise known as The Oputa Panel) as it concerns me, has left a big scar in my heart – the painful feelings of that scar, may forever remain too large to ignore till I breathe the last in the land of the living if I fail to correct the impression of getting a redress to own’s misfortune by maligning and cooking stories up for the public even if these stories are disjointed.”
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So the constant theme of the book, is essentially to emphatically state that the car that was used by the killers of Toyin Onagoruwa, did not belong to the author, and to clarify that the author did not collaborate with anyone that perpetrated the dastardly crime of the murder of late Dr. Olu Onagoruwa’s son, contrary to what was presented against him at the Oputa Panel, and widely published by newspapers then.
In this book, the author thoroughly deploys biblical allusions to greatly push his narrative of triumphs even in the midst of challenges, temptation and afflictions. We see here that the author is convinced in himself that his faith in God has given him the hope and strength to keep moving on, as the trials have all turned out to be temporary. So we read from the book, the author’s conviction of his vindication in the case of false allegation made against him several times for more than 20 years.
In fact, the author is concerned that the Federal Government may never come up with a white paper on the Oputa Panel, and thinks therefore that this book will provoke the publication of a white paper, or some other persons to do so.
In this autobiography, Brigade-General (retd) Larinde Laoye, also a Reverend, gives us a peep into his formative years. He gives specific dates that point to his birth in March 1947, up to December 1964, and from January 1965 when he joined the Nigerian Army through the Nigerian Military School, Zaria up to 30th June 2003, when he voluntarily retired. Those are two stages of his life. For him, the third stage of his life started on 1st July 2003.
For the author, the big story of the second stage of his life was his appearance before the Human Rights Violations Inquiry Commission (HRVIC) popularly called the Oputa Panel. According to him (p16), “I was summoned to appear because late Dr Olu Onagoruwa did mention my name in his submission to the panel as the owner of the Mercedes-Benz car used by the killers of his son, Toyin Onagoruwa, on 18th December, 1996. This his submission, was after he had made press releases covered by a wide range of the Nigerian national print media from 1997 to 1999.”
The bother here for the author is that no one asked for his own side of the story, and that left a huge dent in his heart. Thus he extensively presents newspaper reports and cuttings on the press reports and interviews on the matter of Dr Olu Onagoruwa’s claims that the author has some explanations to make regarding the murder of Toyin Onagoruwa, giving insight into his pain as to why the media organisations that reported the case did not balance the story by reaching out to him for his side of the story. So, 20 years after, the author gives us his own side of the story, however this is not without strong lashing of the media by him.
So the reader is treated to vivid insight into his appearance before the Oputa Panel, his plea and submission to the panel.
In the remaining parts of the book, Laoye recalls his venture into farming, and the unsavoury experience of untrustworthy farm workers, whose goal is always to short-change their employer. He also relays for us his acquisition of theological training, his ordination, and his call into Christian service and ministry, and he dedicates a series of pages to saluting those he describes as his heroines and heroes.
In the book, Victory in Defeats, the author writes also about his failure to get promotion, and how out of frustration that the military refused to promote him, he voluntarily retired.
This 10-chapter book is indeed full of biblical references and allusions, a loud testimony of the author’s faith in God, and a surplus of pictures, references and index pages containing letters, memos, and documents to concretise his position on his persecution and triumph. It is indeed a great work to draw inspiration from, and to understand the author’s perpetual plea for the world to listen to his own testimony on a matter in which he is innocent.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via molatunbosun@splashfm1055.com, on X and Instagram @miketunbosun.
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