He was born Òrìṣàráyíbí Ògúndàmọ́lá to Apasan Borijiwa and Falupo in the small village of Atorin near Ilesha, in August or September in 1822. According to oral tradition, a babalawo in 1822 predicted that a boy would be born on "Isegun Day" and liberate the Ijesa people from foreign domination. His mother died during his birth.
