Follow Us on Google
•For ex-governor, senator, it’s a long walk to Olubadan throne
By Oluseye Ojo
Thirty-three years ago, former governor of Oyo State, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, began his traditional journey that will eventually culminate into his installation as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland yesterday on Friday September 26, 2025.
At the time he was installed as Mogaji of the Ladoja family of Arusa Compound in Isale Osi, Ibadan in 1992, he was about 48 years old then.
He was promoted to Jagun Olubadan on October 1, 1993, at the age of 49, during the reign of one of the colourful Olubadans, Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanike.
Jagun Olubadan is the first of the 22 steps in the civil line that has been producing Olubadan on a rotational basis with the military line, which has 23 steps.
Ladoja will turn 81 on Thursday September 25; he was born on Monday September 25, 1944. He was nominated as the 44th Olubadan on Monday, August 4, 2025, by the Ibadan kingmakers. He will be installed the 44th Olubadan a day after his 81st birthday.
The meeting, where Ladoja was nominated as the 44th Olubadan was attended by officials of Ibadan South East Local Government Area, which statutorily wrote the official correspondence to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, for onward movement to Governor Seyi Makinde for approval.
Ladoja was not in Ibadan when the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, joined his ancestors. But since his return to Ibadan on Monday August 18, his residence at Ondo Street, Bodija, Ibadan, has become a beehive of activities.
Dignitaries and notable groups from all walks of life have been paying homage to him, including the state governor, Seyi Makinde.
Despite his political engagements, he remained active in the Ibadan traditional hierarchy, steadily progressing through the civil line of the Olubadan chieftaincy ladder over three decades and three years. The Ibadan traditional succession system is unique in Nigeria. Unlike most monarchies, where lineage or heredity determines ascension, the Olubadan title rotates between two lines, with succession determined by seniority.
Ladoja’s anticipated ascension to the throne is already stirring reactions across Ibadanland and beyond, with many describing it as a “historic moment” that will see a former governor and national political figure wear the crown of Ibadan’s highest traditional office.
As gathered, promotion to the throne of Olubadan is regarded as two sides of a coin. When a king dies, the bereaved family will be grieving.
But it has always been celebration galore in the family of the next person to occupy the throne, which is why one of the panegyrics of Ibadan is ‘Omo Agbotikuyo’, meaning descendants of those that celebrate when the death of a reigning Olubadan is announced.
The ascension to the throne of Olubadan is widely regarded as one of the best and most well-structured in the South West region of Nigeria.
Unlike other traditional chieftaincy systems, Ibadan’s succession to the Olubadan throne is free from rancour, litigation, and usurpation.
Also, any male child title-holder of the metropolitan centre of the city is a potential king. But he has to be installed as Mogaji of his family compound, from where he is expected to get promotion to one of the two lines that have been producing Olubadan on rotational basis.
From Mogaji, the chief will either become Jagun Olubadan (Civil or Otun Line) or Jagun Balogun (Military or Balogun line).
From the title of Jagun, only death usually determines promotion, as one chief or the other will have to die before the chiefs under him will get promoted to the next ranks.
Ibadan’s chieftaincy system does not rely on ruling houses but on two ruling lines: the “Egbe Agba” (Civil) and “Balogun” (Military) lines.
The 43rd Olubadan that just joined his ancestors was produced by the Balogun Line while his predecessor – the 42nd Olubadan, was produced by the Otun Line.
The Otun Olubadan (Civil) and Balogun of Ibadanland (Military) are second-class traditional rulers under the Western Nigeria Law and hold the highest positions in their respective lines.
On the average, it takes 30 to 40 years to groom an Olubadan through these stages of chieftaincy promotions
Ladoja attended Ibadan City Council Primary School, Ibadan; Ibadan Boys High School between 1958 and1963, and Olivet Baptist High School from 1964 to1965.
He also attended, on scholarship, University of Liège, Belgium, from 1966-1972, where he earned a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Ladoja worked with Total Nigeria for 13 years, and rose to prominent positions before venturing into private business in 1985. His business interests include shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and transportation.
He was elected in 1993 during the aborted Nigerian Third Republic as a senator, and governor of Oyo State in 2003. He served as governor from May 29, 2003 to January 2006, and was impeached. He was reinstated in December 2006 via a Supreme Court decision, and served till May 2007.
He was an active member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which fought for the actualisation of the annulled June 12, 993 presidential poll won by the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola. Ladoja went on exile to escape the bullets of the Abacha junta.
Growing up, Ladoja stated that his mother told him that he was born in Gambari village, near Ogbomoso on the way to Ilorin.
“My mother had gone to the village with my grandmother, my father’s mother. She had taken my mother on her trading expedition to Gambari.”
He added that the first child his mother had was named Rashidi, but died within nine days of birth.
“One Rashidi was born on 23rd of September 1943 and died a day after the naming ceremony. Maybe that was why she wanted me to be born outside Ibadan, I don’t know.
“As a little child, I had so many names. Adewolu was one. Aderemi was one. Ademola was also one. Okunlola was one as well. But I decided to choose Adewolu. Why?
“As I was growing up, it was during the reign of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife. It was also during the reign of Oba Ademola, the Alake of Egbaland.
“I said why should I be bearing the same name with these big people? I said I should be bearing Adewolu. If I had chosen Aderemi, people would think I am bearing the name because of Ooni and Ademola because of Alake. So, I stuck to my Adewolu. I wanted to be Adewolu because it was not a common name that time.
“When I was growing up, I got to know why so many kids died in those days. It was not because there were witches in their families. It was just because if you survived at that time, God wanted you to live.
“In the house, the window was tiny and they would still be cooking with firewood in the same room. So, you can imagine the carbon-monoxide that was coming in and carbon-dioxide that was going out. If a child had fever at that time and your body was hot, they would put more cold blankets on you.
“So, you can understand that if you didn’t die because of those things, God has a purpose for you. “I felt that people were talking about abiku as a spiritual issue. I think it was ignorance of our people at the time.
“Most of the things we learnt at that time were passed on to us by our parents, uncles and aunties because of the communal living. And it was good. You would eat anywhere.”
Ladoja said he was not allowed to begin schooling early enough because of his stature, even when had attained the school age.
“When I was asked to raise my hand over my head to touch the ear on the other side of my head,, my hand couldn’t reach the ear. So, the school did not take me.
“At that time, I would have been more than six years old. But based on my stature and the fact that my nutrition was not what it was supposed to be, schools thought I was below school age.
“I know that God has been very kind to me. I had scholarships. My parents gave me secondary school education. At that time, I went for the entrance exams of Ibadan Boys High School. When I returned to our house. I told my father that I would not be admitted because many of the parents that brought their children to school in cars went to visit the principal. My father said I should not worry myself because there would always be a room for excellence.
“I still hold it till date that there would always be room for excellence, however competitive it is. So, I was admitted.
“To prove to me that there is always room for excellence, when I got admitted to Olivet Heights in Oyo for my HSC, one of my seniors that was there, Tunde Falohun, wrote to us that I was the best candidate in the entrance exams, and that I would be admitted.
“He was my senior at Olivet Heights, though he was my classmate at Ibadan Boys High School. But I dropped out in Form Four because my parents could not pay my school fees. It was because all students must be boarders when you were in Forms Four and Five. The first term, I managed to go because most of the time, my mother was responsible for it.
“My father was good enough, but I don’t think he was very serious with our education. My mother would exchange her clothes for money. So, she was not in a position to take care of my school fees because the fees were in the range of 19 pounds and 10 shillings for boarders. It was nine pounds and five shillings for day students. So, I dropped out.
“The following year, my father had been able to secure an employment for me. He made an agreement with the school that he would be sending five pounds poster order every month. In those days, there were poster orders. So, that was how he was able to pay the school fees for Forms Four and Five.”
When he secured a Federal Government scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Belgium, he turned down the admission he already got to Ahmadu Bello University for Mechanical Engineering, and University of Lagos for Electrical Engineering.
Ladoja has fought many battles in his life and has been triumphant in many of them. The battles, apart from those mentioned above, also included his legal fight against tinkering with the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration in 2017. The then government in Oyo State succeeded in giving beaded crowns to members of the Olubadan-in-Council and coronets to some village heads (Baales).
Ladoja was the only member of the Olubadan-in-Council, who did not accept the crown. He won the court case he instituted against the installation of many kings in Ibadan in one fell swoop. Justice Olajumoke Aiki of the Oyo State High Court, in January 2018, declared the amendment of the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration as illegal, null and void.
The then government went on appeal. But the case was eventually withdrawn, and all the installed beaded-crown as coronet wearing kings eventually lost their crowns when they were forced to withdraw the court case, in order to pave the way for the enthronement of the 42nd Olubadan, the late Oba Lekan Balogun.
The main argument of Ladoja against the crowing of the obas then was that Olubadan was supposed to be the one that would give crowns and not the government. In July 2023, the 42nd Olubadan returned the crowns to members of the Olubadan-in-Council and some Baales in July 2023. Though Ladoja did not also accept the crown in 2023, he eventually accepted it during the reign of Oba Owolabi Olakulehin.
Feelers revealed that Oyo State has gazetted the document that only obas will be ascending the stool of Olubadan, and no longer ‘High Chiefs’, as members of Olubadan Advisory Council were then addressed.
Meanwhile, the journey to becoming the Olubadan is a patient and long one. The 42nd Olubadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, was installed as Mogaji of Aliiwo family compound in Ibadan North East Local Government in 1986. He became Oluadan in 2022, after he had waited for 36 years to become the paramount ruler of Ibadanland. The 41st Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji Aje Ogungunniso I, spent 40 years to ascend the throne. He started as a Mogaji in 1976 and was installed as the 41st Olubadan in 2016. He joined his ancestors in January 2022.
The 40th Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade I, waited for 35 years to become Olubadan. Odulana was promoted to Jagun in 1976 and was crowned as monarch on August 17, 2007, at 93. His reign lasted nine years.
The 39th Olubadan, Oba Yinusa Ogundipe Arapasowu I, who was born in 1912, was crowned the Olubadan at 79 on May 7, 1999. He had waited for 39 years to occupy the stool. The 38th Olubadan, Oba Emmanuel Adeyemo Operinde I, spent 41 years between the time he was appointed the Mogaji of his family at Isale Ijebu in 1953 and January 14, 1994, when he was crowned the Olubadan. He reigned for five years.
The 43rd Olubadan, Oba Akinloye Owolabi Olakulehin, became Mogaji in 1983. He waited for 41 years before ascending the Olubadan throne.
Ladoja, who will be installed as 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, has been on the queue for 33 years, having been installed Mogaji in 1992 and became Jagun Olubadan in 1993.
Ladoja would be the first former governor to become Olubadan, and expectations are very high on what he is expected to do on the throne.
