Senator (Oba) Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja has always pursued one lifelong aspiration: to become the Olubadan of Ibadanland. Now, that ambition remains his only unfulfilled dream, one he desperately wishes to achieve before bidding the world goodbye. With the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, the lesser Oba Ladoja is now poised to become the 44th Olubadan. The only person who could thwart that dream if backed by God is Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, though the destiny that has preserved Ladoja’s path may not allow it.
Born on Monday, September 25, 1944, in Gambari Village, Ibadan, to Alhaji Aruna Ladoja, a successful cocoa trader, and Alhaja Haleemat Ladoja, a community leader known for her philanthropy, Ladoja began his education at Ibadan City Council Primary School.
He proceeded to Ibadan Boys’ High School (1958–1963) and later attended Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo (1964–1965), for his secondary education.
For his tertiary education, he attended the University of Liège, Belgium (1966–1972), where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering.
A highly cerebral individual, Ladoja worked as an engineer with Nigerian Breweries Plc and later as a senior engineer at Total Nigeria Plc. He went on to establish the Ladoja Group, venturing into various businesses, including shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and transportation.
In his bid to impact lives, he founded the Ladoja Foundation to support educational and healthcare initiatives in Oyo State. Through this foundation, he has provided scholarships to students and funded healthcare facilities for underserved communities. By 2000, Ladoja had become a director at Standard Trust Bank Limited.
As he thrived in business, so did his political journey take shape. His political career began in the 1990s. In 1993, he was elected to the Nigerian Senate under the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) during the short-lived Third Republic.
Under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ladoja was elected Governor of Oyo State in April 2003 and assumed office on May 29, 2003. His tenure, however, was marred by crisis, particularly with his political godfather, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, who engaged in a fierce struggle with him over control of security votes and political appointments. Backed by the federal government under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Adedibu orchestrated Ladoja’s impeachment on January 12, 2006, leading to his deputy, the late Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, being sworn in as governor.
Ladoja challenged the impeachment in court. On November 1, 2006, the Court of Appeal in Ibadan declared the impeachment null and void, a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court on November 11, 2006. He was reinstated on December 12, 2006. However, he lost his bid for a second term.
His attempts to return to the governorship under the Accord Party in the 2011 and 2015 elections were unsuccessful, losing both times to the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi. He later had brief stints with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in 2018.
As his political influence waned, Ladoja redirected his focus toward the Ibadan traditional system, where he had been steadily rising through the ranks. He repeatedly stated that his only interest in traditional rulership was to become the Olubadan, not one of the elevated monarchs, whose crowns he once described as “Ade Onipàlì”, crowns made of paper.
Speaking on the review of the Ibadan Chieftaincy Law by Governor Seyi Makinde, Ladoja told reporters, “My focus is to become Olubadan, no lesser Oba. I don’t think it is fair to have high chiefs as Obas. Who are you competing with? It is not in our tradition. Ladoja is not interested in wearing an elevated crown.”
However, he eventually bowed to pressure in August 2024, when he accepted an elevated crown, the same he had once ridiculed. Today, Ladoja stands ready to receive the Olubadan crown he has longed for. It is now traditionally and statutorily his turn.
At the time of writing this piece, a crowd and drummers have besieged Ladoja’s residence on Ondo Street, Bodija, to rejoice with the new Olubadan. It is customary in Ibadan that while residents and sympathisers troop into the palace of the late Olubadan to mourn, others simultaneously troop into the residence of the incoming Olubadan to celebrate with him.
