Rashidi Ladoja, a former governor of Oyo state, has been crowned the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland. The coronation event is currently underway at Mapo Hall in Ibadan, the state capital. The staff of office was presented to the newly crowned monarch by Seyi Makinde, the state governor.
Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, born on 25 September 1944 in Gambari, Ibadan, Oyo state. He’s a businessman and politician. He began his career at Total Nigeria, where he worked for 13 years before moving into private business in 1985, with interests in shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and transportation.
Ladoja was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 1993 during the short-lived Third Republic and belonged to the United Nigeria Congress Party during the Abacha transition. By 2000, he had become a director of Standard Trust Bank Limited.
He became the Governor of Oyo State from 29 May 2003 until his impeachment on 12 January 2006. He was reinstated by the Supreme Court on 12 December 2006 and completed his term in May 2007.
In later years, he contested tó return as Oyo state governor for a second term under the Accord Party in 2011 and 2015, returned to the PDP in 2017, briefly joined the ADC in 2018 and later moved to the Zenith Labour Party.
Ladoja steadily progressed In Ibadan’s traditional hierarchy when he became the Jagun Olubadan, October 1st, 1993 and, in August 2024, he became Otun Olubadan, a key step toward succession. After the passing of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, on 7 July 2025, the Olubadan -in Council unanimously nominated Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland on 4 August 2025. The Balogun of Ibadanland, Oba Tajudeen Ajibola, announced that the decision would be forwarded to Governor Seyi Makinde, who gave formal approval.
The coronation ceremony is scheduled for Friday, 26 September 2025, at the historic Mapo Hall, where dignitaries, traditional rulers and Ibadan indigenes will gather.
Preparatory meetings and delegations at Ladoja’s Bodija residence confirmed the governor’s endorsement
Ladoja has described his path to the throne as bumpy and filled with trials, attributing his emergence to divine grace and decades of perseverance through Ibadan’s 36-step chieftaincy ladder, which many aspirants never complete.
