His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, was born on 25 September 1944 in Gambari village near Ogbomoso, Oyo State, to Pa Yunusa Olayiwola and Madam Halimat Sadia Ladoja. His family has its ancestral homestead in Arusa compound, Isale Osi, Ibadan.
The young Ladoja received his elementary education at Progressive Day School, Aladorin, Ibadan, between 1950 and 1956. Thereafter, he attended Ibadan Boys’ High School, Oke Bola, Ibadan, from 1958 to 1963. Rashidi Ladoja showed flashes of brilliance as a secondary school student. He achieved a grade of 1 in his West African School Certificate Examinations.
He subsequently gained admission to Olivet Baptist High School in Oyo in 1964. He came first in the A Level admission examinations but could not resume as a student of the school immediately due to financial and logistical constraints. When he finally showed up at Olivet Heights a little later, his school Principal, Mr Lafihan, said that although the space for the newly admitted A Level students was already full, the school would rather create additional space to accommodate Rashidi Ladoja, its most brilliant candidate in the admission exams, rather than lose him.
At Olivet Heights, he studied A-level Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Additional Mathematics. On scholarship, Ladoja gained admission into the University of Leige, Belgium, to study Chemical Engineering in 1966 and graduated with a distinction in 1972.
Upon completing his university education, Ladoja joined Total Nigeria, an oil company, where he worked in various capacities for 13 years. In 1985, he voluntarily left the company to pursue a private business venture. Oba Ladoja’s business interests span shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture and transportation.
For instance, he was a Director of the grand old Crystal Bank, which later metamorphosed into Standard Trust Bank, STB, which later teamed up with the United Bank for Africa, UBA. He was also a director of REAL Shipping, REAL Oil and KARLANDER Nigeria Limited.
Oba Ladoja’s journey to the exalted Olubadan throne began when he was appointed Mogaji of the all-inclusive Arusa family, Isale Osi, in Ibadan, within the present-day Ibadan South West Local Government. On 1st October 1993, he was appointed Jagun Olubadan of Ibadanland by the late Oba Yusufu Oloyede Asanike in an impressive ceremony attended by dignitaries from various walks of life, including the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, now deceased.
Incidentally, his journey into politics began around the same time. In 1992, he was elected a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the Ibrahim Babangida-conducted transition to civil rule programme. When the military disrupted the transition to civil rule programme following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Oba Ladoja went into self-exile, along with others, to press for the de-annulment of the election. This was a particularly challenging period in Nigeria’s political history.
On his return from exile in 1995, Oba Ladoja joined the United Nigeria Congress Party, UNCP. It was on the platform of the defunct UNCP that he contested and won election to the Constitutional Conference in Abuja during the short-lived Sani Abacha political transition programme.
Oba Ladoja was elected the Oyo State Governor under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in 2003. His administration’s education reform, particularly the 30 pupils per class policy, massive teacher recruitment, establishment of more schools, prompt payment of salaries, massive promotion of workers, impressive learning outcomes of Oyo State schools in externally moderated examinations, total eradication of guinea worm, TEGO, and zero tolerance for corruption, amongst others, won him a broad perspective of affection. However, his tenure was cut short in January 2006 when he was impeached as the Governor of Oyo State. His impeachment was, however, overturned in November 2006 by the Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan. The Supreme Court upheld the decision. Thus, Oba Ladoja was reinstated as the Governor of Oyo State on December 12, 2006, and remained in office until the end of his first term in 2007. But his political journey did not stop there.
Following his inability to get a second term in office, he supported the candidacy of the late Abiola Ajimobi of the ANPP for the 2007 gubernatorial election. In the 2011 elections, Oba Ladoja joined the Accord Party, also known as the third force in Oyo State’s then-political landscape. A grassroots mass movement, the Accord Party won 7 State House of Assembly and 4 National Assembly seats, thereby sending a shockwave through the Oyo State political circle.
In 2019, Oba Ladoja was the rallying point for opposition figures seeking a paradigm shift from the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s two-term tenure, as he headed a coalition that produced Governor Seyi Makinde in his first term in office. Having retired from active politics, Oba Ladoja now enjoys spending time with his family and contributing to community causes. His dedication to both the public and his cultural heritage continues to inspire many in Oyo State and beyond.
