In a landmark move to restore traditional order, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, has officially inaugurated an investigative panel to settle the 19-year leadership vacuum surrounding the Onido of Ido stool.
The crisis, which has seen three different claimants Oba Benjamin Ishola Orobiyi II, Tajudeen Akinola, and Muritala Babalola vying for legitimacy, has long been a source of communal friction in the Ido Local Government Area. The panel is mandated to conduct a forensic review of the chieftaincy declarations and bring an end to a dispute that has persisted since 2007.
The “on-field” reality is that the lack of a singular, recognized monarch has stifled development in Ido, as the community has been split across three loyalties.
Oba Ladoja’s intervention, announced via his media aide Adeola Oloko, marks a departure from the “wait-and-see” approach of previous years. By shifting the resolution to a judicial-style panel, the Olubadan is signaling that the era of “multiple monarchs” in a single town is over. For the Ibadan City Announcer, the core interest lies in whether this panel will recommend a “ruling house” rotation or a strict return to the 1958 Chieftaincy Declaration, a decision that will redefine Ido’s political landscape for decades.
