Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, is agog with excitement as residents and visitors prepare for the installation of Oba Rashidi Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland on Friday.
The weeklong programme, which began earlier in the city, will climax with the official presentation of the Staff of Office to Ladoja by Gov. Seyi Makinde at the historic Mapo Hall. Makinde, currently on his annual vacation, is expected back in Ibadan on Thursday to perform the ceremony.
Ladoja, a businessman, former senator and one-time governor of Oyo State, turned 81 on Thursday. His nomination as Olubadan followed the death of Oba Owolabi Olakulehin on July 7, just two days after his 90th birthday.
Dignitaries and well-wishers have already begun arriving in Ibadan for the occasion. Major roads such as Iwo Road, Mokola, Ring-Road, Challenge, Sango, Eleyele, Molete, Apata, Akala Road, Akobo and Bashorun are decorated with billboards and congratulatory messages from individuals, groups and corporate organisations. Convoys conveying guests to hotels are also noticeable across the city.
To ensure smooth movement, officers of the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority have been deployed at strategic junctions, while police and other security agencies are stationed across the metropolis to maintain law and order.
As part of the preparations, the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan, which had been undergoing upgrade, was reopened on Wednesday to ease the influx of visitors for the historic event.
