Introduction
The Yoruba royal tradition dictates that High Chief Rashidi Ladoja, a former Oyo State governor who currently holds the title of Otun Olubadan, will ascend the throne as the next Olubadan.
Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who ascended the throne as the 43rd Olubadan barely a year ago, died in the early hours of Monday.
Mr Ladoja previously rejected the beaded crown offered by Mr Ajimobi’s administration, citing illegality. However, he later accepted the Obaship in line with a new consensus reached by the Olubadan-in-Council and ratified by the current governor, Seyi Makinde.
The Olubadan of Ibadanland is the revered traditional ruler of Ibadan, a major city in Oyo State, Nigeria. Unlike many other Yoruba traditional stools, the succession to the Olubadan throne is unique, following a rotational system between two distinct lines: the civil line (Otun Olubadan) and the military line (Balogun). This ensures a clear and stable path to ascension, with chiefs progressing systematically through a series of ascending ranks within their respective lines over many decades.
Claim
As Ladoja steps closer to the throne, social media users, including Isaac Fayose, the brother of an ex-governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, have posted an image showing Nigeria’s ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo, prostrating before the Oyo State former governor.
Isaac Fayose and other social media users posted the photo alongside the claim that reads, “ What a life lesson
“Former president Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, by his power, impeached Pa Ladoja then,…..
“Today, former governor Ladoja is the next king of Ibadan.
“Now he Obasanjo will prostrate before the then governor that he impeached soon
“Lesson:
Power doesn’t last for long,… This life is like crop rotation…. Please take things easy, no one knows tomorrow will bring
In 2024, Mr Ladoja claimed that Obasanjo was the powerful figure responsible for his removal from office as Oyo State governor in 2007.
Verification
First, a thorough search by FACTWATCH Nigeria indicated that this exact image of Obasanjo prostrating before Mr Ladoja was not published by any credible news organization in Nigeria at any time.
However, we subjected this image to a Google Image Reverse Search, and the results led us to a similar photo of the traditional ruler.
We checked this similar photo further and found out that the sitting posture of the monarch, as well as the security aides that stood behind him, were the same image posted by the social media users. However, in the photo attached to the claim, we found out that the background was changed and that the original was much clearer.
This Fact Checker traced deeper and discovered that the original photo was shared by the Facebook page of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in September 2024 when Mr Ladoja celebrated his birthday.
FACTWATCH Nigeria also observed that there’s no evidence that the photo of the man who prostrated before Mr Ladoja was Mr Obasanjo, as his face was not shown.
Verdict
In the world of Artificial Intelligence, social media users go to any extent to create deepfàke content to generate traffic. Regarding this claim, findings indicated that the picture was altered.
