The dateline was Monday, 23 March, 2026 at the Bode Amao Hall, Ibadan House, Oke Aremo, Ibadan, for the Ibadan Conference in honour of the 44th Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, Arusa 1.
The conference was part of the activities of the 2026 Ibadan Cultural Festival (ICF), under the auspices of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII). Themed “Ibadan, Remembering Our Past, Understanding Our Present, Designing Our Future”, it was delivered by Prof. Abiodun Musa Aibinu, Mogaji Aikulola-Aibinuomo 1. Prof. Aibinu, 53, is an “AcadoPreneur” and Vice-Chancellor of Summit University, Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria. A Mechatronics and Telecoms specialist, he blends academic brilliance with grantsmanship and enterprise. He’s also the Mogaji of the Aikulola-Aibinuomo Family, Mapo, Ibadan—a family head who represents his compound at the Olubadan’s Palace and, in that lineage, is a step in the Olubadan stool.
Prof. Aibinu’s lecture does three things well: it honours the past, diagnoses today without flinching, and sketches a workable future called Ibadan 4.0.
Section 1 deals with “Why Ibadan’s past matters for its future”. Ibadan is one of Africa’s largest indigenous cities—it grew by African initiative, not colonial design (Lloyd, 1967). Where many cities trace four roots, the Yoruba say Ibadan has sixteen: overlapping histories, systems, and communities. What does it mean for a city to be built this way — by its people, through their institutions, across generations?
The reflection isn’t just history; it’s time-sensitive. Rapid expansion, population pressure, infrastructure strain and environmental stress are reshaping Ibadan faster than traditional systems alone can hold. At the same time, modern fixes often miss local realities. The risk is growth without cohesion, structure without culture.
This conversation treats Ibadan as a living system whose past, present and future must align. The pathway is the Ibadan Integrated Development System (IIDS), also called Ibadan 4.0 or Greater Ibadan. These aren’t just slogans; they describe a reality: Ibadan already sprawls across local government areas (LGAs), peri-urban zones and linked economies. The task is to coordinate it.
IIDS centres on four things: indigenous institutions, community structures, knowledge/economic systems and Ibadan’s global network. Its integration, not spectacle—development that’s grounded, coordinated and culturally recognisable. That work coincides with the installation of His Imperial Majesty Oba Adewolu Rashidi Ladoja, the 44th Olubadan—a continuity of tradition and an opening to align heritage with modern demands.
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The conversation unfolds in three ways: 1. remember Ibadan’s origins—collective organisation, merit-based leadership and no inherited monarchy (Awe 1992); 2. understand today’s realities, evidence-informed (Community Needs Assessment via Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes affiliates); and 3. design a path where indigenous institutions—the Olubadan stool/chieftaincy and CCII — coordinate, legitimate and sustain change, backed by universities and the city’s diaspora.
Why look back? Yoruba wisdom says if you don’t know where you’re coming from, you won’t know where you’re going. Stripping cities of indigenous systems invites disorder (Mabogunje 1968). Ibadan’s interlocking governance, economy and social life offer a sturdier launchpad for modernisation.
Historically, Ibadan emerged out of necessity following the fall of Old Oyo; it was not born from mythology but rather from security needs, evolving from a military camp into a civic order (Akinjogbin, 1998). Later, institutions like the University of Ibadan made it a bridge between tradition and modernity by fostering educational programs that incorporated local cultural values while promoting innovatand ive practices and technologies, such as community-based research initiatives and partnerships with local industries that enhancrealisationational outcomes and economic development.
The core argument is that the government cannot achieve this transformation alone; the transformation will hinge on aligning universities, other higher institutions, community, knowledge and diaspora capacities and incorporating them (in Ibadan) to create a cohesive strategy that integrates local traditions with modern practices for sustainable development. The compound system, structured leadership and collective responsibility were not incidental; they formed the foundation for sustainable development and community engagement in the transformation process. Modernise them, don’t replace them; strengthen community systems; renew the city while keeping its cultural frame; and link the global Ibadan community to rebuild economic heft.
The sections ahead show how. To design the future, start with what formed Ibadan in the first place. Section 2 made the past useful. To know where Ibadan is headed, start with how it began—not for nostalgia, but to retrieve the systems that once held the city together. The future-outlined realisation and Ibadan Integrated Development System (IIDS/Ibadan 4.0/Greater Ibadan) aren’t an import; they echo arrangements that already worked, such as community engagement initiatives and urban planning strategies that successfully improved infrastructure and quality of life in the past.
Ibadan emerged in the early 19th century after Old Oyo collapsed—conflict, migration and reorganisation. Unlike Ife or Oyo, it wasn’t born of myth or dynasty; it began as a war camp (Ibadan Eleketa), a coalition of fighters and displaced people. Leadership followed contribution, not lineage. That pragmatic, integrated start—diverse groups organised around shared goals—is a prototype for 4.0.
The city grew organically: migration, markets and homegrown institutions shaped the pace. Clusters spread across hills and valleys, linked by paths, markets, and communal spaces. Compounds (Agbo-Ile) anchored life, the economy and social order, evolving together over time, serving as vital centres for community interaction and resource sharing. Today’s IIDS rearticulates that same philosophy.
Agbo-Ile (compounds) acted as semi-autonomous units managed by family heads. The Mogaji led the lineage; the Baale oversaw wider community/village coordination. Governance was decentralised but connected; responsibility was collective; livelihoods were nested in the commune. Emphasizing is 4.0’s watchword.
Ibadan’s chieftaincy—culminating in the Olubadan stool—rewarded merit, experience and service across decades. That slow, predictable progression built institutional memory and stable transitions. 4.0 needs innovation, yes, but also that continuity.
Gerontocracy is adapted in a way that seniority confers memory and steadiness—a strategic advantage where politics elsewhere are short-term. Today’s task isn’t to discard it but to couple it with youth, expertise and technology: structured engagement with professionals, expert input into traditional frameworks, and memory aligned with innovation.
British administration layered new structures onto Ibadanland; the city adapted without collapsing, adding schools and modern institutions while keeping indigenous authority. That early hybrid offers a precedent for 4.0’s alignment of tradition and modernity.
The old system already contained the right genes: collective responsibility, distributed governance, merit-based progression, strong community networks, and a habit of adaptation. The job now is not to invent but to reorganise and scale them for a metropolitan reality called Ibadan 4.0/Greater Ibadan. The next section turns to why—if those systems once worked—today’s Ibadan still strains and how IIDS would address it.
Section 3 looks at understanding our present. Ibadan today is a vast, fluid metropolis—eleven LGAs stretching from a dense historic core into peri-urban belts where “city” and “village” blur. Growth is real; coordination is not. That’s the gap the Ibadan Integrated Development System (IIDS/Ibadan 4.0) has to close.
Ibadan is still a powerhouse of education and research—UI, IITA, CRIN, among others —and of trade: Bodija, Oje, Dugbe and Gbagi pulse with enterprises. Middle-class neighbourhoods (Bodija, Akobo, Oluyole, and Alalubosa) and the absorption of once-distant villages (Olodo and beyond) mark a city very much alive.
Growth without structure exacts a toll. Rush hour through Dugbe, Mokola or Iwo Road tests patience; rain floods. Blocked drains and weak building control flood Apete, Odo-Ona and the inner streets. Inner-city housing ages, overcrowds and succumbs to erosion. The pattern is expansion plus stress.
A Community Needs Assessment across 44 communities (Distinguished Royal Club 25, CCII affiliate) gives texture to the pressures: multidimensional poverty, informal livelihoods, incomes that lurch, unemployment—especially youth—and weak school-to-work links. Yet people say: teach us ICT, business, agriculture, and financial literacy; we’ll show up. Cost and distance pinch health access, while fees and logistics hinder schools, and infrastructure—roads, power, water and sanitation—drag productivity. Still, assets are strong: Mogajis/Baales, youth and women’s groups, churches/mosques, and artisans have a striking willingness to volunteer if someone organises.
Three things come first: jobs and livelihood stabilisation (support informal trade and create opportunities); infrastructure that unlocks daily life (roads, power, water, and waste); and skills development that matches demand. Begin with income security—it lets households engage in health, education, and community work—while infrastructure and training run alongside.
Once, Oluyole, Ring Road, Challenge and Iwo Road hummed with factories. Many fell victim to power failures, imports, and Lagos’s pull, leaving trade and informal work dominant. But location, population and hinterland agriculture still favour revival — especially agro-processing and small-scale making tied to Ibadan’s research institutions.
Universities and polytechnics cluster in the north-west corridor (Ibadan North/NW, Akinyele, Ido); that density aids collaboration but unbalances development, leading to disparities in resource allocation and opportunities for students and local businesses in other regions. The old core (Oja’ba, Beere, Oke-Foko, and Oje) needs renewal that upgrades living standards without erasing heritage. Accessibility is part of dignity: bargain-negotiated improvements so emergency vehicles reach inner areas.
This task isn’t just technical. As Agbo-Ile cohesion thinned, collective responsibility frayed—waste, security, and order became harder to manage, leading to increased community tensions and a decline in public services. CCII and the Olubadan stool remain pivots for restoring shared accountability, as they can facilitate dialogue and cooperation among the various stakeholders in Ibadan.
Ibadan has potential, but it doesn’t have alignment. The people exist, the institutions exist, the knowledge exists, but they are currently not effectively collaborating to achieve common goals, which hinders progress and the realization of shared objectives in Ibadan, such as improving community services, enhancing economic development, and fostering social cohesion, due to a lack of structured communication and shared vision among the stakeholders. The next section turns to designing a future that allows them to pull in the same direction.
Section 4 is the engine of what the future holds. We’ve already traced where Ibadan comes from and taken an honest look at where it stands. Realisation of the question that matters most: what will tomorrow look like if we choose to shape it rather than drift into it?
Ibadan’s future won’t spring from government programmes alone. It will grow from the way we think, how we organise ourselves, and the everyday choices we make as citizens. The city was built by warriors, compounds, elders and ordinary people who took responsibility for their neighbours. That same spirit—adapted for data, universities, and global links— has to come alive again.
Knowledge economies now decide which cities thrive. People, systems and learning need to move forward. The Ibadan Integrated Development System, also known as Ibadan 4.0 or Greater Ibadan, is built on three pillars. The three pillars are: economic transformation and renewal, urban rehabilitation and infrastructure, and institutional coordination. Each matters only if it’s tied to the others.
The economy has to shift. Ibadan used to produce things, not just trade them. Ibadan can once again become a producer, particularly in agro-processing—such as cocoa, cassava, and maize—by transforming its hinterland advantage into jobs and added value within the city rather than exporting it elsewhere. Universities and research centres already sit in the city; the missing part is grafting their knowledge onto firms and start-ups so research becomes products and services rather than papers.
Industry will look different this time. The revival won’t be rows of 1970s factories but clusters of small and medium enterprises and workshops linked to innovation hubs, flexible production that fits Oluyole, Challenge or Iwo Road. Old estates get repurposed, not left as monuments.
Renewal is just as urgent. Areas like Oja’ba, Beere, and Oje hold memories and cultures, but they also flood, crumble, and choke. Reconstruction should be gradual and participatory—unsafe buildings replaced in ways that respect form, drains redesigned for today’s rains, and public spaces made easier to trade and meet in. Cities such as Marrakech and Cairo have successfully navigated this path, and Ibadan has the potential to do the same.
Access is part of renewal. Vehicles can’t reach some inner streets, and that means waste stays uncollected, ambulances are delayed, and traders are constrained. Careful negotiation—with the Olubadan’s mediation—can open corridors without breaking the fabric of community relationships and ensuring that essential services, such as waste collection and emergency response, are maintained. Urban expertise and tradition speak to each other here, emphasizing that there are collaborative solutions that respect local customs while addressing modern urban challenges.
All of these issues need structure. The plan is simple to state and harder to hold steady. Mogajis, organised by LGAs, keep live data on families, needs and livelihoods. CCII collates that into capability maps and assigns roles so clubs don’t duplicate. The Olubadan gives legitimacy—so land, sanitation or road changes aren’t seen as impositions but as shared work. And higher institutions—UI, The Polytechnic, Lead City, Dominican, First Technical, Kola Daisi, and agricultural and cooperative colleges—operate as a consortium, each with a job: research and policy from universities, applied skills from polytechnics, and sector expertise from specialists. An association of higher institutions in Ibadan could do for Oyo Stare what KU8+ does for Kwara State. KU8+ is a consortium of eight (originally) higher institutions in Kwara State that pool resources and coordinate on policy, research, admissions, scholarships and advocacy — a joint platform to raise standards, attract funding and speak to government with one voice. Think shared advocacy, data and projects for the state’s tertiary sector. An Ibadan version — with UI, The Poly Ibadan, Lead City, Dominican, KolaDaisi, Ajayi Crowther (Oyo), Emmanuel Alayande (Oyo), Precious Cornerstone, etc. — could do the same for Oyo State: harmonise calendars, share labs and library access, run joint job fairs, push for infrastructure (power, roads, broadband) around campus clusters, and negotiate with Oyo government and NUC/JAMB/TETFund more credibly as a bloc.
Rollout should be phased: data and pilots first, then renewal, clusters and roads, and then full integration across Greater Ibadan. Pilot-driven, cost-conscious, leveraging what already exists.
Ibadan has an abundance of institutions, people, and historical significance. It’s short of alignment. Start aligning them, and the transformation stops being forced and starts feeling natural.
In Section 5, the lecture concludes with concrete steps for reclaiming the Ibadan spirit and suceeeds with a civic brief. This presentation is not a lecture about bricks and roads. It’s about people, memories and shared duties.
Looking back, Ibadan didn’t inherit greatness—it built it, from uncertainty into one of Africa’s largest indigenous cities. That happened because cooperation, structure, and community weren’t slogans; they were daily practices that fostered, refostered, and reinforced innovation among the residents, enabling them to overcome challenges and thrive. That’s the spirit to keep.
The present demands honesty. Congestion, floods, slack industry, frayed community ties, and far-reaching growth—all real. But so are Ibadan’s energy, its institutions and its people, which can be harnessed to address these challenges and foster a more resilient community. We don’t need to reinvent from zero; we need to reorganise what’s already there.
The way forward is alignment, not a saviour. Communities take ownership; Mogaji and Baale networks mobilise trust; CCII coordinates and maps capability; the Olubadan’s palace gives legitimacy; universities and polytechnics feed research and skills; indigenes at home and abroad pitch in; young people lead experiments. That’s what Ibadan 4.0 (a vision for the future of Ibadan), IIDS (Ibadan Integrated Development Strategy), and Greater Ibadan mean—a coordinated framework, not a decree.
We’re not chasing new foundations. Courage, organisation, wisdom and resilience are still present, just quieter. The task is to reactivate them for today: shift from trading to making where we can (agro-processing most obviously), renew the old core sensitively, and align institutions so they pull together.
If we do nothing, Ibadan will continue to grow and become a strain. Align and act: pilot projects, data registers through Mogaji councils, and capability charts in CCII broker research to firms and negotiate renewals street by street—and the city can again model indigenous urban development: producing, innovating, and caring.
The past gave structure. The present brought clarity. Tomorrow asks something deliberate from each of us. The people of Ibadan have always written their story. The question now is simple: what part will we choose to play?
Tunji Oladejo, mnipr, JP, writes from the University of Ibadan, is the Chairman of The Progressive Forum, Ibadan (TPFI) and Special Adviser to the 2026 Olubadan Ladoja Ibadan Conference Planning Committee via oladejo65@gmail.com. 08077284442
