On 7 December 2020, a man who had once scrubbed floors in a Lagos hotel ascended a throne that had stood for centuries. Oba Sulaimon Adeshina Raji, now known formally as His Royal Majesty Oba Sulaimon Adeshina Raji-Ashade I — or simply Oniba Ekun — became the new king of Iba Kingdom in Lagos State. His journey to that throne is one of the more striking stories in contemporary Nigerian traditional governance: a man who rose from manual labour, through the organised chaos of Lagos motorcycle transport, to the highest seat of a Yoruba royal house.
Sulaimon Adeshina Raji was born on 5 May 1954 in Iba, Lagos State. He comes from the Idowu Balogun branch of the Idomila ruling house — a lineage with deep roots in the Iba community. Royal blood ran on both sides of his family. His mother hailed from a royal family in Igbesa, Ogun State, and his paternal grandmother also carried royal heritage from Ogun State. Speaking to Punch in September 2023, Oba Raji was direct about what this meant: “My grandfather is from Iba where I am a king. My children can also become kings due to my mother’s royalty background.” The bloodline was never in doubt. What made his story unusual was the distance he had to travel before the crown came to him.
His early education took him through a Local Authority Primary School, and life after that was not cushioned by privilege. He worked as a labourer in various establishments across Lagos, including at least one hotel where he took on menial jobs simply to earn a living. That same hotel, in a turn that speaks to his later ambitions, he would eventually purchase outright. It is the kind of detail that sounds embellished but is well-documented — a man mopping floors in a building he would one day own.
By the time he entered the transport sector, Oba Raji had already developed a reputation as an organiser and a community figure. He rose through the ranks of Lagos’s motorcycle taxi — or okada — industry, eventually contesting the chairmanship of the Nagari Nakowa Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association in 2015. He won that election in a closely fought contest against a rival who later became a Baale. He also led the Lagos State chapter of the National Association of Motorcycle Owners and Riders (NNAMORAL). In his own words, recounted to Punch: “It was tough. But I won.” When he later became king, the Lagos State government requested he retain his association role, judging that it would not interfere with his traditional duties — a telling sign of how seriously his organisational work was regarded.
The path to the throne opened in May 2020, when Oba Goriola Yishau Oseni — who had reigned for 45 years — passed away. The kingmakers of Iba moved swiftly, selecting Raji from the eligible ruling house candidates. His appointment was not without challenge; a court ruling was eventually required to affirm his family’s right to produce the king. That ruling upheld his candidacy, and on 7 December 2020, he was formally installed as Oniba Ekun of Iba Kingdom.
In private life, Oba Raji is married to two wives. One, known publicly as Olori Agba, was celebrated warmly by the king on her birthday in April 2021, when he described her as “the Best Wife and Mother Ever.” He has several children; one daughter, Princess Adeshina Barakat Raji Oniba, was married to Adedire Adetunji in October 2024 in a ceremony attended by numerous dignitaries. Beyond the palace, Oba Raji has maintained a visible commitment to philanthropy and social development, both within Iba Kingdom and in the wider Lagos community.
His story does not fit the conventional mould of a traditional ruler — no inherited wealth, no elite education, no political patronage to smooth the way. What it does reflect is a certain Nigerian reality: that lineage alone means little without the individual drive to make something of it. Oba Sulaimon Adeshina Raji-Ashade I, now 71, governs from the Palace of the Oniba Ekun in Iba Kingdom, Ojo, Lagos State — a long way, in every sense, from the hotel floors he once cleaned.