First elected female senator in Nigeria, Franca Afegbua, is dead
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Franca Afegbua
The first woman to be elected as a senator in Nigeria, Franca Afegbua, is dead.
Afegbua, who hailed from the Afegbua’s royal family in Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State died on Sunday in Benin City at the age of 79.
She was a renowned beautician and politician who represented the then Bendel North senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate in 1983 under the platform of National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
It was gathered that sympathisers and community leaders have trooped to her residence in Okpella to commiserate with the bereaved family.
The late Afegbua had her tertiary education in Sofia, Bulgaria. Prior to the beginning of the second republic, she worked as a hairdresser in Lagos focusing on high-income clients.
She reportedly also had a close relationship with Joseph Tarka who introduced her to his party, NPN.
In 1983, when she announced her intention to make a challenge for a senatorial seat in the defunct Bendel State, few gave her a chance as her party was in opposition in the state.
But Afegbua who had won an international hairstyling competition in 1977, narrowly defeated John Umolu of the Unity Party of Nigeria.
