Former Edo State governor and Edo North Senator‑elect Adams Oshiomhole expressed deep sadness at the passing of Franca Afegbua, Nigeria’s first female senator. In a statement released by his chief media aide, Victor Oshioke, on Monday night, Oshiomhole said, “The sad news of Franca Afegbua’s passing is coincidentally and particularly painful for me because I was looking forward to meeting her as part of a planned interaction with prominent past occupants of the seat to which I have just recently been elected.”
By her historic election as senator representing Bendel North in 1983, Franca Afegbua broke the glass ceiling and opened the window for other women to rise and aspire to the highest legislative office in the land. She was a trendsetter in fashion, a trailblazer in politics, a quintessential activist, and a courageous woman of substance. Although the military cut short her tenure in the National Assembly, she remained celebrated until her death for pioneering advocacy of affirmative action, encouraging more women to enter the legislature, and her productive engagement with youths in her constituency.
Even after she ceased to be a regular presence on newspaper pages and television screens, Afegbua continued to impact lives positively within her immediate community. She remained a mentor and inspiration to many of today’s prominent women in politics. On behalf of his family, Oshiomhole extended sincere condolences to the Afegbua family of Okpella Kingdom, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, and to the entire Nigerian political class for this irreplaceable loss. “May her immediate and extended family find consolation in the fact that she lived a fulfilled life and left behind a good name that is permanently etched in the history of our great nation,” he added.
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