Influential Female Political Figures in Nigeria, 1960 to 1999

Influential Female Political Figures in Nigeria, 1960 to 1999

Influential Female Political Figures in Nigeria, 1960 to 1999

Nigeria’s political history between 1960 and 1999 was largely dominated by men, but women played important roles in the country’s political development. They campaigned for voting rights, challenged discriminatory customs, mobilised women, contested elections, entered legislatures, served in government and resisted military authoritarianism. Their experiences were often shaped by political exclusion, cultural expectations, limited access to education and party structures, imprisonment and, in some cases, persecution.

The following women stand out as some of the most influential female political figures of the period.

1. Chief Funmilayo Ransome Kuti

Although her greatest political activism began before independence, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti remained an important political figure during the early post independence period. She was an educator, nationalist, women’s rights campaigner and political organiser who advocated women’s political participation and social equality. She was associated with the Nigerian Women’s Union and later became involved with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons.

Her greatest contribution was helping establish the idea that Nigerian women were not merely supporters of political parties but political actors in their own right. She connected the struggle for women’s rights with the wider struggle against colonialism and political inequality. Her activism also influenced a younger generation of women, including Margaret Ekpo and Gambo Sawaba.

2. Chief Margaret Ekpo

Margaret Ekpo was one of the most important female politicians of Nigeria’s First Republic. A member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), she served in the Eastern Region House of Assembly from 1961 to 1965. She had earlier served in the Eastern House of Chiefs.

Ekpo faced the double challenge of gender discrimination and colonial political structures. She built strong networks among market women in Aba and transformed women’s economic organisations into platforms for political mobilisation. In government, she advocated issues affecting women’s economic participation, transportation and political representation. Her work helped demonstrate that women’s everyday economic concerns could become important political issues.

3. Chief Janet Nwadiogo Mokelu

Janet Mokelu was another pioneering politician from Eastern Nigeria. She was associated with the NCNC and became one of the first Nigerian women to occupy legislative positions. She served in the Eastern House of Chiefs and later in the Eastern House of Assembly.

Mokelu was an educationist, nurse, businesswoman and political activist. She strongly supported women’s right to vote and to participate directly in government. She also joined Margaret Ekpo and Funmilayo Ransome Kuti in protesting the colonial government’s handling of the Enugu coal miners’ killings. Her political career helped establish women’s presence within formal legislative institutions at a time when political leadership remained overwhelmingly male.

4. Chief Wuraola Adepeju Esan

Wuraola Esan occupies a special place in Nigeria’s parliamentary history. A member of the Action Group, she became Nigeria’s first female member of the Federal Parliament when she entered the Senate in 1960 as a nominated senator representing the Western Region.

Her political journey reflected the difficulties women faced within political parties. Although women were important in mobilising voters, they were often excluded from meaningful decision making. Esan nevertheless rose through the Action Group’s women’s wing and became an important advocate for women’s participation in public life. Her achievement created a precedent for women seeking elective and appointive political positions in Nigeria.

5. Chief Elizabeth Adekogbe

Elizabeth Adekogbe was a nationalist, politician and women’s rights leader who headed the Ibadan based Women’s Movement of Nigeria. The organisation later became the Nigerian Council of Women and eventually contributed to the development of the National Council of Women’s Societies.

Her movement campaigned for universal suffrage, women’s admission into Native Authority councils, greater access to secondary education for girls and increased representation in political institutions. Although her organisation sometimes worked alongside the Action Group, her wider contribution was through women’s political mobilisation rather than occupying a major elected office. She helped create a stronger national platform through which Nigerian women could demand political representation.

6. Hajiya Gambo Sawaba

Gambo Sawaba was one of the most prominent female political activists in Northern Nigeria. She joined the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) and eventually became a leader of its women’s wing. She later served as deputy chairman of the Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP).

Her political struggle was particularly difficult because she challenged both political authorities and social restrictions affecting women in Northern Nigeria. She campaigned for girls’ education, women’s voting rights, employment opportunities and an end to child marriage, forced labour and unfair taxation. Her activism resulted in repeated arrests and imprisonment. She was reportedly imprisoned 16 times during her political career.

Sawaba’s importance lies not only in the offices she held but in the political space she created for Northern women. She demonstrated that women from Northern Nigeria could organise, campaign and challenge established political structures.

7. Esther Oladunni Soyannwo

Esther Soyannwo made history during the First Republic when she became the first woman elected to Nigeria’s House of Representatives, winning a parliamentary election in 1964 under the Action Group. However, political violence and controversy surrounding her election prevented her from taking her seat.

Her experience illustrates one of the major obstacles confronting Nigerian women in politics at the time. Winning an election did not necessarily guarantee that a woman could safely exercise the mandate given to her by voters. Her achievement nevertheless became an important milestone in the history of women’s representation in Nigeria.

8. Mrs Justina Eze

Justina Eze was one of the three women who successfully entered Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives after the return to civilian rule in 1979. She represented Uzo Uwani on the platform of the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP).

Her election was historically important because the Second Republic marked a new stage in women’s parliamentary representation. Eze demonstrated that women could successfully contest national elections and hold legislative office. She later served Nigeria diplomatically and remained involved in national politics. Her career helped establish a path for women seeking both legislative and diplomatic positions.

9. Mrs Veronica Ogechi Nnaji

Veronica Nnaji was another pioneering female parliamentarian of the Second Republic. A nurse by profession, she was elected in 1979 to represent Isu in the House of Representatives on the platform of the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP). She served from 1979 to 1983.

Her election was significant because she was among the first three women elected to the Federal House of Representatives to actually take their seats. Her presence in Parliament helped challenge the perception that national legislative politics was exclusively a male domain. Her background in healthcare also brought the experience of a professional woman and community health worker into national politics.

10. Mrs Abiola Babatope

Abiola Babatope was elected to the House of Representatives in 1979 under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), representing Mushin Central District II in Lagos. She was among the first three women elected to the Federal Parliament in the Second Republic.

Her political career demonstrated the growing willingness of women to participate directly in electoral politics after the years of military rule. She also represented an important link between women’s political participation and the broader progressive politics associated with the UPN in the old Western Region.

11. Senator Franca Afegbua

Franca Afegbua broke another major barrier in 1983 when she became the first elected woman senator in Nigeria. She represented Bendel North on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Her achievement was particularly significant because women remained severely underrepresented in the Second Republic. Coming from a professional background in the beauty industry, Afegbua demonstrated that political leadership was not limited to women from traditional political families or established professional elites. Although her Senate career was brief because the military coup of December 1983 ended the Second Republic, her achievement became an important landmark in Nigerian political history.

12. Alhaja Kudirat Abiola

Kudirat Abiola became one of the most recognisable female figures in Nigeria’s pro democracy struggle of the 1990s. Unlike many of the women on this list, her influence came primarily through political activism rather than elected office. She became increasingly involved in the struggle for the restoration of the democratic mandate associated with the annulled 12 June 1993 presidential election.

Kudirat faced the enormous challenge of confronting military rule and political repression. Her activism continued while her husband, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, was detained by the military government. She was assassinated in Lagos in 1996. Her death transformed her into a symbol of the pro democracy movement and strengthened the resolve of activists demanding an end to military rule.

13. Dr Sarah Jibril

Sarah Jibril became an important figure in the transition from military rule to democratic politics in the 1990s. A psychologist, social reform advocate and politician, she contested for the presidency during the Social Democratic Party (SDP) era in 1992 and later contested the 1998 presidential primaries under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Her significance lies in her willingness to challenge the deeply rooted assumption that Nigeria’s highest political offices were exclusively the preserve of men. Her presidential ambitions gave visibility to women’s aspirations for the highest level of political leadership and helped broaden the conversation about women’s participation in Nigerian democracy.

14. Senator Florence Ita Giwa

Florence Ita Giwa entered the Fourth Republic as one of the prominent women in Nigeria’s emerging democratic politics. She was elected Senator for Cross River South in the 1999 elections, initially on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

Her political career was closely associated with advocacy for communities affected by the Bakassi dispute and the broader concerns of the Niger Delta and Cross River region. Her election in 1999 was significant because it demonstrated the renewed presence of women in the National Assembly after years of military rule. She later became associated with the PDP and continued to play a visible role in national politics.

Who among these women do you think did the most to pave the way for female politicians in Nigeria’s political arena today?

Whose legacy do you think has had the greatest impact on women’s political participation in Nigeria?