Franca Afegbua

Franca Afegbua is a Nigerian beautician and politician who represented Bendel North in the Nigerian Senate in 1983. Elected as a National Party of Nigeria (NPN) senator, she was the first elected woman senator in Nigeria.
Afegbua was born in Okpella, Edo State. She had her tertiary education in Sofia, Bulgaria. Prior to the beginning of the second republic, she worked as a and hairdresser in Lagos focusing on high-income clients. Afegbua 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 Bendel, few gave her a chance. Her party was in opposition and the incumbent governor and senator were respected men in the community. But Afegbua who had won an international hairstyling competition in 1977, calculated that wooing more women to vote could give her a victory. Her victory in the competition had made her name popular within her Etsako community, she targeted women voters and as her campaign gained steam it was too late to curb. She earned a slim victory in the August election, defeating John Umolu.