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Born into the Agbejanlabofa family of Obodi in Ijeshaland on June 27, 1951, Olusola completed her basic education at UMC Demonstration School, Ibadan and her secondary school education at Queen’s School, Ede, Osun State.

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She is an alumnus of Watford College of Technology, Watford, the United Kingdom where she studied Advertising Administration before proceeding to the University of Buckingham, Buckingham, United Kingdom to study Law and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986.

Career

Private Sector

Coming off fresh ‘from the oven’ to Nigeria from the United Kingdom, Olusola began her career as Advertising Officer with Nigeria Airways before leaving the company to work as Managing Partner in Olusola Agbeja and Co. in 1986. In 1990, she established Iron Gate Finance and Trust Company Limited, a privately-owned finance and investment company where she served as Managing Director. In 1996, Olusola was employed as the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of Materials Management Services Limited and later rose to become the company’s Managing Director.

Political Career

But there was more to Olusola Obada than just being a lawyer and a businesswoman. In 2003, she shot to the public face through politics. At a time where there were just a handful of women in politics, Obada, made waves in the political scene as the deputy governor of Osun state from 2003 to 2010 as the running mate to Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who served as governor until on November 27, 2010, when she vacated the post. Later on and as a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), she served as a minister of state for defence and later as substantive minister from 2012 to 2013.

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On March 6, 2014, she was appointed by Goodluck Jonathan as one of the top five Nigerian elder-statesmen in the 2014 National Conference, Nigeria. On 29 September 2014, Goodluck Jonathan honoured her with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) national award. On 2 January 2015, She was co-opted as a member of the Goodluck Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation 2015, but her efforts and those of others could not return the party to power. On May 6, 2015, she was appointed Chairman of the Federal University, Dutsin-Ma Governing Council, one of the last appointments made by outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan. She couldn’t retain that position for long because President Muhammadu Buhari immediately dissolved all appointments made by the PDP administration preceding him when He assumed office.

Personal Life

Olusola is married to Babatunde Obada with whom they have four children. She is a traditional chieftain who holds about five traditional titles including those of the Erelu of Ijeshaland, Eyaloje of Argidi of Atoko, and the Yeye Asiwaju of Ibodi. A one hundred and seventy-two paged book has been written in her honour. The book is titled; Erelu Olusola Obada: Her Brain, Her Glamour, Her Politics: an Amazon in the News. The book was a compilation by Femi Adefila and was published by Royal Trust Communications in 2006. Sources: Books.google.com.ng The Source NG Featured Image Source: This Day Live

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