First Female

Short Biography: Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonu

Her dream was to join the services of the Nigerian Army. But when she applied, she was told bluntly that the Army had no place for women in its engineering corps. She was heartbroken. Saddened by the unexpected turn of events, she spent the following days brooding until someone told her that the Navy would accept her, regardless of her gender.

She did, and today Rear Admiral Itunu Hotunu has been setting the pace in the force, and has gone ahead to become the first woman to attain the exalted rank of a Rear Admiral in the history of the Nigerian Navy.

The 52-year-old Admiral from Badagry, Lagos State, can be said to be first in everything she has done. Hotonu is the first child in a family of four girls, and has always taken the first position in class right from her primary school days till this day.

She was among the first set of architects to be enlisted into the Nigerian Navy and it is on record that Hotonu was the first female military officer to serve as a Directing Staff (that is an instructor) at the famous Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji. She was also the first female military officer to attend the then National War College, now National Defence College, where she emerged the best overall graduating student and won the Commander-in-Chief’s prize as well as the Commandant’s prize for the best research.

Born on January 18, 1959 Hotunu studied Architecture from the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, and enlisted in the Nigerian Navy in 1985. She has served at various naval formations and in different capacities across the country. She was director of projects, Naval Headquarters Commander, Lagos Logistics Depot, Command Logistics Officer, Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, Calabar. In 2008 when she was appointed Managing Director of the Nigerian Navy Post Service Housing Scheme (NNPSHS), a position she held until her promotion to the rank of a Rear Admiral in December, 2010.

Admiral Hotunu, who has been the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Navy Holdings Limited since 2010 is a highly decorated senior officer who has the military prestigious awards of FSS, MSS, DSS attached to her name. She etched her name in history when she was promoted the first female Rear Admiral in the Nigerian Navy. In just 12 months after she was appointed the MD of the NNPSHS in Karshi, Nassarawa State, this Amazon built and completed 460 houses. As at today, Admiral Hotunu has built over 1,000 houses in the estate.

Popularly called mama by her staff, Admiral Itunu told the story of how she wanted to join the army after her university education when she made up her mind to join the military but was turned back by the army authorities on the grounds that they didn't take women in engineering corps. Call her the stone rejected by the builders that suddenly became the chief corner stone, and you won't be wrong. Having been rejected by the army, she was accepted by the navy and no doubt become a pillar in that branch of the Armed Forces. She made the Navy proud with her achievements at the post service housing scheme where apart from building those houses, she also built and completed the NOWA Educational Centre comprising a creche, nursery school, primary school and a junior secondary boarding school, which is already in session. As if that was not enough, she went further to increase the water reserve capacity of the estate from 60,000 litres to 600,000 litres in 2009.

Recently, she was invited to the 54th anniversary celebration of the Liberian Armed Forces by the government and people of Liberia and to also help in mentoring female officers in that country's armed forces. In this interview with Daily Sun, Admiral Hoyunu who is a staunch believer in hard work attributed the strength she displayed to the upbringing she had from her father whom she credits with what she is today.

At a very tender age of eight, she said her father started drumming it into her ears as his first child that he was going to hand over his family to her when he was gone. And so at age 13, Hotonu said she had already assumed her responsibility of taking care of her younger ones and the management of their home. She took care of things like fixing of sockets, tiles and even drove her father around town while he sat at the owner’s corner.

Nigeria's first Female Ambassador: Mrs Elizabeth Ogbon-Day (Born December 29, 1949; Died May 6, 2012).

The first child in a family of twelve children, she was born on Thursday, December 29, 1949, to His Royal Majesty, The Ohworode (King) of Olomu Kingdom, Ogbon Ogoni-Oghoro I and Chief (Mrs.) Alice Ogbon, at Oteri, Agbarha-Otor in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria.

Ambassador Princess (Mrs.) Ogbon-Day was very active politically and she contested the primaries of the PDP in 2007 for the highest office of the land — the presidency, alongside the late President Yar’dua, Dr. Peter Odili, Chief (Mrs.) Sarah Jubril and a host of others. In the most recent elections of 2011, she contested for the Senate seat of Delta Central Senatorial District.

She was appointed ambassador by President Shehu Shagari in early 1981, first as the Nigerian Counsel-General to Hamburg, West Germany, and then as Ambassador to the Philippines from the latter part of 1981 till December 1983, when the military coup by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the government of President Shehu Shagari.

Her most recent political appointments include the Chairman, Delta Rainbow Television, DRTV, and Special Adviser, Inter-ethnic Relations under the Uduaghan administration of Delta State. She was also appointed to the board of Benue River Basin Development Authority under the Yar’dua/Jonathan administration from 2008 to 2011.

Ambassador Princess (Mrs.) Ogbon-Day was a grass-root political organizer. Thus, she mobilized Urhobo women to form the Urhobo Women in Politics (UWIN) with the sole aim of getting more of her women folks involved in the political affairs of their state. She was an indefatigable women’s leader and a committed Urhobo nationalist actively involved in the activities of the Urhobo Progress Union till the very last day of her life.

Ambassador Princess (Mrs.) Ogbon-Day had her secondary school education at Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Ughelli, from 1963 to 1968 from where she proceeded to Federal Government College, Sokoto, for her higher school certificate in 1969. Her continued quest for higher education took her to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where she obtained her B.Sc in Sociology in 1973.

Her interest in politics actually spiked while she was at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. There, she contested for the post of Director of Socials and became the first female holder of that office from 1972 to 1973. Her notable contemporaries at the Ahmadu Bello University include Chief Audu Ogbe, former Chairman of the PDP, Chief Tom Ikimi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Steve Lawani, Deputy Governor of Benue State, Dr. Steve Oru, Vice-Chairman, South-South, PDP, amongst a host of others.

Upon her graduation from the university in 1973, she served in the very first set of the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC) in Lagos State, with her primary assignment at the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). Thereafter, she secured appointment with the National Museums and Antiquities Commission and was posted as Curator to the Benin Museum, under the directorship of foremost and world-renown anthropologist, late Dr. Ekpo Eyo.

While still at the National Museums, her insatiable quest for further education saw her gaining admission to the famous George Washington University (GWU) in Washington D.C., United States of America, for her masters degree program. She completed the two-year masters degree program within a record time of one year and returned to Nigeria in 1978.

With the onset of political activities in 1979, she joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and worked relentlessly for the success of the party in the then Bendel State. Her efforts were rewarded with the ambassadorial appointment in 1981.

After her ambassadorial stint, she settled in Warri, Delta State, where she founded Osalees International School, Effurun. She went into self-exile to the United States of America in 1995 after her house was fire-bombed and destroyed during the turbulent Abacha years.

The first Female Military Pilot In Nigeria: Blessing Liman (Winged Friday, 27th of April, 2012)

Liman was born on 13th March, 1984 and hails from Kaduna State and is an indigene of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area. She attended the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna State and was of the SP-24A set of pilots fondly referred to as the Knights of the Air.

She was commissioned as a Combat Flying Officer alongside 126 others who finished the Direct Short Service Course 2010/2011 Cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna

She and other pilot officers (she was the only female) went for 12 months intensive flight training in various nations of the world which included The United States, Greece, Belarus, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Egypt.

The Federal Government spent billions of naira on the training as $650,000 was spent on each trainee. The team came up with 14, well-trained fighter jet pilots. She enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force in July 2011 and was commissioned on the 9th of December, 2011.

The first Iyalode of Egbaland: Madam Efunroye Tinubu: She was the first Iyalode of Egbaland. She became rich as a slave trader having her headquarters at Abeokuta. When she visited Badagry and realized the inhumane condition slaves are subjected to by the White man, she became an abolitionist. She spent a great deal of her wealth on the abolition of slavery. Tinunbu Square in Lagos Island was named after her for her gallantry. She is also credited as the first Woman to buy a car in Nigeria.

The first Nigerian female and first British female to win two World Championship titles: Christina Ohuorogu

Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu, MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British athlete born to Igbo Nigerian parents in Newham, east London, who specializes in the 400 meters; She is a double World Champion, having also won the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships, and was a silver medalist at the Olympics in London. She has also won three World championship bronze medals in the women's 4 x 400m relay as part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team.

Ohuruogu studied at University College London, where she graduated in Linguistics in 2005. She also played netball during her undergraduate studies. She has eight siblings, one of whom is Victoria Ohuruogu, a sprints competitor. She attended St. Edward's Church of England School, Romford and Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green.

Ohuruogu's personal best time of 49.41s, set at the 2013 World Championships, beat the UK record set by Kathy Cook in 1984 by 0.02 seconds, simultaneously making her the first British female to win two World Championship titles, the first British female to win three global titles, and the first British athlete of either gender to win three global titles in the same event; she remains the only female British athlete to have done so. She is coached by Lloyd Cowan.

She is also the author of the "Camp Gold" series of children's books about an elite training school for budding athletes.

The first Female Nigerian and first black actress since Angela Bassett in 1994 to receive an NAACP Image Award nomination for the same role in which she was nominated for an Oscar: Sohie Okonedo (2005)

Okonedo was born in August 1968 in London, the daughter of Joan (née Allman), a pilates teacher, and Henry Okonedo (1939–2009), who worked for the government. Her father was Nigerian, and her mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, was born in the East End, to Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Poland and Russia. Okonedo was brought up in her mother's Jewish faith. When she was five years old, her father left the family, and she was brought up in relative poverty by her single mother.

She won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Hotel Rwanda making her the first Nigerian and first black British actress to be nominated since Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Secrets & Lies in 1996 (Marianne Jean Baptiste was the first black British actress to be nominated in 1996).

Previous Oscar nominees like Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Halle Berry and Queen Latifah were not nominated by the NAACP for the same roles.

The first Female Nigerian Armed Forces (2 Star) Major General: Major General

Aderonke Kale (retired 1997)

Major-General Ronke Kale (rtd) trained as medical practitioner before she decided to enlist in the Nigerian Army as an officer. Major-General Kale’s area of specialty is psychiatry. She was inspired to join psychiatry by the late Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo-Africa’s first professor of psychiatry.

As a colonel and medical commandant (Commanding Officer) in the Nigerian Army, she attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS SEC12), Kuru, Plateau State in the year 1990 (she was of the same set with retired Lt. Gen. Victor Samuel Leonard Malu who was to later become the Chief of Army Staff). Upon graduation from Kuru (she received her graduation certificate in 1990 as a colonel from General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who was the military president). She returned to the Military Hospital, Benin, Edo State and resumed duties as the Commanding Officer. While in the army, she was a close associate of IBB’s chief of intelligence, Colonel Halilu Akilu.

From there, she was later moved to Lagos State where she served as the Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps , Ojo where she was later promoted to the rank of a Brigadier General, thus becoming the first woman in Nigeria to become a one-star general (but please note that the first woman to be commissioned an officer in the Nigerian Army is Risquat Finni, who later retired as a Lieutenant Colonel).

This amiable physician was the first female military officer to reach the rank of a major-general (mind you, that’s solid two-star general) when she became the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps and School (NAMCS) and later bowed out without any blemish in her medical or military career.

It was in the year 1994 that she broke the record not only in Nigeria but in West Africa with her appointment as the first ever female Major General in the Nigerian Army. Her job was to see to the psychological problems of the personnel of the Nigerian Army in addition to other duties related to administration and management.

She retired honourably in 1996 under the General Sani Abacha regime.

The first Female minister to head the Petroleum Ministry: Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke (2010). She is also Nigeria’s First Female Oil Minister In OPEC (September 2010).

Diezani K. Agama was born on in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Her father was Chief Frederick Abiye Agama. She studied architecture in England and then at Howard University in the United States. She graduated from Howard with a Bachelor's degree on 8 December 1992. She returned to Nigeria and joined Shell Petroleum Development Corporation that year. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA. In April 2006, Shell appointed her its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.

In October 2010 she became the first woman to head a country delegation at the annual OPEC conference. She was also the first female Minister of Transportation, and the first woman to be appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.

She is married to Admiral Allison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.

The first Female Commissioner of Police to command a state: Ivy Okoronkwo. She is also Nigeria's first female to Head a Police Command.

The first Nigerian Female Commercial Pilot: Captain Chinyere Kalu

Captain Chinyere Kalu, MFR hails from Akwete-Ndoki, Ukwa East (Abia State) is married to Mr. Kalu Okoli which makes her a citizen of Ohafia Local Government (also Abia) by marriage. Their marriage is blessed with three wonderful children: two daughters (now in the United States where one is pursuing her doctorate degree and the other, her masters) and a son. She did not grow up with her dad (parents had separated) so that explains the great degree of female influence over her. None of her kids have decided to be a pilot and many of them remain unconvinced about her career until October 2011 when President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her the Rector and Chief Executive of Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) (formerly Nigerian Civil Aviation Training Center), the largest aviation training institute in Africa surpassing even those of South Africa. Prior to that, she was the Head of the College’s Flying School as an instructor on contract agreement.

Later, while in Lagos, she saw an NCAT advert in the newspaper, she applied, had rigorous interviews and was offered an admission slot. On the 20th of May, 1981, as Miss Chinyere Onyelucheya, she received her commercial pilot’s license. A passionate lover of knowledge and education, the following is an overview of her education and training:

Anglican Girls Grammar School, Yaba, Lagos (primary education also in Lagos).

Trained as Private and Commercial Pilot, SP.12 Batch, NCAT, Zaria (1978)

Air Transport Pilot License (ATPL) Course, Bolivia Aviation, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Aircraft Accident Investigation and Prevention Course, Federal Aviation Administration, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Flight Instructor’s Rating, Civil Aviation Authority, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Commercial Pilot License (CPL/IR), NCAT, Zaria.

Postgraduate Diploma, Transport Management and Logistics, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria.

Airborne Collision Avoidance/T-CAS Training for Air Traffic Controllers Course.

Pilots Human Performance and Limitations/Crew Resources Management/Human Factors Course.

Patiently, she rose through the ranks at NCAT:

1980: Assistant Flying Instructor In-Training.

1981: Assistant Flying Instructor

1982: Flying Instructor Grade I

1987: Senior Flying Instructor

1988: Assistant Chief Flying Instructor

1991: Principal Flying Instructor

2001: Chief Flying Instructor

2006-2009: Head, Flying School

October 2011: Rector/Chief Executive (the very first from the College Staff)

The First Nigerian Female Professor Of Law: Jadesola Akande

The first Nigerian and West African woman to receive a university degree (Oxford): Lady Kofo Ademola (nee Moore)

She is the daughter of the late Eric Moore, the first Lagos member of the United Nations committee of experts advising on labor conventions and regulations. She graduated with a BA at Oxford University, United Kingdom. She married Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, the first head of the judiciary anywhere in Nigeria.

The first Nigerian Lady To Drive a Motor Car In Nigeria: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (25 October 1900 Abeokuta, Nigeria - 13 April 1978 Lagos, Nigeria), born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas to Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu, was a teacher, political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat. She served with distinction as one of the most prominent leaders of her generation.

She was a teacher, political campaigner, and women's rights activist. Ransome-Kuti's political activism led to her being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria and was regarded as “The Mother of Africa.” Early on she was a very powerful force advocating for women's right to vote. She was described in 1947, by the West African Pilot as the “Lioness of Lisabi” for her leadership of Egba women on a campaign against arbitrary taxation of women. That struggle led to the abdication of the Egba King Oba Ademola II in 1949

She was the administrator of Rev. Kuti Memorial Grammar School at Abeokuta. Her children include: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, and Beko Ransome-Kuti. She fought the military against the unjust arrest of her son (Fela) and sustained an injury to her leg of which the resultant compilations allegedly led to her death.

She is credited for being the First indigenous Nigerian woman to drive a car, the First indigenous Nigerian woman to ride a motorcycle and Nigeria's first ever representative at a women's international conference in the USSR in 1963. She Founded the largest African women's organisation ever with 20,000 financial members: the Abeokuta Women Union (later became a National Women Union) - Their achievement includes: Objections against the Sole Native Authority and the King (Alake) who was their drummer boy. The union's education campaigns and objection to flat tax rate were all successful.

In 1949, she led a protest against Native Authorities, especially against the Alake of Egbaland. She presented documents alleging abuse of authority by the Alake, who had been granted right to collect taxes. She also led the successful abolishment of separate tax rates for women.

In old age her activism was over-shadowed by that of her three sons, who provided effective opposition to various Nigerian military juntas. In 1978 Funmilayo was thrown from a second-floor window when her son Fela's compound, a commune known as the Kalakuta Republic, was stormed by one thousand armed military personnel. She lapsed into a coma in February of that year, and died on 13 April 1978, as a result of her injuries.

The first Nigerian and African woman to publish a book in English, the first Nigerian female Novelist to be published internationally and Nigeria's first Female Commissioner (Joint with Dora Miller-Akanya): Prof. (Mrs.) Flora Nwapa Nwakuche

Flora Nwapa was born on January 13, 1931, in Oguta, Imo State. The first of six children of relatively wealthy and influential parents, Christopher Ijeoma Nwapa, who was an trading agent with the United Africa Company (UAC) and Martha Nwapa, a teacher who taught drama in Oguta, before Nigeria’s independence.

Flora attended Oguta CMS Central School; Archdeacon Crowther Memorial Girls’ School, Elelenwo, Rivers State; CMS Girls’ Grammar School, Lagos; and the prestigious Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos (1951-1952). She then proceeded to the University of Ibadan in 1953 where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts (BA) in 1957. Still thirsty for education, she went to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and finished with an Diploma in Education in 1958.

She came back to Nigeria in 1959 after her studies to put her knowledge to good use by starting as an education officer in Calabar, Cross River State. From there, she went to Queen’s School, Enugu, where she taught Geography and English. In 1962, she was made the Assistant Registrar (Public Relations), at the University of Lagos, a position she occupied till 1964.

During the civil war, Nwapa and her family had no option but to flee Lagos for the southeast. But as a true mother, she did not remain idle and watch people die, she became the first female Commissioner for Health and Social Welfare for the East Central States from 1970 to 1971. She was also known for her governmental work in reconstruction after the war. In particular, she worked with orphans and refugees that were displaced during the war.

With the war over and satisfied with reuniting her refugee children with their families, she was made the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Development and later the Ministry of Establishments from 1971 to 1975.

The government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari crowned her efforts with the sixth highest national honour in Nigeria, the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 1983. University of Ibadan also gave her the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1982.

In 1985, she received the Merit Award for Authorship and Publishing at the Ife Book Fair of the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University. She also received a Certificate of Participation, Iowa University School of Letters International Writing Programme in 1984.

In 1966, her book Efuru became Africa’s first internationally published female novel in the English language by Heinemann Educational Books and this was what shot her to international recognition, ever since; she has been called the mother of modern African literature. Later she went on to become the first African woman publisher of novels when she founded Tana Press of which she used to work as a publisher of African literature and promoter of women in African society with a focus on Nigerian women.

As well as being a distinguished member of PEN International and the Commonwealth Writer’s Awards committee, she was also the President of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). In 1989, she was made a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Maiduguri and remained so till her death.

She continued to teach across the globe. She taught at Trinity College, New York University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota and University of Ilorin.

She was married to Chief Gogo Nwakuche, with whom she had three children. Even though, she stuck to her maiden name as a professional writer, people in her community referred to her as Mrs. Nwakuche.

After a tour of the United States of America in 1993, she was admitted at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, for pneumonia. She died on October 16, 1993.

The first Nigerian Female Medical Doctor-1937: Dr. Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi

She was born on the 11th of November, 1910 on Lagos Island. She was the fourth child in a family of seven. She started elementary school at the St. Mary’s Convent in Lagos State and from there to Queen’s College, Lagos and then proceeded to Dublin, Ireland to study medicine in 1929 after getting the Cambridge Examination Certificate.

She qualified as a medical doctor in 1936. She graduated from the University of Dublin, Ireland with first class honors, including a medal in medicine and a distinction in anatomy. She became a specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics.

She was the first West African female medical doctor with Licentiate of the Royal Surgeon (Dublin) and bagged a diploma in gynaecology and obstetrics at the Trinity College, Dublin.

She was the first President of the Holy Cross Parish Women Council and the first president of the Lagos Branch of the National Council of Women’s Society.

She was married to Dr. S. O. Awoliyi, who was also a medical doctor and later the Chief Medical Adviser to the Federal Government. He died in 1965. They had two children. She died 14th of September, 1971 at the age of 61.

Nigeria’s First Female Vice-Chancellor: Mrs. Grace Alele Williams was one of the first Nigerian woman to obtain a PhD. She is also the first female Mathematics Professor.

Senator Franca Afegbua: The first Female Elected Senator.

She represented former Bendel State of Nigeria (Bendel North senatorial district) under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the second republic 1979-1983. She has however since diverted much of her attention to beauty and hairdressing which was her original love, but continues to keep a close watch on the nation's politics.

Mrs Franca Afegbua became the very first elected Senator; the two others before her (Wuraola Esan and Kerry), were appointed in 1960.

Fati Lami Abubakar: The first female lawyer, Solicitor-General and Attorney-General of Niger State.

Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i: The first female professor from the North-west geo-political zone. She is a professor of education and was appointed Minister of education.

Mulikat Adeola-Akande: The first female to occupy the exalted seat of Leader of the House of Representatives in the history of the Nigerian National Assembly.

Saheela Ibraheem: The first Female Nigerian to be offered admission by 14 Ivy-league schools including Harvard, Princeton and Columbia, before she eventually settled for Harvard University (May 2011). She is the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant family living in Edison, New Jersey, US .

Dr.Ola Orekunrin: West Africa’s first Air Ambulance when she founded the West Africa’s first Air Ambulance at the age of 24.

Chief (Mrs) Priscilla Omoba Kuye: The first female president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).

Lady Emem Ekaette: Nigeria's first Female Presidentof the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.

Chief (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru: The first Female Bank Chief Executive in Nigeria

Justice Honsine Donli: The first Female President of ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.

Dr. Dora Akunyili: The first African Female to win the Transparency International Integrity Award and the first Female Director-General of NAFDAC

Chief (Mrs.) Francesca Emmanuel: The first Nigerian Female Federal Permanent Secretary

Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar: The first Female Justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria (Appointed 10 May 2005 and sworn in 8 June 2005)

Chief (Dr.) Bola Kuforiji Olubi: The first Female Chartered Accountant in Nigeria

The first female ICAN President: Bola Kuforiji-Olubi. Otunba Bola Kuforiji-Olubi One-time Minister, Commerce and Tourism, 1993. She has made very valuable contributions to the Nigerian commerce and Industry. She was the first female graduate of Member of the Institute of Chattered Accountants (ICAN) and has served on the council from 1978 to 1991, as the first female member of council. She was elected the first female ICAN President, 1989, as the 25th President. She is also a foundation member and Grand Matron of the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN).

Kuforiji-Olubi was the first Nigerian woman to become the Managing Director of an International company in Nigeria, Vivian, Younger & Bond - VYB (Nigeria) Ltd. in 1977. The First female Chairman of a public quoted company on the stock exchange - BEWAC Plc., the holding company for VYB and its subsidiaries. She also served as the first Chairman, Ogun-Osun State River-Basin Development Authority, 1977-1980; and the first Nigerian female Chairman of a Bank - United Bank for Africa (UBA) upon her appointment November 1984.

In recognition of her contribution to the business industry and her immense skill, the Federal Government in 1994, appointed her the Chairman of United Bank for Africa(UBA), the task she meritoriously carried out till 1990. As chairman of UBA, she commenced and successfully ran a program for the provision of finance for both rural and urban women entrepreneurs.

She represents Nigeria in the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BSCD), an Agency of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and she is Chairman of the Nigerian Chapter.

She bagged a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of London, 1963. She also had her Accountancy Professional Articles in the U.K with Pannel Kerr and Foster (PKF0, London and passed the Chartered Institute of Company Secretaries (ACIS) exams, 1964, and that of the Institute of Chattered Accountants of England and Wales, 1967. She is currently a fellow of both institutes. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the Nigerian Institute of Management.

Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala: Nigeria's first Female Vice President of World Bank and Nigeria's first Female Finance Minster

Professor Deborah Ajakaiye: The first Female Geophysicist in Nigeria

Dr. (Mrs.) Doyin Abiola: The first Female Editor in Nigeria. She is also the first Nigerian female Eisenhower Fellow and Rockfeller Foundation 21st Century Leadership honoree.

A.S.P Chioma Ajunwa: The first Nigerian female Olympic Gold Medalist (Atlanta Olympics, 1996)

Prof. (Mrs.) Ndi Okereke- Onyuike: The first Female Highest Ranking Officer of the African Stock Exchange. She is Nigeria's first female Stock Broker (1983).

Engineer Ebele Okeke: The first Female Head of Service of the Federation

Justice (Chief) Folake Solanke: Nigeria's first Female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) - 5 March 1981.

Chief (Mrs.) Stella Omu: The first Female Chief Whip in the Nigerian Senate and the first female Highest Ranking Officer in the Nigerian Prison Services

Alhaja Basirat Nahibi: Nigeria's first Female Gubernatorial Aspirant

Prof. Bolanle Awe: Nigeria's first female Professor of History

Mrs. Catherine Kehinde- George: Nigeria's first female Town Planner.

Miss Stella Bridgette Felix: The first Nigerian and African student invited to experience the zero gravity flight (September 2006).

In celebration of the first World Space Week zero gravity flight, Stella Bridgette Felix is the first African and only student to experience what it is like to be in space by taking a zero gravity flight; the main highlight of the World Space Week Youth Inspiration Project.

Felix was selected from more than 400 students who applied from the West African country. She will spend two hours on a modified Boeing 727 jet, which will soar six miles above the Earth before dropping, giving about a half-minute of weightlessness with each cycle.

According to her, “When the flight took off we were going flat – just normally. When we got to 24,000 altitude, we were asked to separate into our different groups and lie down flat. When the flight rose from 24,000, we were feeling 1.8 gravity, that is, about twice our weight. Soon after, we went down to 24,000 again and that was when everybody just started to float; It was a very fun ride. I felt that even if I wanted to be an astronaut, at least I have a little experience of it. I really loved the experience and would gladly go over it again if asked to.”

Nigeria was selected to inaugurate the space experience program because of its active space program — the country launched a satellite in 2003 — and to highlight the way that space can assist developing countries.

The organizers, Spaceweek International, organizes educational events for the United Nations World Space Week in early October each year.

Chief Sena Anthony: Nigeria's first Female Chair of the International Bar Association Section on Energy & Natural Resources

The first female stockbroker licensed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange: Mrs. Elizabeth Ngozi Ebi

Mrs. Elizabeth Ngozi Ebi is a seasoned investment banker of high repute and integrity. She is the first female stockbroker licensed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers. Mrs. Ebi has an academic foundation in Business / Management Studies with a First Class B.Sc. degree in Business/Health Administration (Magna Cum Laude) from New York University and obtained an MBA (Finance and Investment) from the George Washington University, USA, in 1980. She is a graduate of the International Banking Summer School, Cambridge University, UK and has over the years acquired in-depth and broad knowledge as well as extensive professional experience in finance and investment management in both the Nigerian and US money and capital markets. Her meritorious career has taken her through reputable organizations like Chase Merchant Bank and a few others. Mrs. Ebi is an expert in the structuring, documentation, securitization, marketing of capital market issues and asset & liability management. She is also the Special Trustee in Africa to the European Economic.

Engineer Dr. (Mrs.) Olatokubo A Somolu: The first Female to hold a PHD in Engineering & First Female Structural Engineer.

Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui: The first Female Chairperson, Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS).

Hajiya Amina Ibrahim OFR: The first Female Presidential Aide to implement the Virtual Poverty Fund through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Chief (Mrs.) Ebun Oyegbola: The first Nigerian female Cabinet Minister.

Chief (Mrs.) S. Thomas-Fahm: The first Nigerian female Couturier.

Prof. Joy Ogwu: Nigeria's first Female Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Nigeria's first female Chair of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

Nigeria's first female Head of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC): Mrs. Farida Waziri

Nigeria's first female member of the Federal Parliament: Wuraola Esan (1914–1985)

She was born in the city of Ibadan to the famous Ojo 'Badan family at Calabar. Her father Chief thomas Adeogun Ojo was a veeran of the First World War as a forestry officer. Though her parents were not western trained, they promoted a western educative course for their children. She attended Idi Aba Baptist Girls School, Abeokuta before proceeding to the United Missionary College to earn a teachers training diploma. From 1930 to 1934, she was a domestic science teacher at a missionary training school in Akure. She later married Victor Esan in 1934 and they briefly lived in Lagos before moving back to her hometown of Ibadan.

In the 1950s, she entered partisan politics and was a member of the women's wing of the Action Group. Though the women were important instruments to garner votes, few were accorded official power and party-wide responsibility. However, Esan was able to rise through the ranks to become the first female member of the Nigerian National Assembly, as a nominated senator from Ibadan West. She was also a founding member of the National Council of Women Societies. She was appointed under the Action Group (AG) political party of the Western Region of Nigeria as the first female Senator in October 1960.

Nigeria's first female Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Establishment and later Federal Ministry of Health: Mrs Francesca Yetunde Emmanuel.

She was appointed the first female administrative officer of the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria on the 9th of November 1959, and was also appointed the first female Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service on the 7th of July 1975. She retired from the Federal Public Service on the 1st of June 1988.

Francesca Yetunde Emanuel was born in Lagos on the 19th of September 1933 to Mr. Francisco Eugenio Pereira and Mrs. Hanoria Folashade Pereira (Nee Caulcrick). She had her Primary Education in Princess School, Lagos, her Secondary Education at Holy Child College, Lagos and her Tertiary Education at the University College Ibadan and University College London. She holds a B.A. (Hons) in Geography, London University (1959)

Mrs. Emanuel was a Commissioner of the United Nations International Civil Service Commission, New York (1987 – 1992), a Member of the Governing Council of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (1989 – 1993), a Foundation Member of the Nigerian Environment Forum (1986), a Member of the Lagos State University Visitation Panel (1992), a Commissioner of the National Salaries & Wages Commission (1992 – 1994), a Member of the National Merit Award (Humanities) Committee, 1989 – 1991), a Director of the Board of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Limited (1991 – Date), a Director of Ecobank Nigeria PLC (1998 – 2004), and the Chairman of the 2nd National Film Festival Organising Committee (2002 – 2003).

She is a member of the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs (1980), a member of the National Institute for Policy & Strategy Studies (MNI, 1985), and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (1991). She is currently the Chairman of The Lumina Foundation.

She is married to Dr. L.A. Emanuel a Gynaecologist & Obstetrician, and has a son, Leonard Ademuyiwa Duro-Emanuel.

Nigeria’s first female industrialist: Chief (Mrs) Bisoye Esther Tejuoso OON (nee Karunwi) born in 1916. A prominent Abeokuta businesswoman and the third Iyalode of Egbaland and ,

Bisoye Tejuoso was a prominent Nigerian businesswoman from Abeokuta. She was born into the family of an Egba farmer who was also a chief in Abeokuta. At 18 years old, she married Mr Tejuoso, and later accompanied him to Zaria, where he was working. At Zaria, Bisoye thrived in trading foodstuff with southern Nigerians; she used the railway to transport goods from Zaria to Lagos. In the early 1950s, she became an agent for the United African Company, and in later years, added Vono industries to her list of suppliers. She became very successful during this period and acquired real estate in various parts of the country.

In 1970, after disagreeing with her partners in a foam and carpet manufacturing venture, she decided to build her own factory. She got a loan from the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank and established, Teju Industries, a firm specialized in foam manufacturing. Over the years, she ventured out to other businesses. She is remembered as a pioneering woman who attained the summit of financial independence and success.

She was murdered on the 29th September, 1996 at age 80 amid controversy over the obaship of Egbaland. To date, her murder has not been solved by Nigerian authorities.

The first Nigerian distributor for the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in 1957: Hannah Idowu Dideolu (H.I.D.) Awolowo (née Adelana) was born on November 25, 1915 to a modest family in the small Ikenne community of Ogun State in Nigeria. She is the widow of politician Obafemi Awolowo

Chief (Dr.) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo popularly known as HID is the "Jewel of inestimable value" of the late sage, Awo. A successful businesswoman and astute politician, she was the First Lady of the old Western Region. She played active role in the politic of the Western Region. She stood in for her husband in the Alliance formed between NCNC and AG called United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA), while he was in jail.

The plan was that she would contest the elections and if she won, would step down for her husband, in a bye-election. To fulfill her husband's dream of becoming the President in the second republic, she toured the length and breadth of the country with her husband campaigning. She also coordinated the women's wing of the party and was always present at all party caucuses. A successful business woman, she became the first Nigerian distributor for the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in 1957. She was the first to import lace materials and other textiles into Nigeria.

The first Aba woman to win a seat at the Eastern Regional House of Assembly: Mrs. Margaret Ekpo

In 1961 Margaret Ekpo also won elections in Aba Urban constituency to become a member of the defunct Eastern Nigerian House of Assembly. In 1966, Janet N. Mokelu and Ekpo A. Young contested, won and became members of the Eastern House of Assembly.

Ekpo was born in 1914 in Creek Town in present-day Cross River State to Okoroafor Obiasulor (a native of Agulu-Uzo-Igbo near Awka in Anambra State) and Inyang Eyo Aniemewue, who was from the family of King Eyo Honesty II of Creek Town. With the death of her father in 1934, she could not attain an education beyond the standard six school-leaving certificate, dashing her hopes of attending a teacher training college. She subsequently settled for a tutoring job, teaching at various elementary schools until she married Dr John Udo Ekpo, a medical practitioner, in 1938.

Her determination to advance her education motivated her to obtain a diploma in Domestic Economics in 1948 at the Rathmine School of Domestic Economics in Dublin, Ireland (now the Dublin Institute of Technology) during the period her husband was taken there for medical attention. When the couple returned to Nigeria, Margaret Ekpo established a domestic science institute in Aba, Abia State where she trained young girls in dressmaking and home economics.

She won a seat in the Eastern Regional House of Assembly in 1961, becoming the first Aba woman to attain this achievement.

Ekpo died at the age of 92 on September 21, 2006 at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

The first Nigerian woman to receive an officers commission as a Medical Corps Captain (1963): Adekunbi Macaulay FSS,DSM,RSM - Born 1925 in Lagos, she attended Queens College Lagos, later qualifying as a Nurse, from St James Hospital London, in 1955 (Midwife in 1958 and PG qualification (Polio) in 1958. She returned to Nigeria in 1961, working firstly at the General Hospital and Island Maternity. She was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps as a Captain in 1963, the first Nigerian woman to receive an officers commission. She was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in 1975 and Army Chief Nursing Officer. She was promoted Colonel in 1976 (PSC) and Army Director of Nursing. She retired 1983.

The first female Commissioned Officer in the Nigerian Army: Captain Josephine Okwekeleke Tolefe

she was granted Short Service Commission on 7 February 1961 in the rank of Second Lieutenant with seniority in the rank with effect from same date. She was also the first woman to attain the rank of an Army Captain in Nigeria, which she attained on 1 June 1963.

Nigeria’s first female Cabinet Ministers under the regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari: Ambassador Adenike Ebun Oyagbola and Janet Akinrinade Appointed by Shehu Shagari Oct. 1979, as National Planning and Minister of State Internal Affair respectively. Oyagbola later became Nigeria's Ambassador to Mexico and Central America.

The first female Mechanic in Nigeria: Sandra Aguebor-Ekperouh

The first woman to serve as National Vice President of the United Party of Nigerian - UPN (1979 -1983): Mrs Oyibo Odinamadu

The first female deputy Governor in Nigeria: Mrs. Latifat Okunnu

The first female lawyer to be conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in March 1981: Chief Olufolake Solanke

In 1972, She was appointed commissioner, Western State of Nigeria. Chairman, Western Government broadcasting corporation television and radio network service. On the international scene, Chief Folake Solanke became a source of pride not only for Nigeria and the Nigerian woman but also for Africa and the black world as a whole. On July 21st 1994 she became the 42nd president of Zonta International. This made her the first non – Caucasian to be elected and to hold the position of Zonta International President since Zonta was founded in 1919. As it happened in the case of the conferment with the honour of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Solanke opened the gate for African contestants as the next President for Zonta International after her turned out to be an African.

In 1949, she became Games Captain as well as School Prefect and at the West Africa School Certificate Examinations that held that year, she became the first student of the school to obtain grade one.

Married to late Emeritus Professor Toriola Solanke, they are blessed with three children: Dr (Mrs) Oluyemi Koya is both a medical doctor and a lawyer, Engr. B.A Solanke and Miss Olushola Solanke, a mathematician and MBA London Business School degree holder.

First Nigeria Woman to be buried with National Honor: Mrs. Stella Obasanjo

The first female Head of Department, University of Nigeria Nsukka: Professor Francisca Okeke

The first female professor in Nigeria: Adetowun Ogunsheye. She recently retired as Professor of Library Studies from the University of Ibadan at age 85.

The first female Professor of Psychiatry in Nigeria: Olayinka O. Omigbodun - Principal Investigator, Centre for Child & Adolescent Mental Health; MBBS (Ibadan), MPH (Leeds), Dip Psych (Manchester), FMCPsych (Nigeria), FWACP; Professor of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan; Honorary Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

In 1999, she started a clinic service tailored to meet the needs of children and adolescents with mental health problems at UCH, Ibadan, which became initially the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit and eventually the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the first of its kind in any tertiary training institution in Nigeria. She is the pioneer head of the Department and engendered the interest of a lot of young physicians in the sub-specialty.

Dr. Olayinka Omigbodun was appointed a Lecturer in Psychiatry at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan in 1997 and became the first female Professor of Psychiatry in Nigeria on October 1, 2008. She collaborated with other colleagues to establish the African Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (AACAMH) and has served as Chair of its Steering Committee since it was founded in 2007. Professor Olayinka Omigbodun is the President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP), the first African to hold the position in the 75-year history of the premier global organization for child & adolescent mental health which has chapters in more than 65 countries worldwide.

The First Female Deputy Governor in Nigeria: Mrs Lateefat Okunnu

The first female Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State: Barrister Valerie Ebe

The first female deputy governor of Ekiti State: Funmilayo Olayinka, She has been occupying the post of Deputy since 16th October 2010. Olayinka died of cancer in Lagos in April 2013, a few months shy of her 53rd birthday. She is survived by her husband, Arc Lanre Olayinka and three children.

The first Nigerian female to become the head coach of Super Falcons: Eucharia Uche. The Super Falcons are the 2010 African Women football Champions.

Previously Uche had served as assistant coach to the national female team from 2002 to 2008. She assisted Ismaila Mabo when the team participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics as well as the AWC which the team won in South Africa that year. She also understudied Ntiero Effiong in 2002 for the country’s Under-20 team that featured in the World Cup in Canada,

Her third stint with the national team was as an assistant coach with the Under-20 Women’s team that participated in that version of the World Cup in Thailand. She had coached club sides like Delta Queens of Asaba , Ifeoma Babes of Warri, and Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt.

She attended a number of high profile coaching courses within and outside Nigeria. A graduate of Business Administration from the Delta State University, Uche attended the National Institute of Sports, NIS, in Lagos, and the Licence B Coaching Course in California, USA. She bagged a diploma in CAF coaching course held in South Africa. She also attended a number of courses organised by FIFA and the NFF, which include FIFA coaching certificate and the CAF instructors course in Tanzania.

Uche who hails from Mbaise, in Imo State also attended Egbu Girls Secondary School, Owerri.

Nigeria's first female Ambassador to Liberia: Her Excellency Mrs. Chigozie F. Obi-Nnadozie

First Female Company Secretary: Chief (Mrs.) M. R. A. Adeleke

Nigeria's first female Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria: Mrs. Wahir Ayuba Mshelia. She resigned in 2005 and was replaced by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia as Deputy Governor for Policy on 9 May 2005.

The first female Speaker of a House of Assembly: Hon. Margaret Icheen

The first Nigerian female Editor of New Nigerian Newspapers: Hajiya Bilikisu Yusuf

The first Nigerian Female Speaker of the House of Representatives: Rt. Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Foluke Etteh (2007)

The first Nigerian Female Secretary- General of ECOWAS Parliament: Hajia Halima Ahmed

The first female Director-General of the Nigerian Stock exchange: Ndi Okereke Oyiuke

As the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Rivers State born Dr. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke is the first female to ever hold this position. Saying she is brilliant is an understatement. Ndi is simply outstanding. Graduated magna cum laude (first class honours). With this honour she was nominated and selected for President Carter's executive exchange programme in the White House, Washington DC. Ndi was born on the 2nd November 1950 in bonny Rivers State.

At the age of 23 she left for New York to further her studies. She was special assistant to ambassadors Edwin Ogbu and Leslie Harriman, permanent mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, commercial consultant (Africa and middle-east) African American institute, United Nations plaza 1976-77. Between 1978-82 she was the adjunct professor finance department New York City University. Exchange services manager systems consultant the New York stock exchange 1976-83. She is on the board of many leading companies in Nigeria.

Nigeria's first female governor: Dame Virgi Etiaba (3 November 2006 to 9 February 2007)

Dame Virgy Etiaba was born on the 11th day of November 1942. A native of Nnewi, in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, her educational career traversed institutions in Eastern, North Western, North Central and South Southern geo-political zones of Nigeria, as well as in London, England.

Her primary school education was at the famous Ibo Union School in Kano, before proceeding to Sudan Interior Mission in Kaltungo, in today’s Gombe State, for her Teachers Training programme.

On the 17th day of March 2006, she was sworn in as the Deputy Governor of Anambra State following the validation of APGA electoral victory in the 2003 Governorship election in Anambra State by the Court of Appeal, making history as the first female Deputy Governor in the South East and South-South geo-political zones of Nigeria. She was later sworn in as the Executive Governor of Anambra State, making her the first female Governor in Nigeria on the 3rd day of November 2006 following the impeachment of Governor Peter Gregory Obi.

As a result of the reversal of that impeachment by the Court of Appeal, Her Excellency duly and happily handed back the position of Governor of Anambra State to His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi within two hours of the Court of Appeal judgement on the 9th day of February 2007 and reverted to the position of Deputy Governor, a position she held till 16th March 2010.

She worked as a teacher for 35 years and headed several schools in Kafanchan, Aba, Port Harcourt, and Nnewi. She retired from the services of the Anambra State Government in 1991 and founded the Bennet Etiaba Memorial Schools, Nnewi, of which she was the proprietress. In March 2006 she resigned to assume the position of the Deputy Governor of Anambra State.

She was a member of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs, International Literacy Programme for the Nnewi North Local Council, the Environmental International Vanguard and the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP). She was also a Synod member of the Church of Nigerian (Anglican Communion), a member of the Christian Association of Nigerian Schools, a member of the Board of Governors of the Okongwu Memorial Grammar School Nnewi, member of the Board of Governors of Holy Child Convent School, Amichi and a Juvenile Court Assessor for the Nnewi Magisterial District.

She has six children and was married to late B.M.C. Etiaba, a legal practitioner.

The first Nigerians to attain the summit of the World bank: Ngozi Okonjo-Iwuala and Oby Ezekwesili

The first woman to contest a presidential election in Nigeria: Sarah Jubril. In 2003, she took her ambition to the Progressive Action Congress, PAC and became the first woman to contest a presidential election in Nigeria. She later returned to PDP, to jostle for the party’s ticket in 2007. She scored four votes at the convention which late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua won.

Jubril’s presidential ambition dates back to 1992. She was an aspirant in the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP in the botched Third Republic. She also aspired in 1998 on the platform of the PDP and lost the presidential ticket to Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who went on to win the polls.

The first African female and first Nigerian ever to be on the Council of International AIDS Society Geneva, representing Africa: Mrs Adaku Viola Onwuliri (2004 – 2012). She was elected as Governing Council Member, International AIDS Society Geneva, representing Africa (2004 – 2012) as the first African female and first Nigerian ever to be on the Council of this global apex body of Researchers in the area of HIV/AIDS.

Mrs Viola Adaku Onwuliri was born on June 18, 1956, Lagos, Nigeria her parents are from Imo/Ahiazu Mbaise she is married to Prof. C.O.E Onwuliri.

Professor Onwuliri attended Owerri Girls’ Secondary School, Owerri, Imo State (1970-1974): West African School Certificate (Division One) 1974. University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (1975-1979). B.Sc. (Second Class Honours Upper Division) Biochemistry, 1979.University of Jos, Nigeria for Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), 1982, and M.Sc. (Applied Organic Chemistry) 1984. She also attended Howard University, Washington D.C. on Research Fellowship at the Department of Chemistry (1990), University of Jos, Nigeria, for Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. in Biochemistry, 1991.

Elizabeth Afadzwana Ivasse: Born on the 8th of August 1936, she was married to Joseph Orvihi Ivase and they had four children. In 1979, she became the first female to be appointed a civil Commissioner in the Benue State Cabinet and in 1982 she became the first female in the former Northern Region to be appointed a Minister of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

• The first woman from Benue State to be appointed a Civil Commissioner: Oct. 1979 – Jan. 1982
• The first woman from the Northern States and Benue in particular to be appointed a Minister of State (Minister of State of Education) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: Feb. 1982 – Sept. 1983.
• The first Chairman of the Women’s Commission in Benue State: 1991 – 1992
• The first and only female member of the Benue- Plateau State Thinking Group (Called Leaders of thought): 1973 – 1974
• The first female member of the Gboko Town Council: 1971 – 1973
• The first Chairman - Board of Trustees of Nigerian Association of Women Entrepreneurs.
• The first female member of the Benue – Plateau scholarship board
• The first female member TIV L.E.A
• The first TIV woman to be elevated as a Chief Education Officer
• The first President of the Mdzough U Kasev TIV (TIV Wives and Women’s Association Worldwide)

Staff Sgt. Terkumbur Josephine Ancha: First Female Paratrooper in West Africa. In March 2012, the Nigerian first female soldier paratrooper, Captain Terkumbur Josephine Ancha has dragged the Nigerian Army and Defence Minister before the National Industrial Court (NIC) where she is demanding N1 billion as general and aggravated damages for unlawful retirement from service.

Other defendants in the suit slated for hearing this morning are Chief of Army Staff, Army Council, and Chief of Defence Staff.

The 43-year-old award winning paratrooper was sacked by the Military command on the ground that bottles of alcohol were found on board the aircraft that lifted Nigerian contingents (including her) to Darfur, Sudan.

In the suit, she is pressing for an order of court declaring her purported compulsory retirement without trial as ineffective, unlawful, null and void, and that her contract of employment being protracted by statute, can only be terminated in accordance with laid down statutory procedure.

The plaintiff was among the 50 Nigerian women that were honored by President Goodluck Jonathan on the 50th anniversary of the country and also the first female soldier inducted into the Nigerian Women Hall of Fame.

Her travails begun on August 25, 2009, when she and the commanding officer, Lt. Col B.Y. Sakaba, were recalled to Nigeria and arrested on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

They were subsequently detained for three months at the headquarters garrison officers’ mess at the Mogadishu Barracks, Asokoro. She was later sacked on October 20, 2009 and later retired on November 17, 2009, an action which ignited the suit. On board that aircraft were seven officers and 154 soldiers, and the plaintiff wonders why she would be the only one relieved of her job.

The first female Anambra State Speaker of the House of Assembly (2003): Madam Eucharia Azodo Okwuna

The first female Professor of Paediatrics at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos: Professor Adenike Grange. She is the first woman from Africa and the second from sub-Saharan Africa to become the President of the International Paediatric Association. On the 25 July 2007, she was appointed the first female Minister of Health of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

First and only Nigerian indigenous Female Pilot for the defunct Nigerian Airways: Captain Hadiza Lantana Oboh

She was reputed to have first checked out as a flight officer with Nigerian Airways on Boeing 732 in the mid '80s. Her life was cut short in 1998 by some greedy domestic workers she employed at her Ikoyi residence after an orchestrated plot to kill her and take over her property.

The culprits were initially arrested on suspicion of stealing and unlawful removal of property from Oboh's residence. However after being dissatisfied with the slow pace of the investigation, the then Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, called for the case file. Having studied the file, he referred it to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba.

Oboh's body was found in a freshly patched septic tank by the SCID crack team detectives, led by Samuel Okaula, then an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).

On June 1, 1998, the four suspects were arraigned at the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, for conspiracy, armed robbery and murder. While the police were awaiting advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), it was learnt that the High Court ordered the release of two of the accused on bail with two sureties, who were alleged to have given fictitious names and addresses to the court.

The Ministry of Justice, however, later advised that the suspects be re-arraigned for conspiracy, armed robbery and murder. Sadly, efforts to re-arrest the suspects proved abortive because they had bolted away. Their sureties had also used fictitious names and addresses to process the court bail.

The first female High Court Judge in Jigawa State: Justice Nana Aisha Abdullahi (2010)

Abdullahi was Solicitor General, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice from 2000 to 2005 before her appointment as high court judge in 2010. She was married to Abubakar Abdullahi, Coordinator, National Open University of Nigeria, Dutse centre. She died at a private hospital in Dutse on March 5 2014 at the age of 54.

The first African woman to obtain a Post-graduate degree in Information Technology and Library Science from UCLA (as well as the first to play drums In a rock band!!): Chinyere Asika - Born at Owerri, to famous educationist Nathaniel Ejiogu. She attended Queens College Lagos and was admitted to Mills College, California in 1959 - all on a full scholarship. She is one of the spokespersons for the Black Panther Movement and was interviewed on American network television in 1965. She and her husband – Ukpabi Asika, spent time in Southern Africa, embedded with the FRELIMO liberation fighters of Namibia. She founded Otu Olu Obodo, in the old ECS. The largest non-Governmental Women’s co-operative in Nigerian history (1 Million plus women) and was the first person to hold a Woman focused appointment in Government in 1983.

Nigeria and Africa's first elected Female Senator: Senator Franca Afegbua (Elected 1983)

She represented former Bendel State of Nigeria (Bendel-North senatorial district) under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the second republic 1979-1983. She has however since diverted much of her attention to beauty and hairdressing which was her original love while keeping a close watch on the nation's politics.

The first female to contest the presidency of the Internal Relations Student’s Association of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife: Titilayo Omotayo (Now Titilayo Omotayo Alade) in 1999.

First Female Comptroller-General of Immigration: Lady Uche Nwizu

First female PhD in Chemistry: Prof. Ayebaemi Spiff

Foremost professor from the North: Prof. Zainab Alkali

Foremost female professor from the North: Prof. Ladi Hamalai

Nigeria’s First Tank Crew (Wo)Man: Gift Nwaobilor

The first female speaker of the Bwari legislative council: Mrs. Mary Makama (Elected May 2013)

First Female Commissioner (Joint with Flora Nwapa Nwakuche): Mrs. Dorathy Miller (Akanya)

First Female Highest Ranking Officer in the Nigerian Police as Deputy Inspector General of Police: Mrs. Cecilia Ugowe

The first female Deputy Executive Secretary of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): Dr. (Mrs.) Remi Arisibisala

Nigeria's first female Registered Nurse & Midwife: Mrs. Christiana Koripamo

The first female Air Commodore in the Nigerian Air Force: Air Com. Habiba Garba

The first female Northern member of the House of Representatives and first female dentist respectively: Dr. Grace Guobadia

The first female Air Traffic Controller in the Nigerian Air Force: Flying Officer Stella Ugwome

The first Nigerian female Elected member of the Federal House of Representatives: Mrs. Biola Babatope

Pioneer elected Northern members of the House of Representatives: Mrs Sarah Dakotri along with Mrs. Elizabeth Wuyep

The first female Accountant in Nigeria: Chief (Mrs.) Dr. Olusola Olakurin

The first Nigerian Female Auditor-General of the Federation: Mrs. Bosede Folake Oyelowo

The first Nigerian female permanent Representative to UNESCO: Mrs. Theresa Chukwuma

Nigeria's first Female Speaker of a State House of Assembly: Chinyere Onyebuchiya

The first female Director-General of Raw Materials Research and Development Council: Dr. Remi Aribisala

The first Female Principal Officer of the Niger State House of Assembly, with her election as the chief whip: Hajia Saddatu Kolo (Monday, 06 June 2011).

The first female psychiatric nurse to work in Nigeria: Irene Ogbolu, she started work in 1956 in Calabar, later stationed in Enugu and deceased since.

The first female Lecturer in a Nigerian University: Bolanle Alake at the University of Ibadan; Department of History 1960.

The first Nigerian female Professor: Prof. Felicia Adetoun Ogunshaye (nee Banjo) Oct. 1, 1973.

The first Nigerian female Chartered Accountant: Otutoye Olusola Olakunrin - 1964 in England.

The first Nigerian female Accountant-General: Victoria Eronini (nee Okeke) appointed 1976 – 1981 in Imo State.

Nigeria’s first female lawyer: A.R. Alakija

The first Nigerian female Attorney General: Victoria Onejeme, (nee Okeke) sworn-in Feb. 16, 1977 in Anambra State.

Nigeria’s first female Chartered Liberian: Ekei Essien Oku, 1953.

Nigeria’s first female Political Party leader: Adunni Oluwole founded Commoners Liberal People's Party, 1940s .

Nigeria’s first female Engineer: Grace Chijinwa Ezekoka graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria Electrical Engineering, June 1966.

Nigeria’s first Female Prof. of Management Information system in Nigeria: Prof. (Mrs.) Uche Modum

Nigeria’s first Female Combat Engineer in the Nigerian Army: Corporal Onuma Ekpenisi

Nigeria’s first Female Chief Judge of the Federal High Court: Justice Roseline Ukeje

The first Nigerian Lady Lawyer and Magistrate: Miss Stella Thomas (Mrs. Marke)

The first Nigerian woman to obtain the Certificate of the Apothecaries of the Pharmaceutical Society of London: Nurse Ore Green. She was born in Lagos in 1885 and excelled in Mathematics, Latin, Greek and Geometry. She established her practice at 71, Campbell Street, Lagos.

The first African woman to attend and receive a degree from the University of Oxford: Kofoworola Ademola (1933)

The first “full-blooded” Nigerian lady to qualify as a medical doctor and surgeon: Dr. Elizabeth Akerele. Full-blooded because she had both parents as indigenous Nigerians.

The first female deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria: Valerie Ebe, she is the widow of late Sir Maurice Ebe

Madam Mary Okezie (1906–1999) was the first woman from her Igbo clan to gain a Western education, and was teaching at the Anglican Mission School in Umuocham Aba in 1929 when the women's revolt broke out. Although she did not participate in the revolt, she was very sympathetic to the women's cause. She was the only woman who submitted a memo of grievance to the Aba Commission of Inquiry (sent in 1930). Today, the major primary source for studying the revolt is the Report of the Aba Commission of Inquiry. After the revolt, Madam Okezie emerged as founder and leader of the Ngwa Women's Association and working for the rest of her life to support women's rights in Nigeria.

The Aba Women's Riot started in November 1929, when thousands of Igbo women from the Bendel District of Nigeria, the nearby Umuahia and other places in eastern Nigeria travelled to Oloko to protest against the Warrant Chiefs, whom they accused of restricting the role of women in the government. This incident became known as the Igbo Women's War of 1929 (or "Ogu Ndem," Women's War, in Igbo). It was organized and led by the rural women of Owerri and Calabar provinces. During the events, many Warrant Chiefs were forced to resign and sixteen Native Courts were attacked, most of which were destroyed.

The women's revolt of 1929 was sparked by a dispute between a woman named Nwanyereuwa and a man, Mark Emereuwa, who was helping to make a census of the people living in the town controlled by the Warrant, Okugo. Nwanyeruwa was of Ngwa ancestry, and had been married in the town of Oloko. In Oloko, the census was related to taxation, and women in the area were worried about who would tax them, especially during the period of hyperinflation in the late 1920s.

On the morning of November 18, Emereuwa arrived at Nwanyereuwa's house and approached Nwanyereuwa, since her husband Ojim, had already died. He told the widow to "count her goats, sheep and people." Since Nwanyereuwa understood this to mean, "How many of these things do you have so we can tax you based on them", she was angry. She replied by saying "Was your widowed mother counted?," meaning "that women don't pay tax in traditional Igbo society." The two exchanged angry words, and Nwanyeruwa went to the town square to discuss the incident with other women who happened to be holding a meeting to discuss the issue of taxing women. Believing they would be taxed, based on Nwanyeruwa's account, the Oloko women invited other women (by sending leaves of palm-oil trees) from other areas in the Bende District, as well as from Umuahia and Ngwa. They gathered nearly 10,000 women who protested at the office of Warrant Chief Okugo, demanding his resignation and calling for a trial.

The leaders of the protest in Oloko are known as the Oloko Trio: Ikonnia, Mwannedia and Nwugo. The three were known for their skills in speaking, their intelligence and their passion. When protests became tense, it was often these three who were able to deescalate the situation, preventing violence. However, after two women were killed while blocking colonial roads as a form of protest, the trio was not able to calm the situation there, thus, the police and army were sent to the town.

Omu Okwei (Ca. 1872–1943). A successful female trader in the Niger Delta who, like King Jaja of Opobo and Chief Nana Olomu, made her wealth as a middleman. She has been described as the “merchant queen of Ossomari.” Starting in the early 1900s, Okwei’s activities were based in Onitsha, in present-day Anambra State. She worked with the Royal Niger Company, supplying oil palm in exchange for various manufactured British goods. Okwei provided lines of credit to the Royal Niger Company, the first in 1910 for £400 a month. She also loaned money to other foreign trading companies to purchase canoes and property. Okwei died in 1943, leaving £5,000 in her bank account and property consisting of 24 houses.

The first female viceconsul for the British among the Okoyong: Mary Mitchell Slessor (1848–1915). Born in Scotland, Slessor worked with a Scottish Presbyterian mission in Calabar. In 1892, she became the first female viceconsul for the British among the Okoyong. In 1904, Slessor moved her mission station to Ikot Opong to introduce Christianity to the Ibibio. She died in Nigeria in January 1915 and is buried in Calabar.

Prof. (Mrs.) Olufunmilayo Adebambo - The first Female Professor of Animal breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology in Nigeria 1996 - Royal Society of England Third World Fellowship 1996 - Only female among 34 Scientists to win $7500 World Bank Assisted Research Grant 2004 - Outstanding Research at the 1st and 2nd NUC Research fair for poultry breeds development in Nigeria 2005

The first female Vice Chancellor of the Benue State University: Professor Charity Angya

The first female Engineer in the North: Engr. Yelwa Tella

The first female Veterinary Doctor in West Africa: Dr. (Mrs) Fabunmi

The first female Solicitor-General and Director-General, Ministry of Justice, Kwara State: Mrs. Nima Salman Mann

Prof (Mrs.) Olajire Bosede Ajayi is the first Nigerian female professor in optometry, pioneer of pediatric optometry in Nigeria and the first female head of department of optometry in a Nigerian University. She has served NUC in 2002 and 2004 as a member of accreditation and merger of MAS teams respectively. She has over 40 publications in both international and National reputable journals. She is also a member of several learned societies.

The first Female Professor of Animal Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology in Nigeria 1996: Prof. (Mrs.) Olufunmilayo Adebambo

The first Nigerian to be appointed Area Director of the British Council, Ibadan with responsibility for South-Western Nigeria (excluding Lagos): Dr. Victoria Okojie (1992 – 2002). In October 2009, she was appointed the pioneer Acting Registrar of the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN). She also established the first ‘Librarian of the Year Award’ in Oyo State (1993). She is the second female president of the NLA (2005 – 2010). She is also the first Nigerian to be appointed a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award in 2006.

The first female president of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA): Prof. (Mrs.) Adetoun Ogunsheye (1967-1970)

The first female driver to join Nigeria Racing Eagle team: Divine Jewel Harper a 15 year old African American, started her racing career in karting before joining NASCAR's Drive 4 Diversity program where she drove for 2 years racing a Bandolero for Revoultion Racing.

The first Nigerian footballer and Africa’s first woman entry in the FIFA Century Club: Former Super Falcons player, Maureen Mmadu. FIFA’s century club is an exclusive assembly of international players who have played 100 matches and above.