To be free is not to die

By Loretta Oduware Ogboro-Okor

She will not be forgotten because she has set free the minds of men and women to challenge conventionally accepted societal norms and push the boundaries of excellence. In her human imperfection, aided by her supreme creator she gave us perfect freedom to believe in ourselves and run our race in our lanes for our folks. From beyond the grave, her free spirit still moves.
One has to be free to liberate others. Reviewing the life of one of Nigeria’s foremost Amazons, it becomes clear how this trail blazer liberated her mind and freed herself from the shackles of intersectional inertia to blaze a trail for those coming behind her. For a woman to evolve from hair dressing into one of the foremost politicians in our country Nigeria at the time she did, takes not only a brave heart, but also requires a soul that cannot be caged and a mind that is absolutely free.
She was called Franca, a name of Italian and Latin origin meaning “free one”. Born in 1943, this elegant daughter of Okpella, in the old Bendel State that later morphed into Edo and Delta States, chose to fly free. She defied the gravity of nay sayers and socio-cultural hinderances when she moved from styling hair to styling policies as a politician. In 1983, on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), she made history, when she defeated an incumbent governor and senator to become the first ever woman to be elected senator in Nigeria, representing Bendel North.
When I learnt of her death on the 12th of March 2023, I had a flash back to those days I used to see her on campaign trails, chanting in her dialect on television “oriah whe vote innah? Owa vbo okah!” translated means “who will you vote for? The house and the corn!” A house and corn formed the party logo of NPN at the time. We must bear in mind that there was neither social media nor mobile phones at the time this Amazon forayed into Politics. It must have been challenging but she persisted. There must have been name calling and calumny, but she was never deterred. She must have stumbled along the way, but she did not remain fallen.
As illustrated by Kwame Nkrumah the Ghanaian Political legend’s quote, Franca faced neither East nor West, she face forward. I also reflected on how happy I was as a child that our women did not let us down when I heard that she won the senate seat. I remember my father saying that women make up the majority of our voting population and that they did the right thing, to help make Bendel State the first state to produce a female Senator in Nigeria. I remember also telling my father all those years ago that we need to thank the many men like him, who supported her candidacy as well and helped to make our state a trail blazer in the quest for gender equity.
FRANCA Afegbua may have exited this earth plane after her 79 year sojourn, but her liberation spirit has taken root and is set to snow ball. Many more daughters of Nigeria in general and Edo State in particular, with capacity, competence and a track record for excellence will surely stand on the very wide shoulders of this icon and soar. She will not be forgotten because she has set free the minds of men and women to challenge conventionally accepted societal norms and push the boundaries of excellence. In her human imperfection, aided by her supreme creator she gave us perfect freedom to believe in ourselves and run our race in our lanes for our folks. From beyond the grave, her free spirit still moves.
May your soul rest in peace and power Franca Afegbua.

Dr Loretta Oduware Ogboro-Okor is author of the book, My Father’s Daughter