On July 19, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya made history by emerging as the first female elected president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Here are 10 things to know about the newly elected president.
1. She is the first elected president of the NBA and the second woman to lead the association since its establishment 66 years ago. The first woman to lead the NBA was Priscilla Kuye, who served between 1991 and 1992. Kuye, who was first vice president, rose to the position of NBA president automatically after Clement Akpamgbo was appointed Attorney General of the Federation during the Babangida military junta.
2. Badejo-Okusanya first earned a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English from the University of Lagos before pursuing a degree in Law at the same institution.
3. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002, marking the beginning of what has become a distinguished legal career spanning over two decades.
4. She began her legal practice at the prestigious commercial law firm Olaniwun Ajayi LP, where she built experience in litigation and commercial legal practice.
5. She served as Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform to then Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2007.
6. In 2017, she bacame a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Company (ALP NG & Co.), where she currently serves as Co-Head of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice.
7. She became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on September 29, 2025, one of the highest honours in the Nigerian legal profession.
8. She had previously served as Assistant Secretary of the NBA Lagos Branch, Delegate to the 2006 NBA elections, member of several national committees, including the Future of the Legal Profession Committee and the Conference Investigation Committee, and was Alternate Chair of the 2023 NBA Annual General Conference Planning Committee before chairing the committee for the 2024 conference.
9. In 2024, she received the NBA Presidential Medal of Service in recognition of her outstanding service.
10. Badejo-Okusanya belongs to several respected international organisations, including the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the International Bar Association (IBA), the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), the African Arbitration Association, ArbitralWomen, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA)