This July, something happened that had never happened before in the Nigerian Bar Association’s entire history, a woman won its presidency through an election.
Only one woman had ever held the office before: Dame Priscilla Kuye, who served from 1991 to 1992. But she was appointed. No woman had ever taken the NBA’s highest office through the ballot,not in over six decades of the association’s existence, until Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya SAN, FCIArb walked into this month’s election and took 47% of the vote, defeating two fellow Senior Advocates in the process.
It was a historic moment but if you know Oyinkan’s story, it was never a surprise.Long before the votes were counted, she had already spent decades doing the work. Here are ten things she did before she made history.
1. She Grew Up Watching A Woman Break Barriers First
Oyinkan was raised on the campus of the University of Lagos, where her mother, Clara Folasade Olumide, served as the first female Registrar of UNILAG. From the very beginning, a woman making history wasn’t an abstract concept — it was the woman who raised her. That foundation shaped everything that followed.
2. She Studied English Before She Studied Law
Before earning her law degree, Oyinkan first completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Lagos. It was a deliberate intellectual foundation, the ability to command language, argue with precision, and communicate with clarity, that she would spend the rest of her career putting to use in some of Nigeria’s most complex courtrooms and arbitration chambers.
3. She Took Her Legal Education Global
After being called to the Nigerian Bar, Oyinkan didn’t stop there. She went on to earn a Master of Laws in Commercial and Corporate Law from Queen Mary University of London, returning home not just with a qualification, but with a global perspective she would spend decades applying on the continent.
4. She Started At One Of Nigeria’s Most Prestigious Firms
Oyinkan began her legal career in commercial dispute resolution at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, one of Nigeria’s most respected law firms. It was the kind of starting point that demands excellence from day one and she built her practice there before eventually going on to co-found her own.
5. She Stepped Into Public Service When It Wasn’t Expected
In 2007, Oyinkan moved from private practice into public service, taking up the role of Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform to Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola. Working within the office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, she helped shape the administrative reforms that would change how justice was delivered in one of Africa’s most complex cities. It was a move that showed she was never just building a career, she was building a country.
6. She Helped Build A Firm From The Ground Up
In 2017, Oyinkan became a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Company — not an employee, not a lateral hire, but a co-founder. She co-headed the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice at a firm built with an Africa-first lens, helping to shape its identity and direction from the very beginning.
7. She Did The Unglamorous Work First
For three consecutive years, Lagos in 2014, Abuja in 2015, Port Harcourt in 2016, Oyinkan chaired the Annual Conference Planning Committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Nigeria Branch. Inside the NBA itself, she served as Assistant Secretary of the Lagos Branch, chaired its Annual Dinner Committee, and sat on its Building and Conference Planning committees. She understood every room she would eventually lead because she had already worked in its foundations.
8. She Became A Fellow Of A Global Arbitration Institute
Oyinkan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK, one of the most respected designations in international dispute resolution and an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution. Her practice spans litigation, arbitration, mediation, and regulatory compliance across the continent. She didn’t just build a Nigerian legal career. She built one that could hold its own anywhere in the world.
9. She Became A Senior Advocate Just Months Before Her Historic Win
On 29 September 2025, Oyinkan was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the highest honour in the Nigerian legal profession. Less than a year later, she was standing for the NBA presidency. SAN was not the destination. It was the final preparation.
When the votes were counted, Oyinkan had polled 12,317 votes, 47.18% of all valid ballots cast, defeating two fellow Senior Advocates by a significant margin. She didn’t sneak through the door. She walked through it decisively, with nearly half of the Nigerian Bar behind her, making her the first woman in the association’s history to win its presidency through an election.
History doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because someone spent decades showing up, doing the work, and refusing to stop. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya SAN, FCIArb is the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association,and everything she did before this moment is exactly why she deserves to be.
