Olusola Obada

Olusola Obada (born Olusola Idowu Agbeja on June 27, 1951) is a Nigerian politician and lawyer by profession. She served as the Deputy Governor of Osun State from 2003–2010, as Nigeria's Minister of State for Defence from 2011–2012 and then as Nigeria's Minister of Defence from 2012–2013 under the Cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan.

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

Private sector
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.

Politics
In 2003, Olusola was elected as Deputy Governor of Osun State with Olagunsoye Oyinlola as governor until on November 27, 2010 when she vacated the post. In January 2011, Obada was appointed into Directorate position, covering the South-West of Nigeria for the Goodluck and Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation. In July 2011, following Jonathan's victory in the Presidential elections, Obada was appointed Minister of State for Defence by Goodluck Jonathan, and then served in Jonathan's cabinet as de facto Defence Minister until a major reshuffle in September 2013. 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 appointed by Goodluck Jonathan into a Directorate position for his 2015 presidential re-election campaign. On May 6, 2015, she was appointed Chairman of the Federal University, Dutsin-Ma Governing Council, one of the last appointments made by out-going President Goodluck Jonathan.

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 the Erelu of Ijeshaland, Eyaloje of Argidi of Atoko, and the Yeye Asiwaju of Ibodi.