[1] Afegbua was born in Okpella, Edo State in 1943[2] and completed her post-secondary education in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Prior to the beginning of the second republic, she worked as a hairdresser in Lagos serving high-income clients.
In 1983, when she announced her intention to make a challenge for a senatorial seat in Bendel, few felt that she could win.
But Afegbua, who had won an international hairstyling competition in 1977, strategized that wooing more women to vote could give her a victory.
Her victory in the hairstyling competition had made her name popular within her Etsako community; she targeted women voters, and, as her campaign gained steam, it was too late to curb.