Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo is a Nigerian epidemiologist, academic, and former senator, the eldest daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Born on April 27, 1967, in Lagos, she’s known for balancing her roles as a working mother, politician, and professor.
Before Fame
Iyabo started school at Corona School in Victoria Island, Lagos, moved to Capital School in Kaduna, and finished secondary education at Queen’s College, Lagos in 1982.
She studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Ibadan (graduating 1988), then left Nigeria for the U.S. to pursue advanced studies in epidemiology. Over the years, she earned her Master’s from UC Davis, PhD from Cornell University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Wake Forest University.
Career
From 1992 to 1998, Iyabo worked across American universities and research institutions, as a consultant at Cornell, research fellow at Wake Forest, and clinical research scientist at GlaxoWellcome.
She returned to Nigeria in 2003, becoming Ogun State’s Commissioner for Health. Two years later, she was elected Senator for Ogun Central, where she chaired the Senate Health Committee.
After losing her re-election bid in 2011, she moved back to the U.S. and now teaches health sciences at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.
Trivia
During the 2003 elections, her car was shot at—five people died, though she wasn’t inside. In 2008, the EFCC accused her of embezzling 300 million Naira, but the case was dismissed a year later as blackmail.
She’s published a book called African President’s Daughter (2025), sharing her experiences as a female politician. After a seven-year public rift with her father, they reunited in 2021.
Family Life
Iyabo is the daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Oluremi Obasanjo. She married Oluwafolajimi Akeem Bello in 1999, but filed for divorce in 2003. They have one son, Jimi Bello, born in 2000 in North Carolina. She’s a devoted mother who once balanced senatorial duties with raising her young child.