Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau is a Fijian career diplomat and politician. She was born in 1953, the daughter of the Fijian statesman Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and Adi Lady Lala Mara. Her father, considered the founding father of the modern Fijian nation, was Fiji's first Prime Minister (1966-1992, with two brief interruptions) and later served as President (1993-2000). After a serving her country as a diplomat in the 1980s and 1990s, Adi Koila decided to follow in her father's footsteps, was elected to Parliament in 1999 as a candidate of the Christian Democratic Party. She served as Minister of Tourism in 1999 and 2000.
Adi Koila is married to Ratu Epeli Nailatikau (born 1941), a former commander of the army and now a Cabinet minister. They have two children: a son, Ratu Kamisese Vuna NAILATIKAU, and a daughter, Adi Litia Cakobau Nailatikau.
Adi Koila's polical career was brought to a premature end on May 22, 2000, when George Speight, an extreme Fijian nationalist who objected to the presence of Indo-Fijians in the government, seized power, kidnapping the Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry and most of the Cabinet, including Adi Koila, and forcing her father to resign as President. Democracy has since been restored, and her husband has subsequently been elected to Parliament, and now serves in the cabinet.
