Doyin Abiola, former Managing Director of National Concord and wife of the late business mogul and winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, has died.
She was 82.
Family sources confirmed that Dr Abiola passed away at 9:15pm on Tuesday after an illness.
A trailblazing journalist and media executive, she was the first Nigerian woman to become editor-in-chief of a national daily newspaper.
Dr Abiola earned a degree in English and Drama from the University of Ibadan in 1969 before beginning her journalism career at Daily Sketch, where she wrote a popular column titled Tiro, focusing on public and gender issues.
In 1970, she travelled to the United States for postgraduate studies in journalism. On her return, she joined Daily Times as a Features Writer and rose to the position of Group Features Editor. She later earned a PhD in Communications and Political Science from New York University in 1979.
Upon her return to Nigeria, she rejoined Daily Times and was appointed to its editorial board, working alongside notable journalists including Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa, and Amma Ogan. She was soon invited to join the newly established National Concord as its pioneer daily editor and was later promoted to Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief in 1986.
Her career at National Concord spanned over three decades. She married Chief MKO Abiola in 1981 and stood by him during the turbulent years following the annulment of the June 12 election.
Dr Abiola served the media industry in several capacities. She chaired the Awards Nominating Panel of the maiden Nigerian Media Merit Award and was a member of the Advisory Council of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences at Ogun State University.
She received the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to journalism and democracy in Nigeria. She was the second woman to receive the honour, after Mrs Omobola Onajide, and was also an Eisenhower Fellow in 1986.
