Dr. Doyin Abiola, veteran journalist and wife of late business mogul and June 12, 1993 presidential election winner, Chief MKO Abiola, has passed away.
According to family sources, she died at exactly 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday after a brief illness.
A pioneer in Nigeria’s media industry, Dr. Abiola served as the Managing Director and Publisher of National Concord newspaper. She also holds the distinction of being the first Nigerian woman to become an editor of a daily newspaper, marking a significant milestone in the country’s journalism history.
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Like other numerous wives of the deceased politician, she endured the storm and stress triggered by the criminal annulment of the historic poll and the tribulations that followed at the home front and in the Concord.
Doyin Abiola was educated at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where she earned a degree in English and Drama in 1969. After graduation, she started work with the Daily Sketch Newspaper. During this period, she started writing a column in the newspaper called ‘Tiro,’ which was addressing sundry issues of public concern, including gender matters. In 1970, she left Daily Sketch Newspaper and traveled to the United States to pursue a master’s degree programme in Journalism. upon her return, she was employed as a Features Writer at Daily Times and rose to become the Group Features Editor. She later went to New York University and obtained a PhD in communications and political science in 1979.
After her Ph.D programme, she returned to the Daily Times and was deployed to the editorial board where she worked with other experienced editors like Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa and Amma Ogan. It was, however, to be a short stay as the newly formed National Concord newspaper invited her to be its pioneer daily editor. She then moved to be an editor of National Concord. She was promoted to be the managing director/editor-in-chief in 1986. She became the first Nigerian woman to become the editor in chief of a daily newspaper in Nigeria. She married in 1981. Her career at National Concord Newspaper spanned three decades. She also served in various capacities in the media industry in the country.