All You Should Know About MKO Abiola’s Late Wife, Dr. Doyin Abiola, Who Died At 82

Dr. Doyin Abiola, wife of Chief MKO Abiola, veteran journalist, former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of National Concord, is dead.

She died at exactly 9.15 pm yesterday after an illness.

Widely celebrated as the first Nigerian woman to become editor-in-chief of a national daily newspaper, Dr. Abiola spent over three decades in the media industry, breaking barriers and shaping public discourse through journalism.

Below are a few things to know about Dr. Doyin Abiola:

. She was born on February 1, 1943

. 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 in 1969. During this period, she started writing a column in the newspaper called Tiro, which addressed sundry issues of public concern, including gender matters.

. In 1970, she left the Daily Sketch Newspaper and traveled to the United States to pursue a master’s degree programme in Journalism.

. After the Master’s programme, she returned to Nigeria and was offered the position of Woman Editor at the Daily Times. She rejected the offer and was later employed as a Features Writer 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 PHD 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 the National Concord.

. She was promoted to be the managing director/editor-in-chief in 1986 and became the first Nigerian woman to become the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper in Nigeria.

. Abiola’s career at the National Concord Newspaper spanned three decades. She also served in various capacities in the media industry in Nigeria.

. She is also the widow of the first publisher and proprietor of the National Concord Newspaper, Chief Moshood Abiola, whom she married in 1981.

. She was also a member of the Advisory Council, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Ogun State University.

. Abiola was a recipient of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) for her lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy.

The Trustees of DAME unanimously approved her selection as a recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th DAME Ceremony.

. She was the second woman to receive a DAME Lifetime Achievement Award after Mrs. Omobola Onajide.

. She was selected for the Eisenhower Fellowship in 1986 and was the first Nigerian woman to participate.