Dr Doyin Abiola, the widow of late winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, is dead.
According to PM News, the widow of the late MKO Abiola passed away at 9:15pm on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the age of 82.
Dr. Abiola was the first woman to become Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of a national daily in Nigeria.
She was a media powerhouse in her own right long before her name became linked to Nigeria’s most iconic democratic martyr.
She began her journalism journey in 1969 at the Daily Sketch, where her popular column “Tiro” tackled major societal issues including gender advocacy at a time when few dared.
The late Doyin Abiola left Nigeria for the United States in 1970 where bagged a master’s degree in journalism, and returned home to join Daily Times as a Features Writer.
At Daily Times, she rose to become Group Features Editor, and later obtained a PhD in Communications and Political Science from New York in 1979.
On her return, she served on the Daily Times editorial board, where she worked alongside greats like Dele Giwa, Stanley Macebuh, and Amma Ogan.
But history would come calling when the National Concord, owned by MKO Abiola, appointed her as its pioneer daily editor.
She eventually became Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief in 1986, becoming the first Nigerian woman to hold such a top role at a national daily.
Her career at the National Concord spanned three decades, and she remained a towering figure in Nigeria’s media landscape.
She got married to MKO Abiola in 1981, and stood firm through the highs of journalism and the political storms that trailed her husband’s June 12 presidential mandate.
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