Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake has paid glowing tribute to the late former Managing Director of Concord Press of Nigeria, Dr. (Mrs.) Doyin Abiola, describing her passing as a personal loss.
Alake also credited the deceased with leading him up the media corporate ladder to become what he is at the moment.
In a statement he personally signed on Wednesday, Alake, who worked as Editor of the National Concord and Sunday Concord, described Dr Abiola as one that exhibited unparalleled managerial expertise
He described her as a heroine of the press who “inhaled and exhaled journalism.”
He wrote: “It is said that some are born great and others have greatness thrust upon them. Dr.Doyin Abiola, who joined the saints yesterday (Tuesday), showed up on both counts.
“She was the scion of the illustrious Aboaba family, reputed for its elitist pedigree and nobility built on professionalism and class.”
According to him, Dr Abiola’s heritage ensured that she climbed to the pinnacle of scholarship.
Alake remarked that Abiola started her journalism practice at the Daily Sketch, a regional newspaper of the defunct Western State Government in 1969.
He further traced her media journey from federal government-owned Daily Times to private-owned Concord Press where she birthed “a newspaper with a distinct and different approach to mainstream news and tabloid journalism.”
“She was, indeed, a newsman, (as there are no women in journalism), trained for the job with an incredible passion for investigation and staying power for following up until the end of each episode.
“Complementing her husband, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the publisher, Dr.Abiola supervised several innovative projects to position Concord Press as the primus inter pares in the media industry. For instance, Concord was the first to archive newspapers by converting from print to microfilm,” Alake stated.
“Only a professional and manager of exceptional capacity and courage could have translated the publisher’s vision of independent journalism into daily publication of news and respected leaders.
“Only a woman of quintessential professional standards and stoic sacrifice could have survived the regular onslaught of military invasion of Concord’s newsroom, incessant closures and incarceration of staff, and ultimately, the detention and death of the publisher.”
He noted that it is a testament of her doggedness that the late Dr Abiola “brought her resourcefulness and stature to count on the side of the Nigerian people when it mattered most, unbowed by the wicked incarceration of her husband and winner of the June 12, 1993 election.”
“She was the sister who polished the edges of a character in flight to stardom and higher responsibilities.
“She was the boss who believed in me and contributed to what I have become today.
“She was the leader who spotted bright minds and nurtured to fruition talents that fcould have been spent half way. She was the mother who counselled and encouraged us to stand by the values of integrity and enterprise,” Alake said.
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