Eminent journalist Dr. Doyin Abiola, wife of Concord publisher and winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, has died. Sources confirmed that she passed away at exactly 9:15 p.m. yesterday after an illness.
Dr. Doyin Abiola was the former managing director and publisher of National Concord and was the first Nigerian woman to become an editor of a Nigerian daily newspaper.
Like other wives of the late politician, she endured the storm and stress triggered by the criminal annulment of the historic June 12 election and the tribulations that followed both at home and in the Concord media establishment.
Doyin Abiola studied at the University of Ibadan, where she earned a degree in English and Drama in 1969. After graduation, she joined Daily Sketch newspaper, where she wrote a popular column called Tiro, addressing various public issues, including gender matters.
In 1970, she left Daily Sketch and traveled to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in Journalism. Upon her return, she joined Daily Times as a Features Writer and rose to become the Group Features Editor. She later earned a Ph.D. in communications and political science from New York University in 1979.
After completing her doctorate, she returned to Daily Times and joined the editorial board, working alongside respected editors such as Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa, and Amma Ogan. Her stay was brief, as the newly formed National Concord invited her to be its pioneer daily editor. She later became the newspaper’s managing director/editor-in-chief in 1986, making her the first Nigerian woman to hold such a position.
Doyin Abiola married MKO Abiola in 1981, and her career at National Concord spanned three decades. She also served in various leadership roles in Nigeria’s media industry, including as Chairperson of the Awards Nominating Panel at the first Nigerian Media Merit Awards.
