MKO’s wife, Doyin Abiola dies at 82

Former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of National Concord, and one of Nigeria’s most influential media icons, Dr. Doyin Abiola, has died at the age of 82.
She was the first Nigerian woman to be an editor of a Nigerian daily newspaper.
She was one of the wives of the late winner of the June 12 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.
One of the sons of the late MKO Abiola, Jamiu, confirmed her death on Wednesday.
“Yes, she passed away last night,” he said in the telephone interview.
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.