Dr. Doyin Abiola, the wife of the late philanthropist and politician, Bashorun MKO Abiola, is dead.
Dr Doyin, who was the Managing Director and Publisher of the National Concord newspapers owned by MKO Abiola, reportedly died about 9.15 pm on Tuesday night, August 5, 2025.
The deceased was a trailblazer in journalism in Nigeria, emerging as the first Nigerian female Editor of a National daily decades ago.
She began her journalism career with the Daily Sketch Newspaper in 1969. She showed enough brilliance to be given a weekly column, which she called ‘Tiro’.
Her column treated matters of national interest, with a strong bias for gender matters.
In 1970, she left her employment at the Daily Sketch to further her education with a master’s degree in journalism in the United States.
When she completed her course and returned to Nigeria, she joined Daily Times as a Features Writer. She was later promoted to the position of the Group Features Editor.
She returned to the United States of America to pursue her PhD in communications and political science in 1979.
When she came back, she was absolved by the Daily Times and moved to the editorial board of the newspaper.
When the National Concord was being established, her name cropped up, and she was invited for an interview as the first editor of the newspaper. She performed brilliantly and clinched the role. That made her the first female editor of a national daily at the time.
In 1986, she was appointed the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, making her the first Nigerian female to occupy such a position in Nigeria.
The late Dr Doyin Abiola served the National Concord Newspaper for about 30 years.
In 1981, she married the business mogul, MKO Abiola.
May her gentle soul rest in peace.
