Dr. Doyin Abiola, a veteran editor, former Managing Director of Concord Newspapers and Wife of the winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election Late MKO Abiola, is dead.
Mrs. Abiola, who is on record as the first woman to edit a Nigerian national daily newspaper, died at the age of 82 years. She was said to have suffered cardiac arrest on August 5, at about 9pm.
A well-educated journalist, Mrs. Abiola studied for a degree in English and Drama in 1969 at the University of Ibadan. Thereafter, she worked with the Daily Sketch, a newspaper owned by the defunct Western Region government. There she ran a column called ‘Tiro,’ which dealt with public concerns and 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.
Her thirst for more knowledge made her to go to New York University and obtained a PhD in communications and political science in 1979. She returned to Daily Times and was deployed to the editorial board where she worked with other experienced editors like Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa (both now deceased) and Ms. Amma Ogan.
Her wealth of experience paved way for her to be invited to be the pioneer daily editor of the newly formed National Concord newspaper, owned by lake Abiola.
She became the managing director/editor-in-chief of the newspaper in 1986, making her the first female editor-in-chief of a national daily newspaper in the country.
She was the Chairperson of the Awards Nominating panel at the first Nigerian Media Merit Award to be hosted in the country, and also a member of Advisory Council, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Ogun State University.
She got the was Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th DAME Ceremony. It was a recognition of her devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy. She was the second woman to receive the coveted award.
Aleem Murtala
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