Olushola Omogbehin
The wife of the late MKO Abiola, Doyin Abiola, the first Nigerian woman editor-in-chief of a renowned national newspaper is dead.
According to family sources, she died at 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday after a period of illness.
Earning a Bachelor’s degree in English and Drama in 1969 from the University of Ibadan, Doyin immediately after graduation started her journalism career as a reporter with the Daily Sketch.
While in Daily Sketch, she started a weekly column called ‘Tiro’ which she used to highlight issues of public concern.
Returning to Nigeria in the 70s after her master’s programme in journalism in the United States of America, she was employed as a features writer at the Daily Times where she rose to the position of group features editor.
Going on another academic exile in 1979 that bagged her PhD in communication and political science at the New York University, she came back to Nigeria afterwards and worked briefly with Daily Times and later the National Concord.
She became the editor of National Concord in 1988 thereby becoming the first Nigerian woman to become editor of a national newspaper.
In 1986, she was appointed editor-in-chief and managing director of National Concord which made her the first Nigerian woman to occupy the position.
Dr. Abiola contributed to the media industry in various capacities. She served on the advisory council of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences at Ogun State University and also as the chairperson in the nomination panel for the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA).
Married to Chief MKO Abiola in 1981, she dedicated herself to the political trials of her husband, particularly after the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Her contributions to media world and the society at large earned her numerous Awards. In 1986, she was granted the Eisenhower Fellowship and she was the second woman to receive a DAME Lifetime Achievement Award.
