Doyin Abiola, one of the wives of late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale, Abiola, fondly referred to as MKO is dead. She died yesterday, Tuesday, at
Doyin Abiola, one of the wives of late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale, Abiola, fondly referred to as MKO is dead.
She died yesterday, Tuesday, at about 9.15pm.
She was aged 82.
The deceased was also the first Nigerian woman to be an editor of a Nigerian national daily.
She started work with the Daily Sketch Newspaper in 1969, during which she started a column in the newspaper called Tiro, where she addressed 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 and obtained a PhD in communications and political science in 1979.
After her PhD programme, she returned to the Daily Times and was deployed to the editorial board. It was, however, to be a short stay as she joined National Concord newspaper as its pioneer daily editor.
She was promoted to be the Managing director/editor-in-chief in 1986, thus becoming the first Nigerian woman to become the editor in chief of a daily newspaper in Nigeria.
Abiola’s career at National Concord Newspaper spanned three decades.
She also served in various capacities in the media industry in Nigeria.
She was the Chairperson of the Awards Nominating panel at the first Nigerian Media Merit Award as well as a member of Advisory Council, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Ogun State University.
She was a recipient of several awards including the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, DAME for her lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy.
She was also as a recipient of DAME Lifetime Achievement Award and was the second woman to receive it after Omobola Onajide and was later granted Eisenhower Fellowship in 1986.
