17 things you probably do not know about late MKO’s wife and media guru, Doyin Abiola

A prominent Nigerian journalist and media figure, Doyin Abiola, has died.

The former managing director and editor-in-chief of National Concord reportedly died on Tuesday night, August 5, 2025.

Late Doyin was one of the wives of the late winner of the June 12 presidential election and business mogul, Moshood Kasimawo Abiola.

Here are seventeen (17) things you probably don’t know about the late MKO’s wife and media guru, Doyin Abiola:

1. She was born in 1942.
2. She attended the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where she earned a degree in English and drama.
3. She began her career as a journalist at the Daily Sketch Newspaper in 1969.
4. She started a column named Tiro, where she addressed sundry issues of public concern, including gender matters.
5. In 1970, she left the Daily Sketch Newspaper and traveled to the United States to pursue a master’s degree program in journalism.
6. She was employed as a features writer at the Daily Times and rose to become the group features editor.
7. In 1979, she obtained a PhD in communications and political science at New York University.
8. 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.
9. She became an editor of National Concord in 1985.
10. She was promoted to be the managing director/editor-in-chief in 1986.
11. She is the first Nigerian woman to be an editor of a Nigerian daily newspaper.
12. She is also the widow of the first publisher and proprietor of National Concord Newspaper, Chief Moshood Abiola, whom she married in 1981.
13. She was the chairperson of the Awards Nominating panel at the first Nigerian Media Merit Award to be hosted in Nigeria.
14. She was a member of the Advisory Council, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Ogun State University.
15. Abiola was a recipient of 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.
16. She was the second woman to receive a DAME Lifetime Achievement Award after Mrs. (Omobola Onajide).
17. She was granted an Eisenhower Fellowship in 1986.