NIGERIA: Dr. Doyin Abiola, trailblazing journalist and the first female Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper in Nigeria, has died at the age of 82.
Her death was confirmed late Tuesday by former colleagues on The Great Concord Family WhatsApp platform. According to a message from Dr. Tunji Bello, she passed away at 9:15 p.m. following a brief illness. An official statement from her family is still awaited.
Dr. Abiola began her journalism career in 1969 with the Daily Sketch, where she launched the influential column “Tiro”, focusing on public interest and gender issues. She left in 1970 to pursue a master’s degree in journalism in the United States.
On her return, she joined the Daily Times as a Features Writer. She quickly rose through the ranks to become Group Features Editor. She later earned a PhD in Communications and Political Science from New York University in 1979.
Dr. Abiola served on the Daily Times editorial board alongside some of Nigeria’s most distinguished journalists, including Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa, and Amma Ogan.
In the early 1980s, she joined the newly established National Concord, founded by her husband, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola. She became the pioneer editor of the daily edition. In 1986, she made history when she was appointed Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the National Concord, becoming the first Nigerian woman to hold such a position at a national newspaper. She held the role for nearly three decades.
Beyond the newsroom, Dr. Abiola served as chairperson of the Awards Nominating Panel for the inaugural Nigerian Media Merit Awards and was a member of the Advisory Council of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences at Ogun State University.
Her lifetime achievements were recognized with numerous honors, including the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) Lifetime Achievement Award and the Eisenhower Fellowship in 1986.
Tributes have continued to pour in from across the media landscape.
Former Concord editor, Nsikak Essien, described her as “an influential leader” and suggested changing the group’s logo to her photograph for one week in her honour.
“Extremely sad. I know we will all die. It’s unfortunate that she has left. May her soul rest in peace. She touched my life,” Essien said.
Another colleague, Akinpelu Browne, recalled her quiet nature: “Rip Mama, she was not loud at all, you cannot hear her, too quiet.”
Aliu Mohammed described her death as “a great loss” and offered prayers for the family, while another member of the platform wrote: “A giant has fallen in the forest of journalism… May Dr. Doyin Abiola’s lively soul rest in peace… A sad passage.”
