The Doyin Abiola I Knew: A Trailblazer, Mentor, and Woman of Steel

By Femi Adesina

When you earn a Bachelor’s degree in English and Drama, follow it up with higher degrees in Communication Studies, and then conquer journalism up to the doctoral level, destiny almost insists you’ll leave a mark. That was Dr. Doyin Abiola (née Aboaba) — a pioneer, a leader, and a woman of many firsts.

From Daily Sketch to Daily Times, and later Concord Press, she carved out a legacy: the first woman to edit a national daily (National Concord) and the first female Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper conglomerate (Concord Press).

I count myself privileged to have passed under her tutelage, eventually becoming one of her editors. I first encountered her in 1991, after winning Best Editorial Staff at Weekend Concord, where she congratulated me and, with literary acuity, told me: “I read your stories. You are very literary.”

Doyin Abiola was formidable — a woman of iron and steel, unflinching against sloppiness (her favorite word). Yet beneath her bark was fairness. When I became Deputy Editor of National Concord, she told me plainly: “I bark a lot, but I don’t bite. If you do your work well, we’ll be the best of friends.” She kept her word.

I worked closely with editors Dele Alake and Tunji Bello before eventually becoming Editor of National Concord during one of its darkest periods — when Chief MKO Abiola, her husband and our publisher, was imprisoned in solitary confinement. Even as the paper struggled under military repression, Doyin fought relentlessly to keep it alive in her husband’s honour.

When I eventually had to leave for Nigerian Tribune after 11 years, she gave me her blessing, with Yoruba candour: “Omo atijo ni e — so well brought up, so loyal. You will go far in life.” Her words proved prophetic. My career later took me to Daily Sun, then to serve as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari for eight years. Through it all, she remained a mentor, a voice of wisdom in stormy times.

Even in her later years, living with her daughter and doting over grandchildren, she carried the same aura — sharp, commanding, yet deeply affectionate. Her passing at 82 came as a shock; she had always seemed indestructible.

Dr. Doyin Abiola was more than a boss. She was a pioneer who shattered ceilings, a mentor who sharpened minds, and a friend whose counsel endured. Eternal rest grant her, O Lord.

Adesina was Editor of National Concord under Dr. Abiola, and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023).