Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Publications and Trustee Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME), Lanre Idowu; Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Motunrayo Alaka and President Nigerian Union of Journalists NUJ, Alhassan Yahya, have joined other Nigerians to pay tributes to the first female Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of National Concord, Doyin Abiola.

Idowu recalled, “Nigeria has lost an outstanding professional and a trailblazer. In rising to the zenith of the journalism profession as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of the Concord Press, she proved that given equal opportunity, a woman could tower above her peers. Her greatness was not limited to being Chief Moshood Abiola’s wife, important as that was. She was a journalism-general in her own right, and one of those who brought depth to journalism. She was a pleasant person who mentored many other professionals who are today holding important positions in various sectors all over the world. May her soul rest well.”

To Alaka, “for us at WSCIJ, we just lost our first female awardee for Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence. She won that award in 2010. I’m glad I was able to honour her while she was alive. It’s surreal for me.”

In addition, she added it is important to underscore that she was an accomplished journalist before she married MKO Abiola.

Alaka further recalled, “she served journalism and the society. She worked with Daily Times and Daily Sketch. It is important we highlight her contributions to journalism and the Nigerian society. It was perhaps the foundation that she had that made it possible for the National Concord dream to materialise.

“We wish the family well and send our condolences. We hope her legacies would be appreciated as one of the greatest trailblazers of journalism in the country,” she stated.

Speaking in a similar vein, Yahya stated, “it is with deep sorrow and a profound sense of loss that we join the Nigerian media community and the nation at large to mourn the passing of a trailblazer, a woman of immense courage, intellect, and grace Dr. Doyin Abiola. She was not just a journalist; she was a pioneer, a pathfinder, and a pillar of integrity in Nigerian journalism. As the first female Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper in Nigeria, she broke barriers, shattered stereotypes, and paved the way for generations of women in media and leadership.”

Speaking further, he added her distinguished career at National Concord, where she served with excellence and vision, was a testament to her brilliance, resilience, and unwavering commitment to truth and justice.

To him, “her voice resonated with purpose, her pen spoke for the voiceless, and her leadership redefined the role of women in the newsroom and beyond.”