Kudirat Abiola

Kudirat Abiola was born in 1951 in Zaria, Kaduna state. She attended Muslims Girls High School in Ijebu Ode, Ogun state. She married a business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, at age 18 and became his second and senior wife. She was a successful business woman and a supporter of the educational programme of the Ansa-Ur-deen movement in Nigeria. She became a pro-democracy activist after the military annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which her husband had won. She mobilised market women, students, activists and other human rights community to fight for the restoration of democracy. She was also involved in sustaining the oil workers strike action against the military government in 1994. She was assassinated on June 4, 1996, while her husband was being detained by the Nigerian Government. Her death sparked outrage and protests across the country. She remains a symbol of Nigeria's struggle for democracy. A radio station and a street corner in New York were named after her. Her husband died in 1998 under suspicious circumstances. Her daughter, Hafsat Abiola, is also a human rights and democracy activist.