26/10/2026
🟢Kudirat Abiola: The Courage to Stand for What Is Right🟢
Some people live for themselves, while others choose to stand for something bigger than themselves. Alhaja Kudirat Abiola belonged to the second group.
Born in 1951 in Zaria, Kudirat was a successful businesswoman and mother of seven children. She attended Muslim Girls High School in Ijebu-Ode, where she served as head prefect in her final year. She also supported educational programmes through the Ansar-Ud-Deen Muslim movement.
However, history remembers her for something even greater: her courage in the fight for democracy.
When the military government annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by her husband, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Kudirat refused to remain silent. Following her husband's imprisonment, she became a prominent voice in the struggle for the restoration of democracy. In 1994, she helped sustain the twelve-week oil workers' strike against military rule. In December 1995, she joined other pro-democracy activists in a freedom march in Lagos, despite the danger involved.
On June 4, 1996, Kudirat was assassinated in Lagos at the age of 44. Her death was a painful loss to Nigeria, but it could not erase her contribution to the struggle for democracy.
In 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu posthumously conferred on her the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), recognising her sacrifice decades after her death.
What can we learn from her life as students and alumni?
Kudirat teaches us that leadership is not about holding a title; it is about taking responsibility when something needs to change. As students, we must learn to speak up against injustice, defend what is right and use our influence to make our schools and communities better. As alumni, our responsibility does not end at graduation. We must contribute our knowledge, resources and voices to the development of our institutions and nation.
Kudirat's life reminds us that courage is not the absence of fear. It is the willingness to stand for what matters, even when the cost is high.
Your name may not appear in history books today, but your actions are writing a story. Make it one worth remembering.
✍🏻Grace Oladele Olasupo
