Hafsat Abiola

Who is Hafsat Abiola?

Hafsat Abiola is a Nigerian human rights, civil rights and democracy activist, founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, which seeks to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Nigeria.

She was the eight child of Nigeria's uninaugurated President-elect, the late Chief Moshood Abiola, who was put in prison by the dictator Gen. Sani Abacha for treason after declaring himself president. He later died under detention in 1998. Her mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, was murdered during a demonstration for the release of her husband in 1996.

Abiola graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1992 and Harvard College in 1996. She received an honorary doctorate from Haverford College.

Abiola is the founder of China-Africa Bridge and China Africa Forum, which promotes mutually beneficial cross-cultural collaboration between China and Africa, with a specific eye on women's contributions to the economy.

In 2000, Abiola was honored as a Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2003, she was elected as a Fellow of the Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in recognition of her international status as a social entrepreneur. In 2006 she was nominated to be a founding councilor at the World Future Council.