Hafsat Abiola

View Hafsat’s full oral history and transcript at the Georgetown University Library.

Hafsat Olaronke Abiola is the eighth 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. Hafsat’s father later died while in detention in 1998. Her mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, was murdered during a demonstration for the release of her husband in 1996. Hafsat 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.