Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola GCFR, also known as M. K. O. Abiola was born on August 24, 1937 and died on July 7, 1998. He was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the honorary supreme military commander of the Oyo Empire[a] and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.

Abiola ran for the presidency in 1993, for which the election results were annulled by then military president Ibrahim Babangida because of allegations that they were corrupt and unfair. Abiola was awarded the National honour Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), an honour awarded to only Nigerian heads of state, posthumously on June 6 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria's democracy day was changed to from May 29 to June 12 in his honour.

Abiola's support in the June 1993 presidential election cut across all geo-political zones and religious divisions, among a few politicians to accomplish such a spread during his time. By the time of his death, he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy.

Abiola attended African Central School, Abeokuta for his primary education. His secondary education was at the Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta. In 1960, he obtained a government scholarship to study at the University of Glasgow, where he later earned a degree in accountancy and qualified as a chartered accountant.

He later became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

MyNigeria/Wikipedia