By Our Reporter
Veteran journalist and diplomat, Ambassador Dele Cole, has died at the age of 86.
Cole reportedly died on Saturday morning, October 17, 2026, according to family sources.
He was a former Managing Director of the Daily Times and served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Brazil and Argentina during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Born on August 4, 1940, in Abonnema, in the Kalabari Kingdom of present-day Rivers State, Cole had a distinguished career spanning journalism, diplomacy, academia and politics.
He began his education at St Bartholomew’s School, Enugu, where he studied from 1946 to 1953, before proceeding to Baptist High School, Port Harcourt, from 1954 to 1958. He later attended Ibadan Grammar School between 1959 and 1960.
In 1962, Cole travelled to New Zealand for higher education at the University of Otago, Dunedin, where he studied until 1965.
He subsequently attended the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom from 1966 to 1970. He later became a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, serving from 1970 to 1973, and obtained a doctorate in history.
Cole joined the board of the Daily Times in 1975 as a non-executive director before rising to become the newspaper’s Managing Director.
His career later extended into public service when Obasanjo appointed him Special Adviser on International Relations in 1999. He held the position until 2007.
During the same administration, Cole also represented Nigeria as ambassador to Brazil and Argentina, contributing to the country’s diplomatic engagements.
Beyond journalism and diplomacy, he was involved in politics and was associated with the Social Democratic Party during the 1990s.
Cole’s death marks the passing of a figure whose career bridged the Nigerian media industry, international relations and public service.