Veteran Journalist, Former Daily Times MD Dele Cole is dead.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Veteran Nigerian journalist and diplomat, Ambassador Dele Cole, has died at the age of 86.
Cole reportedly passed away on the morning of Saturday, October 17, 2026, according to family sources.
He was a former managing director of Daily Times, one of Nigeria’s prominent newspaper organisations, and later served the country as ambassador to Argentina and Brazil.
Born on August 4, 1940, in Abonnema, in the Kalabari Kingdom of present-day Rivers State, Cole had a distinguished academic career that took him to institutions in Nigeria, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
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He began his early education at St Bartholomew’s School in Enugu, where he studied from 1946 to 1953, before proceeding to Baptist High School in Port Harcourt from 1954 to 1958.
He later attended Ibadan Grammar School between 1959 and 1960.
In 1962, Cole travelled to New Zealand to study at the University of Otago in Dunedin, where he remained until 1965.
He subsequently continued his studies at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom from 1966 to 1970. He became a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, serving from 1970 to 1973, and earned a doctorate in history.
Cole began his career in newspaper management as a non-executive director of Daily Times in 1975 before rising to become the organisation’s managing director.
His leadership role at the newspaper established him as a prominent figure in Nigeria’s media industry.
Beyond journalism, Cole also served in government and international diplomacy. Between 1999 and 2007, he was Special Adviser on International Relations to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
His diplomatic career included representing Nigeria as ambassador to Argentina and Brazil, contributing to the country’s international relations.
Cole was also involved in Nigerian politics during the 1990s, when he was associated with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
His career spanned journalism, academia, public service and diplomacy, making him a notable figure in Nigeria’s media and political history.
Further details surrounding his death were not immediately available as of the time of filing this report.
