Veteran Nigerian journalist and diplomat Ambassador Dele Cole has died at the age of 86, according to family sources.

Cole reportedly passed away on the morning of Saturday, October 17, 2026. He was a former managing director of the Daily Times, one of Nigeria’s prominent newspaper organisations, and later served the country in diplomatic and public service roles.

Born on August 4, 1940, in Abonnema, in the Kalabari Kingdom of present-day Rivers State, Cole built a career spanning journalism, academia, politics and international relations.

His educational journey began at St Bartholomew’s School in Enugu, where he studied from 1946 to 1953. He subsequently attended Baptist High School in Port Harcourt between 1954 and 1958 before proceeding to Ibadan Grammar School, where he studied from 1959 to 1960.

In 1962, Cole travelled to New Zealand to study at the University of Otago in Dunedin, remaining there until 1965. He later continued his education at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom from 1966 to 1970.

He subsequently became a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, serving from 1970 to 1973, and earned a doctorate in history.

Cole’s career in journalism included his appointment as a non-executive director of the Daily Times in 1975. He later rose to become the organisation’s managing director, holding a leadership position in one of the country’s influential media institutions.

His professional career extended beyond the newsroom into government and diplomacy. Between 1999 and 2007, he served as Special Adviser on International Relations to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, contributing to the administration’s engagement with international affairs.

Cole also represented Nigeria as an ambassador to Argentina and Brazil, serving in diplomatic roles that placed him at the intersection of journalism, public service and international relations.

He was also involved in Nigerian politics during the 1990s and was associated with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Cole’s death marks the passing of a figure whose career connected several areas of national life, from newspaper management and historical scholarship to presidential advisory work and diplomatic representation.

Further details surrounding his death and funeral arrangements had not been provided in the information available at the time of reporting.