Dele Cole: Life and times of eminent journalist, ambassador

By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, *Deputy Editorial Board Chairman *

Eminent journalist, Ambassador Dele Cole, has passed on in a London hospital. Family sources told Sunday Vanguard that he died yesterday morning after a month in Intensive Care Unit, ICU.

He was the Managing Director of Daily Times before being appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to Argentina and Brazil.

Popularly known as P. D. Cole, he was one of the most consequential figures in modern Nigerian journalism, public administration, diplomacy, and political thought. A scholar, newspaper administrator, columnist, historian, businessman, and elder statesman, he helped shape the intellectual character of Nigerian newspapers and represented Nigeria abroad with distinction.

Early life and education

Patrick Dele Cole was born on August 4, 1940. He has often attributed his outlook to the values instilled in him in childhood: honesty, hard work, respect for elders, and contentment. His mother was a midwife, while his father was well educated; both placed a high premium on education.

He began his schooling at St. Bartholomew School, Asata, in Enugu, where he reportedly walked four to five miles to school.

He later received his secondary education in Eastern Nigeria and higher education in Western Nigeria. Because of that experience, Cole described himself as one who had a broad, pan-Nigerian formation.

Cole proceeded to the University of Otago in New Zealand and later to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where he obtained a doctorate and spent three years as a fellow. He also had an academic stint at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Scholar and public servant

On returning to Nigeria, Cole entered the civil service and worked in the Cabinet Office. He became associated with the intellectual circle around General Olusegun Obasanjo during Obasanjo’s time as military Head of State, serving as a member of what became known as the Obasanjo Think Tank.

His background in history, policy analysis, and public administration gave him an unusual combination of academic depth and practical statecraft. It was this reputation that brought him into the newspaper industry at a decisive moment in Nigerian media history.

Transformation of the Daily Times

Cole came into public prominence in 1975 when he was appointed a non-executive director of the Daily Times, representing government interests on the board.

In 1976, he became Managing Director of the newspaper at a time when the institution was undergoing major political and organisational upheaval.

The Daily Times was then one of the largest and most influential newspaper organisations in Africa, with numerous publications and subsidiaries, including Times Press and Niger Pack. Following the federal government’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the company, Cole’s immediate task was to restore stability, confidence, and professional harmony within the organisation.

His tenure is remembered for several enduring achievements. Amongst those achievements are the fact that he rebuilt morale and strengthened the professional structure of the Daily Times after a period of crisis. He also established Nigeria’s first newspaper Editorial Board modelled on American practice, separating systematic editorial opinion-making from the traditional features-department approach.

Cole brought leading intellectuals, including Dr. Stanley Macebuh, Doyin Abiola, Olu Akaraogun, Dele Giwa, and Sam Oni, into the paper’s editorial culture.

He defended editorial independence, notably backing editors who resisted pressure to suppress sensitive stories.

He continued the Daily Times tradition of investing in staff training and human-capital development.

Under Cole, the newspaper retained its hard-hitting editorial voice while also achieving commercial success. His administration is widely credited with helping the Daily Times regain its stature as a leading African newspaper.

Champion of editorial independence

Perhaps Cole’s most important legacy in journalism is his defence of the newspaper as an institution of accountability. Although he entered the Daily Times as a government-appointed director, he did not behave as an instrument for muzzling the press. Instead, he protected editors and insisted that the newspaper’s primary loyalty was to its readers and to the public interest.

A celebrated example involved the Sunday Times and a planned lead story on Nigeria Airways. When government officials sought to stop publication, the editor refused. Cole backed the editor, reinforcing the principle that editorial decisions should not be dictated by political convenience.

He also stood with Daily Times editor Tony Momoh in the celebrated confrontation over the Senate’s attempt to summon the editor over publication of a Senate document. The episode became a landmark in the struggle for press freedom and editorial autonomy in Nigeria.

Role in the emergence of The Guardian

After his time at the Daily Times, Cole played an important behind-the-scenes role in the emergence of The Guardian in 1983.

He supported the selection of the newspaper’s founding editor and helped ensure that its early editorial output met the standards of a serious, ideas-driven publication.

Cole later became associated with The Guardian’s Editorial Board, where he continued to contribute to public debate. His influence helped make the newspaper’s editorial board one of the most respected in Nigerian journalism.

Diplomatic career

Cole later moved into diplomacy. He served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Brazil from 1990 to 1993, during the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida ,retd, and was also accredited to Argentina.

His diplomatic service was marked by the same directness that characterised his journalism. In later interviews, he explained that he considered it his duty to remind political leaders of their promises and obligations, even when doing so was unpopular. He argued that public officials owe the people honesty, especially on commitments that are ethical and part of their declared programmes.

He subsequently served as Special Adviser on International Relations to President Olusegun Obasanjo, bringing his diplomatic experience and policy expertise back into the heart of government.

Politics and public intellectual life

Cole has also been active in Nigerian politics. In the early 1990s, during the aborted Third Republic, he sought the presidency on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Although he did not win the party’s presidential ticket, his candidacy reflected his long-standing engagement with questions of leadership, governance, and national unity.

Beyond partisan politics, he has remained a prominent public intellectual. Through newspaper columns, interviews, and public commentary, he has spoken forcefully on corruption, federalism, economic management, youth unemployment, local-government autonomy, pensions, and the responsibilities of leadership. He was also a celebrated columnist for Vanguard Newspapers, where his sharp, informed and often provocative interventions enriched public debate.

Personal life

Cole was married to Mina Dugoabere Cole, a devout member of the Redeemed Christian Church. She died in England in October 2021 after a prolonged illness.

Her death deeply affected him, but friends and associates noted his resilience and his return to public life in the years that followed. He cherished his role as a father and grandfather and often described his family as one of his greatest blessings.

In his 85th-birthday interview, he said his children had become more successful than he had hoped, adding that this fulfilled one of his deepest prayers.

Enduring legacy

Ambassador Dele Cole’s life illustrated the power of the public intellectual in national development. He moved with ease between the university, the newsroom, the diplomatic service, business, and politics, yet journalism remains the field in which his influence is most visible.

Throughout his life, Dele Cole remained an active participant in national discourse. His career stood as a reminder that journalism, at its best, is not merely the reporting of events but a civic vocation: one that demands courage, intellectual honesty, and an unwavering commitment to hold power accountable.

Reactions

Meanwhile, prominent journalists, yesterday, reacted to his demise, saying he helped create a more confident and intellectually vibrant newspaper culture in Nigeria.

Editor of Vanguard Newspapers and President Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, Eze Anaba, said Cole’s tenure at the Daily Times was pace-setting.

His words: “Dele Cole was, in my view, one of the pioneers of modern Nigerian journalism. As Managing Director of the Daily Times, he brought Dele Giwa back to Nigeria from the United States and, together with other brilliant journalists such as Stanley Macebuh, helped create a new, more confident and intellectually vibrant newspaper culture.

“His tenure at the Daily Times was pace-setting. He assembled a remarkable generation of journalists and helped lay the foundation for the energetic, bold journalism that Nigerians enjoyed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“Beyond his newspaper-management record, he was a celebrated columnist whose contributions to Vanguard enriched national discourse.

“He was a pace-setter, and we will miss him hugely. That is the best way I can describe him. I cannot assess him as a politician or as a diplomat. He served Nigeria as Ambassador to Brazil, among other roles.

“But I can speak confidently of his record as a brilliant newspaper manager: he changed the face of Nigerian journalism and left an enduring mark on the profession.’’

On his part, Provost, Nigerian Institute of Journalism and former Editor-in-Chief and General Manager, Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, said Cole would be remembered for his consistency, courage, intellectual depth and skill as a media manager.

His words: “P. D. Cole, Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, as he was formally known , was “the man from the Cabinet Office,” the description by which many in the media also knew him. He was a great man who came in to manage the Daily Times, especially during the difficult transition years from military to civilian rule.

“He was appointed Managing Director of the Daily Times in 1976. He is particularly remembered for bringing in outstanding journalists and thinkers, including Dr. Stanley Macebuh and Dele Giwa, and for helping to reposition the newspaper at a time of considerable institutional and political pressure.

“Beyond the Daily Times, he had a wide media reach and was central to the founding of The Guardian in 1983. Working with Alex Ibru, Stanley Macebuh and Segun Osoba, he helped build what became one of Nigeria’s most substantial and influential newspapers.

“He will be remembered for his consistency, courage, intellectual depth and skill as a media manager. He was also a significant public servant and politician. Under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999, he served as Special Adviser to the President on International Relations. Earlier, he had served Nigeria as Ambassador to Brazil and also to Argentina.

“I cannot say more than that for now. May his soul rest in perfect peace. It is a great loss and a great miss; that generation is indeed passing away.”

Also, Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Lagos State University (LASU), Professor Jide Jimoh, said: “The death of Dr Patrick Dele Cole (PDC) is a sad reminder that we are not going to get out of this world alive, but our legacies will remain long after we have left.

“His contributions to journalism cannot be forgotten in a hurry. I observed him more closely when I was a Visiting Member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers and he was one of the intellectual powerhouses in that newspaper.

“His contributions would most likely change the direction of an editorial because of his erudition.

“He delivered his points without arrogance or force but with the sole aim of illuminating dark spots in thoughts. He will be greatly missed by Nigeria and, more regrettably, by those of us who have benefitted from his versatility. Adieu, Dr PDC.’’

Vanguard News

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