The news of the passing of Ambassador (Dr) Patrick Dele Cole on 17th October 2026 has come with a rude shock. Even though no human being lives for ever, his demise at a ripe age has demonstrated that, like all mortals, we are born to live and die, ultimately.
And as the English writer, Ernest Hemingway says, he that death cannot kill, it breaks, no matter how strong they may be at the breaking points Ambassador Cole was one such personalities: strong, ebullient, joyful, resourceful, brilliant, cerebral, hardworking, patriotic de-tribalized and self-sacrificing Nigerian of honour and distinction by any definition of these terms.
I first met Ambassador Dele Cole in November 1999 following the inception of the new civilian Administration of President Olusegun.
I was working in my office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja when a mutual friend and distinguished colleague of blessed memory, Ambassador Gordon Harry Bristol came to announce that the revered Ambassador was waiting to see me in the office of his friend Ambassador Ayo Azikiwe who was then the Director of African Affairs Department of the Ministry.
A titan in his own right aside from his family history as the son of Nigeria’s first indigenous President and Governor General.
Without a clue as to why I was being summoned, there I went. As I walked in and introduced my self to the Director and this huge, imposing personality sitting across, Ambassador Azikiwe asked me if I had a senior brother in the Ministry by the name ENIKANOLAIYE. I answered in the negative. He told me he already had so much about the name and wondered whether it was me that had so much said and recommended about.
I was just a Counsellor – a mid-ranking diplomat at the time.
He then asked if I would be willing to work with him as one of his Special Assistants he was recruiting to the new office, in the capacity as Special Adviser to the President on International Relations (SAIR).
Of course, my response was predictable.
I said as a loyal civil servant, I had no choice or option than to comply if so directed.
The following day, a letter requesting that three of us, myself, John Alhassan Gana and Bristol, (both of them attained like me, the position of Permanent Secretary and Ambassadors respectively), be deployed to the Office of the SAIR as Special Assistants.
The leadership of the Ministry was reluctant to release its best officers, complaining against “poaching” by the State House following the previous posting of four other colleagues to the office of the Chief of Staff to President Olusegun Obasanjo. It nevertheless, agreed to release us three.
We received our letters of posting the following day and proceeded to report as directed.
Amb. Cole was yet to be allocated an office in the State House Presidential Villa. He was working out of his Suite at Nicon Hilton Hotel (now Transcorp Hilton).
We would report and work from 8am and close, most times, at 9pm daily.
He subsequently moved to the Study of Mr. President at the State House Residence until we were expelled from there on “security ground.
I used to see very industrious and brilliant Nigerians like Senator Liyel Imoke, Ad’Obe Obe, Tope Shonubi all around Dele Cole doing one thing or the other for Mr President.
We decided to move to the main office, to squat with our four diplomat colleagues already deployed to the Office of the Chief of Staff, late Major General Abdullahi Mohammed. As our close buddies, sharing an office and working tools with them came easy and naturally. Before too long however, we were expelled once again.
A new office was finally allocated to the SAIR which was called the White House directly opposite the gate of the Banquet Hall. Our boss still retained his main Office right inside the Villa, which ensured he maintained direct and close access to President Obasanjo.
We, the three musketeers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were to be joined later as Special Assistants by two ladies, Rita Abebe and Ibierra Akpana.
Dr Cole came to his new office with a solid academic and professional pedigree having earned degrees from New Zealand and United Kingdom (Cambridge). He has distinguished himself in the media space in the Daily Times and the flagship Guardian newspaper, with a stint in the Cabinet Office, the seat of the Federal Government in Lagos.
His tenure as Nigerian’s Ambassador to Brazil, capped his public service career that gave him deep and rare insights into the inner workings of government and its interface with the public that also prepared him for an active political life.
Unbeknown to us, Dr Cole’s office has earned a notorious reputation of a one-stop, effective, efficient and deeply analytical resource centre that would tear to pieces, Memos and letters meant for Mr President not just from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but from other MDAs upon the specific directives of Mr President.
That was vintage PDC, as he was popularly called, who inspired and gave us the latitude to think outside the house, (not just outside the box), and challenged conventional wisdom and views on Nigeria’s relations with the rest of the world.
We would offer alternative proposals which the President found unassailable.
The President would minute literally every paper to his SAIR: “Dele Cole Draft a response for me. I must admit that even our mother Ministry was not pleased with us. They took the view that we had unwittingly created a parallel structure in the Office of the SAIR that has effectively taken over the statutory functions of foreign policy making and advice to us, this was an over-claim.
I recall one particular incident in which we were asked to comment on the proposal to construct a National Stadium at its present location in Abuja, we argued against the site, especially the fear of heavy traffic congestion along the Airport Road Lugbe axis, and above all, the cost of construction which, we pointed out, was prohibitive. Amb. Cole told us later how livid President Obasanjo was at the Memo which he asked him to withdraw.
In an interview to ThisDay newspaper some years back, President Obasanjo was asked what was the role of PDC in the villa. The President said: the question is not what Dele Cole was doing at the Villa. The question should have been what Dele Cole did not do at the Villa.
He described PDC as his ” Specialist Adviser” and not just as an ordinary Special Adviser.
He was President Obasanjo’s right-hand man at every occasion, at every function and on every trip, at home and abroad.
In his own tribute to “PDC, former President Obasanjo described the late Ambassador as one of Nigeria’s finest intellectual pillars, a trusted ally whose counsel shaped pivotal moments on our nation’s history; an indispensable linchpin of our foreign policy machinery…, who worked tirelessly behind the scene to repair Nigeria’s broken diplomatic ties…”.
Behind the scene were the three musketeers.
In the same vein, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu eulogised Dele Cole whose life he describes as a testament to the value of experience, principled engagement and commitment to public good. He simply gave of his best.
I further recall how he brought to government his dear friend and colleague in the media, Dr Stanley Macebuh who was appointed to the a newly invented position of Senior Special Assistant, “Discomfort Detail”
In this capacity, Dr Macebuh’s brief was to tell President everything that the President did not want to hear: negative criticisms, wrong decisions. negative media and public perceptions and reactions to government policies especially those that did not sit well with Nigerians but which would make the President uncomfortable and would rather be kept away from the President ears.
For this and other reasons to which I was not privy, it did not take too long before Dr Macebuh was fired.
Relations between President Obasanjo and Ambassador Cole soon deteriorated over allegations of abuse of access and privilege.
Dr Cole called us to his office to explain the circumstances of his being asked to disengage and requested us never to disclose the details as the President had privately laid out to him.
We were totally devastated by the sudden turn of events against a titan that has put so much of his energy into serving the President.
I understood the two finally made up in later years, which was a good development.
While in active service, I further recall how the President assigned the task of working closely with colleagues from South Africa, Algeria and later, Senegal and Egypt to develop the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) from the zero draft of the African Renaissance agenda of President Thabo Mbeki to NEPAD.
He understood the thinking of his principal on literally every subject matter.
This was why he gave us the strategic leadership and directions we needed to all the meetings; early morning Breakfast briefings and directives by President Obasanjo at the Villa, engagements with President Mbeki in Pretoria and President Abdullazeez Boutiflika in Algiers including the merger of President Abdullahi Wade’s Omega Plan (Senegal) with the
severally- reviewed NEPAD paper and its flagship African Peer Review Mechanism were formally adopted in Abuja.
Putting the Nigeria Diaspora on the agenda of President Obasanjo’s foreign policy owed much to “PDC than to anyone else in or out of government.
He also successfully coordinated Nigeria’s preparations for the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000 that led to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly in New York. USA.
Such was the outstanding roles, personality and remarkable contributions of Ambassador Dr Patrick Dele Cole to our national development to which I bear personal witness.
He was simply a great guy, very urbane, civil and convivial; an intellectual behemoth who suffered no fools gladly and took no prisoners especially when it came to intellectual rigour and sheer logic of arguments and positions.
Yet, he was soft spoken with his deep and baritone voice, full of authority; very persuasive and most disarming with an infectious and captivating presence that was difficult to ignore.
So full of life; effectively combining work with pleasure a seamless manner and mutually reinforcing manner, he enjoyed his big Cuban cigars on top of vintage red wines or cognac which he would sip and devour in the most seductive and inviting manner. Yet remaining sober and intellectually alert and upbeat thereafter.
His dress sense was one to admire; often times with his bowler hat reminiscent of his Niger Delta origins of River State.
He was also a quintessential family man as we, his Aides, got close to his late wife, Mamma Munna and some of his big children, Tonye and Seun especially.
Our condolences to the family as we join and share in your grief at this time.
I urge you to take solace that this media juggernaut, an iconic figure of a diplomatist, an intellectual connoisseur and consummate politician, lived a full life of extraordinary impact.
No matter how advanced in age our loved ones may be, we simply do not want to part with them as if we will all live together and for ever.
If there is no coming into being and passing away, regeneration of life becomes impossible.
May his soul find peace in the bosom of our Lord.
Adiey, Ambassador (Dr) Patrick Dele Cole, PDC, rest on
*Amb Sola ENIKANOLAIYE, fdc+
Hon Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abuja,
26th October 2026.
