A former deputy president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joseph Akinlaja, has said that the last wish of late Chief Frank Kokori was for the government to make the country’s refineries work.
Comrade Akinlaja said Kokori was a patriot who was committed to a better democratic Nigeria and robust trade unionism.
Kokori, a former Secretary General of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), died on December 6th, 2023 on his 80th birthday.
Akinlaja, in a statement he personally signed and issued to journalists in Akure, said he was sadden with the news of the passing of a man he termed global acclaimed unionist, writer, thinker, scholar, orator, tutor, organizer, administrator, cultural icon, nationalist and politician of the first rank.
He said many patriots have learnt indelible lessons of human existence from Kokori’s award winning works of labour activism in driving forward the reform of the trade union movement,
The statement read: “During his last moment with me in Warri on his hospital bed, under severe pains and in an emotionally-laden voice, he said Joseph, as he usually called me, and said life was ebbing out of him, because the air conditioner in the hospital had been switched off due to high cost of diesel.
“Tell them that I can pay any amount, or even ask you and others to pay for me, but let them switch on the AC for me because I’m dying. Those were his words to me that day.
“He also told me if he ever come out alive in that hospital, he will advise government to make the refineries work. He also decried why successive governments have failed to keep the refineries up on stream. Despite old age, the zest was still in him to challenge the status quo. Even when he was dying, he was still thinking about Nigeria and the pains of Nigerians. It was really heart-rending for me to see such a great icon melt away like a candle beside the fire.
“I remember vividly those glorious years when he handed over the mantle of administrative leadership of NUPENG to me as the General Secretary in year 2000, having served merritoriously for good 17 good years. He built NUPENG to the level that the junior oil workers’ union became a beautiful bride of envy to everyone within and outside trade unionism, both in the formal and informal sectors.
“Nevertheless, I am consoled by the knowledge that Kokori would live forever in the hearts and minds of present and future generations through his great works which brought him enduring international fame and countless honours of a man of class, integrity and finesse.
“I strongly believe that Kokori’s frank, truthful and fearless interventions in national affairs especially during the June 12 struggle brought out the hero in him. He was dedicated, resilient, dogged and courageous, he confronted the military regime headlong in the face of barrel of the gun, he was locked up in a solitary desert prison in Bama, Borno State, for four years, yet he kept on the fighting spirit, until democracy was finally respected and restored in Nigeria. Kokori was not just Frank in name but as well Frank in vision and in principles.
“All these he chronicled in his book, “Frank Kokori: The Struggle for June 12.”
[TheNation]