Ex-NUPENG Leader Reveals Kokori’s Last Wish For Nigeria

A former Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joseph Akinlaja, has revealed that the late Frank Kokori‘s final wish for Nigeria was the revival of the country’s refineries.

Comrade Akinlaja described Kokori as a patriot deeply committed to fostering a better democratic Nigeria and promoting robust trade unionism.

Chief Frank Kokori, a former Secretary General of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), passed away on December 6th, 2023, on his 80th birthday.

In a statement personally signed and issued to journalists in Akure, Comrade Akinlaja expressed deep sorrow at the news of Kokori’s passing, referring to him as a globally acclaimed unionist, writer, thinker, scholar, orator, tutor, organizer, administrator, cultural icon, nationalist, and politician of the highest rank.

Akinlaja highlighted Kokori’s significant contributions to the reform of the trade union movement, emphasizing that many patriots have drawn invaluable lessons from his award-winning works of labour activism.

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 comes out alive in that hospital, he will advise the 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 meritoriously 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.“