Legendary labour leader Frank Kokori dies on his birthday

An ailing elder statesman and former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori, is dead.

He died at exactly 1:30 am on Thursday, December 7, 2023, coincidentally on his birthday at exactly 80, our correspondent gathered in the wee hours of Thursday.

His passage was disclosed to our correspondent at about 2:30 am by Chief Kokori’s personal assistant, Atawada Barry Oke.

He said the former labour leader’s health relapsed on Monday as he was unable to interact with people around him while he was placed on life support.

Kokori’s death came barely one month after he cried out from his hospital bed on Thursday, November 9, 2023, that he had been neglected and abandoned to die in spite of his huge contribution to the democratic growth of the country.

Oborevwori with ailing Chief Frank Kokori
Oborevwori with ailing Chief Frank Kokori
The Octogenarian has been in sick bed at Mount Horeb Clinic, Warri, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, over kidney-related ailment since early November.

Kokori had, on Thursday, November 9, 2023, made a distress call at about 12:40 am to complain that life was ebbing out of him where he was receiving treatment for his kidney-related ailment.

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Kokori, who’s a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, had called our correspondent, describing himself in a voice laden with excruciating pains that he was “dead and risen.”

He had lamented how NUPENG and the nation had abandoned him to fate in the hospital where air conditioner was switched off by the hospital management possibly owing to a shortage of diesel.

The Ovu-born fiery labour leader had complained over the idea of being abandoned in the hospital in Warri by those who should cater for his wellbeing.

He, thereafter, said he would not mind if he were taken abroad for a top-notch medical treatment by the Federal Government of President Bola Tinubu with whom they fought the military junta of late General Sani Abacha in the early 90s over the annulment of the historical June 12 1993 presidential elections.

Chief Kokori’s November outcry attracted dignitaries such as Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State to his sick bed on Friday, November 11. The latter picked up the bills including those of two other patients.

Officials of NUPENG and a delegation from former Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege and several others also visited the ailing octogenarian.

Chief Kokori had told our correspondent, after granting an interview to select journalists on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at about 10:30 am, that he was recuperating with the hope of returning home soonest.