Editorial Opinion
Life And Times Of Chief Frank Ovie Kokori
(December 7, 1944 – December 7, 2023)
Farewell To A Great Activist
The history of Nigeria’s third republic will not be complete without mentioning Chief Frank Kokori. When Kokori led the fight for the restoration of late Chief MKO Abiola’s mandate and restoration of Nigeria’s democracy, almost all of those that are currently in power were each running around in baby diaper.
Apart from President Bola Tinubu and a handful of politicians who led that struggle by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) for the restoration of MKO Abiola’s mandate, today’s politicians can best be described as opportunists.
Other members of NADECO were late Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti, Pa Adekunle Ajasin, Anthony Enahoro, General Alani Akirinnade, publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, Air Commodore Dan Sulaiman and Navy Captain Nndubisi Kanu, etcetera.
As the General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union (NUPENG), Frank Kokori was one of the activists who led protests over the anulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by business mogul, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.
Chief Frank Kokori’s mobilization of NUPENG into the struggle, brought the Abacha regime to her knees. Nigeria was shut down due to the stoppage of oil tankers in the distribution of petroleum products across Nigeria. This made him a target of the inglorious regime of late General Abacha to arrest and detain him at the notorious Bama prison.
MKO Abiola went ahead to declare himself president, prompting the military to arrest and detain him on charges of treason.
The annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, considered Nigeria’s freest ever, and the detention of Abiola led to major protests and strikes by workers’ unions, led in part by Frank Kokori.
On the direction of Frank Kokori, NUPENG launched a nationwide strike in 1994 condemning the annulment and demanding that MKO Abiola be freed and inaugurated as president.
He was arrested in August 1994 and detained without charges by the Sani Abacha military government. He was put in solitary confinement in Bama Prison.
Kokori was released in 1998 by General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who succeeded General Abacha as Head of State.
Chief Kokori never enjoyed ‘the dividends of democracy’ from 1999 until his death. The only opportunity he had was deliberately thwarted by former president Buhari’s Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, who refused to inaugurate the board of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NISTF) which Buhari nominated him to chair. After several postponement, the board was never inaugurated, prompting Kokori to say, “I’ve done my best for my country. When nobody raised their voice against the military, I came out with the unions to fight for freedom and democracy of my country.”
“I spent four years in one of the worst prisons in the world, in Bama Prisons, in solitary confinement. In 1997, I was declared a prisoner of war by Pope John Paul. The same year, Nelson Mandela declared me a notable world prisoner of conscience.
“I stood for this country and I fought for democracy and all my years in this country, there were temptations to take the biggest bribes. I stood my ground for democracy. Twenty years after democracy, Chief Frank Kokori, is being oppressed by somebody like Ngige. The reason is because Frank Kokori is regarded as a man of integrity, a man of honour and a transparent man.”
“And this is a government which talks of integrity and you allow a man like Ngige to humiliate me for two years after the appointment,” he said. These words are from the heart of a man who risked his life for the general good of Nigerians
In the few months that before his death, Kokori battled with liver failure and was hospitalised. To pay his medical bills was a hard challenge. He was abandoned like a leper but for the intervention of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta state who took over the responsibility of paying for his dialysis treatment until his death.
Now that this brave activist has passed on, we shall now witness a deluge of praises by those who abandoned him in his most pressing hour of financial assistance for the treatment of kidney ailment.
May the gallant soul of Chief Frank Ovie Kokori rest in peace.