AS THE nation mourns the death of veteran labour leader and pro-democracy activist, Comrade Frank Ovie Kokori, the Director General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute For Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Comrade Issa Aremu, has stated that the passage of the iconic statesman was an irreparable loss to his immediate family, the entire labour movement in particular and African continent as a whole.
Comrade Kokori, who until his death in the early hours of Thursday, December 7, 2023, was also a chieftain of the APC in Delta State.
Comrade Aremu recalled the steadfastness and struggling spirit of Kokori and his comrades in championing the formation of National Union of Petroleum and National Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG) in 1978, noting that his “emergence as the second pioneer General Secretary of NUPENG, was the turning point for the union in defence of workers’ rights against exploitation and oppression by some big oil companies.”
Aremu added that NUPENG under his leadership ensured decent work in the oil and gas industry. He said the defining legacy of Comrade Kokori was his principled struggle for the validation of the annulled annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections in Nigeria for which together with the President of NUPENG, Comrade Agamene, was imprisoned for 4 years by the Abacha military junta.
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Aremu said the best tribute to Kokori by all progressive and democratic forces will be to ensure deepening of democracy in Africa by standing up against military dictatorship and anti-democratic tendencies in the West African sub-region.
Describing Kokori as one among the last African democrats that stood for free and fair elections until death came calling, Aremu also recalled that Comrade Kokori, as the immediate past Chairperson of the Governing Council of MINILS, contributed in repositioning the Institute as a foremost centre of learning for workers, employers and government officials on labour market issues.
