A Former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Frank Kokori, is lying critically ill in a hospital in Warri Delta state with kidney related ailment
Kokori, a well-known unionist and leader during the General Sani Abacha’s military junta, said if he had money, he would have sought treatment overseas.
Kokori, who struggled to speak to journalists on his sick bed, with medics attending to him, said he had to plead with the management of the hospital to run their generators all through the night, so the air-condition in his private ward could function for him to stay alive.
Kokori, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and elder statesman, who has been sick for a while resulting from a kidney-related ailment, told journalists in Warri on Thursday that he had been “abandoned.
According to Kokori, “I am dying in a hospital bed in Warri, I was admitted for a treatment at this private hospital in the oil city for a kidney-related ailment but I have been having a hard time paying the bills due to harsh economy and as a result I made this call to the media to shame the leaders of the nation when I survived this ailment.
He accused NUPENG of abandoning him and called on the media to let the whole world know about of his plight
He said, “Please do your best. I can come alive again but I just want the world to know that if I survive, I’ll shame the leaders of this country. Shame to them. How can Kokori be in a third class hospital?
“I came on Tuesday. After the dialysis, I have been here. I could have just died because of lack of diesel. I had to beg them to run their generator so the air-condition in the ward can function. I need it to be alive.
“It got to a stage that I could not take a flight, I could not walk. If it was when I was in NUPENG, I would have been flown out with air ambulance immediately.”
Asked if he would accept any kind offer to be flown abroad for thorough medicare the labour leader said he would not decline it.
“Who would not agree? I don’t have the money, before I would have said no,” he said.
The octogenarian still spared some time to talk about the state of the country, appealing to the Joe Ajaero led Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,to give President Bola Tinubu sometime to deliver on his campaign promises.
Kokori said President Tinubu inherited an economy that was so battered by the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the new government is using over 90 percent of its revenue to service inherited debts.
He said: “The president just came on board and the country owes so much, so labour should give him some time.
About 90 percent of the country’s income goes to servicing loans. How can the government do magic. Look at me; I would have died because of the economy.”
He said he was excited that Tinubu who was among those that campaigned vigorously against military government alongside himself, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and other pro-democracy activists, was now president of the country.
He said President Tinubu granted him audience few weeks after he was sworn in, adding that he pleaded with him to ensure he took the country to glories heights.
Three years ago, precisely November 10 2020, Kokori lost his wife of 53 years, Mrs Esther Kokori after an illness. She died at the age of 73.
