Elder statesman and former general secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori, has a kidney ailment.
Kokori, who has been admitted at a private hospital in Warri, Delta State, has sought help to secure medical aid outside the country.
Kokori, who was in pain when some journalists visited him at Mount Horeb Clinic yesterday, pleaded with the leadership of NUPENG and kind-hearted Nigerians to come to his aid.
Despite his pain, Kokori urged members of the labour unions, especially the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to salvage the country.
Kokori cautioned the NLC and TUC not to be in a hurry to opt for strike, urging them to give Tinubu ample time to address the socio-economic problems plaguing the country.
The ailing veteran labour leader, who is a staunch leader of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta state, argued that the economy, having been badly managed by past leaders including the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu should be given at an honorarium of at least a year to stabilise the economy.
Recounting his days as a labour leader and his selfless contributions to emancipate the country, he said, “Our struggles were to build a country. The situation of the country…if I wanted billions, I’d have gotten it. Everybody including me stood to fight for democracy.
“I spent four solid years in prison. I did everything for democracy. There’s no freedom fighter in Nigeria like we have in South Africa. I used the instrument I had to restore democracy. You think I don’t mind money? I do but I won’t take what’s not mine. I’m a patriot.”
Lamenting the poor state of medical aid in the country and his heath travails, Kokori lamented further, “My point is: how can a country like Nigeria, in the whole of Warri, the only hospital that can handle kidney issue is Mount Horeb Clinic?
“I wasn’t in coma when I came to the clinic. I went into coma here. I came in here Tuesday. But yesterday, it was too much. I’m 80 years now. I spent 25 years struggling for this country. But how can I know that Warri doesn’t have a functional hospital.”
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