APC chieftain Kokori loses wife

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Mrs. Esther Kokori, wife of elder statesman and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Frank Kokori, is dead.

Esther was 73. They were married for 53 years.

Kokori, a former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) stated this yesterday at his Ovu country home in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.

According to him, Esther died on November 10 in Lagos after a protracted illness.

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Kokori described his late wife as a pillar of democracy, especially during the June 12 struggle and his incarceration by the late Gen. Sanni Abacha.

The deceased, a mother of five and six grand-children, worked with former British Paints (now Berger Paints) as a stenographer before she delved into business and unionism with her husband.

Kokori said: “She was a pillar of democracy during the struggle for the June 12 actualisation. She held the forte for me while I was imprisoned at Bama.

“She was my backbone; very supportive to my struggles like Kudirat was to Abiola. She was holding meetings with the late Gani Fewehinmi, Femi Falana, Beeko Kuti, Abraham Adesanya and other chieftains of NADECO, Afenifere and civil societies, among others, in my absence.”

Mrs. Kokori’s, whose remains have been deposited in a morgue in Delta, will be buried in February 2021.

Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, who visited Pa Kokori, described the deceased as a virtuous and forthright woman whose impact in democratic struggles will be remembered.

National President of NUPENG Prince Williams Akporeha, who led his executives to commiserate with Kokori, described the deceased as ‘a time manager and mother of NUPENG’ who is ‘remembered for all her struggles with Chief Kokori to emancipate oil and gas workers.”