Tinubu and Kokori: A reporter remembers by Festus Adedayo
It was 25 years ago; Saturday, October 10, 1998 to be precise. We were all inside the living room of the Yaba, Lagos modest home of Frank Ovie-Kokori. We were waiting for our heroes. In the heat of the June 12, 1993 presidential election validation saga, Kokori was Secretary-General of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers and a major weapon deployed by pro-democracy activists to frustrate the vile government of Head of State, General Sani Abacha. The journey from Ibadan, Oyo State to Lagos this morning had been devoid of its usual serpentine traffic snarl. My editor, Femi Adeoti, freshly out of Sani Abacha’s jailhouse at Agodi Prisons, had got wind of a small reception that was afoot in Kokori’s home. A day before then, October 9, self-exiled National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftains, driven to scamper into exile by the blood-baiting fangs of Gen Abacha, had arrived Nigeria from their various bunkers abroad. Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, Chief John Od