He also assesses the regime of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, in upholding democratic tenets.

Chief Frank Kokori, the renowned labour unionist and elder statesman, has recalled the sacrifices made to end dictatorship in Nigeria.

He also assesses the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in upholding democratic tenets, in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE.

It’s been 22 years since Nigeria returned to democracy. What are your thoughts on the level of progress since then?

The progress is that there is free speech and people can go to court. Before then, you could not go to court. You would just be arrested and locked up and I was a classic example. I was locked up for four years without being taken to the court in a prison in faraway Bama (Borno State), when I was the head of all unions in Nigeria. Many newspaper and broadcasting houses were shut down, but now, you can write anything, you have freedom of speech and we can go to court.

Apart from that, some of us have been disillusioned because Nigeria is not moving forward. We are not progressing, but we are retrogressing. Our leaders have failed the masses. Our struggle was almost in vain. Some of us, instead of lifting our young people, are inflicting more hardship than what they had in the 1970s. So, it’s a shame. Nigeria, India, Brazil and Malaysia were all on the same levels in those days. Nigeria was even higher than them.

We had the municipal buses, which we now call the Bus Rapid Transit. But there was no okada (commercial motorcycle). But when I went to places like China and Vietnam, I saw people riding bicycles and I was saying, ‘Look at these people, you are so backwards.’ But today, they are 10 times better than us, fully employed and even living better lives than we are. So, things have been bad and most of our leaders are not listening to the poor and the youths. There is mass unemployment. These are the things that have some of us disillusioned about Nigerian leaders. Nigeria is now good for those who are close to the presidency and those who are close to state governors; they are all enjoying (the commonwealth). Also, those who are close to big government functionaries like ministers and people in strategic positions, agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigerian Ports Authority. The families are enjoying their lives and that is less than one per cent of Nigerians. With that one per cent of government (enjoying), about 50 per cent are living under the poverty line, so the nation is becoming a failed state. The security situation is unheard of in this country. Before, I would drive safely from Lagos to my home state of Delta. These days, I wouldn’t dare. I must always go by air anywhere I am going. So, I don’t enjoy the countryside any longer. But now, I am happy I stay in my village in Delta State, where I’m safe. I can enjoy my country home in Delta after almost 50 years in Lagos.