The designer of the Nigerian Flag, Pa Taiwo Akinkunmi, has passed on at the age of 87. His son, Akinkunmi Samuel announced his demise on Wednesday via his Facebook page. “Life is indeed transient; I can say boldly that you lived a life with a landmark. “Continue to rest, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R): A great man has gone,” he wrote.
Akinkunmi a native of Abeokuta in Ogun State, was born on May 10, 1936, and lived in Ibadan.
He attended Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, and Baptist Day Secondary School.
The late Akinkunmi began his career as a civil servant at the Secretariat of Ibadan. He subsequently travelled overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.
Late Akinkunmi, in 1958, while living abroad, saw an advertisement in a national daily for the submission of designs for the Nigeria’s national flag as the country’s independence from British governance was close.
Among the over 2,000 entries submitted, his was picked.
However, the original design of the flag featured a white band flanked by two green ones with a red sun and streaming rays on the white band. Although the sun was eventually removed by the committee in charge, Akinkunmi’s design was selected for its ingenuity and profundity.
