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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, the iconic designer of the Nigerian national flag, who was born May 10, 1936, has passed away at 87 years old.
The announcement of his death was made via the Facebook account of one of his children, Samuel Akinwumi Akinkunmi.
“Life is indeed transient; I can say boldly that you live a life with a landmark. Continue to rest, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R.): Great Man has gone,” he wrote.
Pa Akinkunmi, who was born on May 10, 1936, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, reportedly breathed his last on Tuesday.
During his lifetime, he attended Baptist Day Secondary School and Ibadan Grammar School. He had a stint in the civil service of the defunct Western Region at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, before he travelled overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.
He was said to have stumbled on an advertisement in a national daily in 1958, calling for the submission of designs for the Nigerian national flag ahead of the independence of Nigeria from British rule on October 1, 1960.
Akinkunmi’s design for the Nigerian national flag, which featured a white band flanked by two green ones and a red sun with streaming rays, was selected in 1958 among about 2,000 entries, as the winning entry because of its ingenuity and profundity.
The flag was officially hoisted on Nigeria’s Independence Day, October 1, 1960, in replacement of the British Union Jack. Pa Akinkunmi was awarded 100 pounds by the government for his design of the flag.
In an interview during his lifetime, he said: “I took details of what is expected to design a flag that would be used by a country that was about to witness independence. I took part in the competition and my design was selected as the best in the year 1958.”
He was honoured with Officer of the Order of Federal Republic (OFR) and honorary life presidential adviser on 29 September 2014 at the Conference Centre Abuja.
Akinkunmi received the Officer of the Order of Federal Republic (OFR) Award from President Goodluck Jonathan and honorary life presidential adviser on September 29, 2014, at the Conference Centre Abuja.
