Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, the man who designed the Nigerian national flag, has passed away at 87.
His son, Akinkunmi Akinwumi Samuel, confirmed his death on his Facebook post, captioned “Life is indeed transient; i can say boldly you live a life with a landmark. Continue to rest on, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R) Great Man has gone“.
Pa Akinkunmi was born on May 10, 1936, in Owu, Abeokuta, Ogun state. He attended Baptist Day Secondary School and Ibadan Grammar School in Ibadan for his primary and secondary education, respectively.
He later worked as a civil servant at the Secretariat in Ibadan before traveling overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.
In 1958, while he was abroad, he saw an advertisement in a newspaper inviting submissions of designs for the Nigerian flag in preparation for the country’s independence from Britain. He decided to enter the competition and came up with a simple but meaningful design. His design was chosen out of more than 2000 entries.
Pa Akinkunmi’s design was officially adopted as the Nigerian flag on October 1, 1960.
