The Nigerian flag has been treated largely with love and respect since it was raised in 1960. Sadly, till his death at the age of 87 in August 2023, its designer, Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, had little recognition, and his body remains cold in a morgue 10 months later.
It was in 1958, during the transition into an independent state, that the Nigerian government advertised a competition in a handful of newspapers, calling for the submission of flag designs.
Akinkunmi, then a 22-year-old student at Norwood Technical College, London, United Kingdom, registered his interest in the competition and submitted an entry: a rectangular flag divided into equal strips of green, white and green. On the white strip in the middle was the sun. The green color represented agriculture, and the white colour depicted peace. The red sun Akinkunmi drew in the middle of the flag represented energy.
Out of about 3,000 entries, Akinkunmi’s design was selected as the overall best. The red sun he had drawn in the middle of the flag was, however, removed, leaving Nigeria with a green, white and green flag.
The reason the red sun was taken out of Akinkunmi’s submission was never explained to him. He also never got much for creating the flag, even though some other Nigerians who made contributions to the country’s independence were recognised in public and essentially immortalised.
When Nigeria’s flag, which is made up of the colours green, white and green arranged horizontally, is flown in any part of the world, it is easily recognised, and Nigerians everywhere have learned to embrace its distinctive, uncomplicated and uncommon colours as part of their national pride and identity.
Samuel told FIJ that the Akinkunmi family was already planning to bury him when the government stepped in, pledging to honour him with “a proper state burial”.
“After my dad died on August 29, 2023, the entire family held a meeting and later reached an agreement that he would be buried between December 10 and 11, 2023,” Samuel told FIJ.
“However, that particular period coincided with the time representatives from the Oyo State Government came to pay a condolence visit to us.
“At the federal level, officials from the National Orientation Agency (NOA) also visited us.
“It was during their visit that they declared that because my father was a national hero, they were going to ensure that he was given a befitting state burial.
“Unfortunately, that was the last time we heard from the officials of both arms of government. Because of the pledge that they made, however, we were then left in a dilemma on what we were supposed to do next.
“We could no longer go ahead to bury my dad in our own little way as a family because the government had stepped in, and we also no longer heard from the government as per the promise they made.
“We wrote several mails to both the Oyo State Government and the federal government to call their attention to the promise they made, but we did not get any response from them.”
could be buried.
“In the last communication we had with the Oyo State Government, we were told to list all that the family would need for the burial, and we have forwarded it to them.
“We are, however, still waiting for a response from them.”
When Samuel was asked if the Oyo State Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism was aware of the level of unresponsiveness on the part of the government, he said, “Well, they are supposed to be involved in the burial, but we have not heard anything from them.”
The late Akinkunmi, whose wife died in 2019, is survived by three children and grandchildren.
When FIJ called Dotun Oyelade, the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, for comments on the matter, he said he would carry out an investigation and provide feedback by Thursday.
“I will investigate the complaint and get back to you on Thursday when I’m back to base,” he said.
FIJ also sent an email to the NOA for comments on Wednesday, but it had not been responded to at press time.
Source: FIJ.NG
