Old PA Micheal Taiwo Akinkunmi a.k.a Mr flag man, is know as the man who designed the Nigerian Flag in the year 1959 and was first hoisted in October 1st 1960. Taiwo Akinkunmi who was a student at Norwood Technical College in London where he studied electrical engineering, emerged winner of the National flag design contest, organized by the College.
PA Taiwo who was never honoured for designing 'The Nigerian Flag', has been living in a very bad condition all these years. Many people even referred to him as 'Hero without Honour', until when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (Nigeria's President) , conferred 313 people with national honours on Monday September 29thDesigner of Nigeria flag Taiwo Akinkunmi, was among the people conferred with the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic. In addition to this, President GEJ, directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, to place Pa Akinkunmi on life salary.
Speaking to news crew, PA Taiwo Akinkunmi who was represented by his son Akinwunmi Akinkunmi said:
“Baba is very happy. We thank President Jonathan for this gesture. We are indeed appreciative of this because you all know that Baba has been neglected in the past. I am sure that this honour will spur Nigerians to continue to contribute to the development of the country,’’
Meanwhile, the Original design of the flag is to have a Red Sun embedded in the white background displaying steaming rays but was remove to give way for the GREEN -WHITE-GREEN we have today.
Credit: Nairaland
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