- Tinubu said the late Akinkunmi “dedicated his life to the service of the nation, sharing knowledge and experience with old and young, and inspiring many to think and act patriotically”
President Bola Tinubu has mourned the passing away of the designer of the Nigerian flag, Taiwo Akinkunmi, saying he left a generational legacy.
Tinubu in a statement, Wednesday by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale also condoled with the family of the late patriot
Akinkunmi passed away at the age of 87.
The President said the late Akinkunmi “dedicated his life to the service of the nation, sharing knowledge and experience with old and young, and inspiring many to think and act patriotically”.
“The President affirms that the Green and White flag is a legacy that has consistently reflected the fruitfulness, resilience, and harmony enjoyed by the nation, and the boldness and uniqueness with which Nigerians characteristically reach for and achieve success around the world.
“President Tinubu believes Pa Akinkunmi lived and worked for the greatness of the country, and rests eternally with a place of honour in Nigeria’s history,” the statement read.
Pa Akinwumi hailed from Owu in Abeokuta, Ogun state, but was born and grew up in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He attended Baptist Day Secondary School, Idi-Ikan, Ibadan for his primary education and Ibadan Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan for his secondary education.
After his secondary education, he worked briefly at the defunct Western Region Secretariat, Ibadan, before he gained admission to study electrical engineering at Norwood Technical College, London.
Akinkunmi was in the United Kingdom studying when he saw an advertisement in a library calling for entries on designs of the national flag, applied and emerged as the designer of the green-white-green Nigerian flag in 1958 in view of the imminent Independence from British governance.
Upon his return to the country in 1963, Akinkunmi went back to the agricultural department at the Secretariat in Ibadan to continue where he stopped.
He worked as a civil servant until 1994 and retired as Assistant Superintendent of Agriculture.
He was honoured with Officer of the Order of Federal Republic (OFR) and honorary life presidential adviser on 29 September 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Conference Centre Abuja.
His heroic feat as the designer of the Nigerian flag earned him the nickname ‘Mr Flag Man’.