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The designer of the Nigerian national flag, Taiwo Akinkunmi has been buried in Ibadan, Oyo State on Friday. The burial took place one year after the flag designer died on August 30, 2023, at the age of 87 years.

Speaking to BBC Focus on Africa podcast, late Akinkunmi’s son, Akinwumi Akinkunmi stated that the family decided to bury their father after failed promises from the government. He said they waited for a year for a promised state funeral from the Federal Government, which never materialized.

Akinkunmi pointed that ever since the promise of a state funeral was made, no plans were finalized. As a result, the family was left waiting.

The late “Mr. Flag Man’ son told the BBC that the family had been paying N2,000 a day to keep the body at a mortuary.

Akinkunmi, however, revealed that in June, the family discovered that the Arts ministry’s National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) was directed to sort out the state funeral.

He added that apart from one phone call, the institution failed to communicate further. Akinkunmi also pointed out that further waiting would sully his father’s name.

“We have to give him the befitting burial he deserves. My late father was easygoing and didn’t want anything to tarnish his image. He was well brought up; he was a brilliant man. And he a good person everyone wanted to associate with,” he told the BBC.

Akinwumi, however, stated that after the Federal Government failed to deliver on its promise, the Oyo State Government stepped in. It was, therefore, the Oyo State Government that funded the flag designer’s burial rites.

The late Taiwo Akinkunmi was born on 10 May 1936 in Ibadan, Oyo State. He was renowned for designing the Nigerian flag in 1958, for which he received a £100 award after his design was chosen.

 

source: Premium Times

 

 

 

 

 

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