The Nigerian flag was designed by Mr Michael Taiwo Akinkumi in 1959. The Yoruba man was born in Ibadan on the 10th of May 1936. As an electrical engineering student at the Norwood Technical College, London, he came across an advertisement in the national daily paper about a competition for the design of the national flag, and he immediately picked an interest and submitted his entry to the panel in
Lagos State.

Mr Taiwo deservedly emerged the winner and was awarded a whopping prize of 100,000 naira, which was a fortune back in the days. However, even though his design was the best, the original design was given a little modification by the judges to better suit what they had in mind.

Taiwo’s original design of the Nigerian flag was a little more intricate than what you see today. It had the image of a red blazing sun in the white space in between which the judges apparently felt was not necessary and as such, it was removed. The picture below shows what Akinwumi came up with before the alterations.
[Naij.com]

Why was the sun removed ? I tried researching on our old emblems and flags for insignia like the sun.

1. Prior to akinkunmi's design I found no previous flag bearing the sun symbol.
2. Post independence, the flag of the eastern region had a sun in it. (see d pic)
3. On declaration of Biafra, the adopted flag had a sun symbol on it.
4. The adopted green on our flag , does it represent Agriculture or Arewa?

Questions.
1. For how long has eastern Nigeria been associated with the sun?
2. Who were the judges overseeing the flag design competition?
3. Could the East's relationship with the sun , be a reason why it was removed from akinkunmi's entry?
4. If the answer to number 3 is affirmative, could it be that the sectional issues that plague us , have a longer history than we know of?