By Obinna Unaeze
Minna – The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has urged public and private institutions in the country to hoist only the standard national flag in their premises.
Alhaji Mohammed Ali, the NOA Director in Niger, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.
“Our national flag with the colour green white green has standard and dimension. It is not just any material sewn according to any specification.
“Over the years, we have been sensitising the public on the need to hoist the flag properly in public offices and privately owned businesses.
“We celebrated the Ordinance Day on September 14th this year to honour the national flag,’’ he said.
He also said that it was an offence to hoist a substandard or tattered flag as the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) Brigade would go on routine checks to ensure compliance.
The NOA, he said, was the sole agency under the law saddled with the responsibility of producing the national flag for both the public and private sectors in the country.
Ali, who called on the public to purchase their flag from the National Headquarters of NOA or state offices, described it as a bicolour of green and white.
The two green strips, he said, represented the country’s natural wealth while the white band stood for peace.
He said that the agency produces the flag at a minimal cost ranging between 5,000 and N6, 000 for one.
The agency’s director said that the flag was being printed according to specification, adding that it was wrong to embed the coat of arms on the white in between the green as some do.
Ali also said that the national flag must be lowered at the end of work each day, noting that there must be flood light to illuminate it at night if it was still raised.
“ It is an offence to leave the national flag raised at night without light to illuminate it,’’ he said.
NAN recalls that the national flag was designed by Mr Michael Akinkunmi in 1959 and was first hoisted on Oct. 1, 1960.
(Edited and controlled by Mufutau Ojo)