The Aburi Conference of January 4-5 1967

Lt. Cmdr E.O.A. Makinde a few years later at the Royal Naval College in Greewich

The Aburi Talks were held under the auspices of the Ghanaian head of state General Ankrah in a bid to settle the crisis in Nigeria following the second army mutiny of 1966.

These clips of the aftermath of the conference are a real treasure.

And not merely because it shows rare archival footage of Lt. Colonels Gowon and Ojukwu looking relaxed and cordial in what was then looking to be a major stride towards averting the catastrophe of a civil war, but because I can spot my father, then a young naval lieutenant, looking on in the background as Gowon and Ojukwu toast each other.

Lt. Makinde attended in his capacity as the aide-de-camp to Commodore Wey, the head of the Nigerian Navy who became the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters during the military regime headed by Yakubu Gowon.

He can be seen third from right from 0.22 to 0.30 seconds.