Lieutenant Commander Emmanuel Makinde: A Military Attache in Mess Dress

Lieutenant Commander Emmanuel Makinde, the Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian High Commission in London, photographed in the early 1970s at a function organised by the military section of the High Commission. (Image: Makinde Family Archive).

My father’s mess dress, modelled on that of the Royal Navy, consisted of the following:

. A mess jacket with aiguillettes, an ornamental braided cord ending with aiglets (metal tips), and shoulder boards

. A white waistcoat

. A white dress shirt with wing collar and black bow tie

. High-waisted, plain navy blue trousers

. Black dress shoes

Lieutenant Commander Makinde’s task as a naval attaché was to serve as the primary liaison figure between the Nigerian Navy and Britain’s maritime forces. This included his keeping abreast of the completing of the construction of two corvettes ordered by the Nigerian Navy by the British shipbuilding firm Vosper Thornycroft. NNS Otobo and NNS Dorina were commissioned in Portsmouth respectively on May 25^th, 1971 and December 8^th, 1972.

His liaison duties also covered the refurbishment of NNS Nigeria, the flagship of the Nigerian Navy. He attended the re-commissioning ceremony at Cammel Laird’s yard in Birkenhead, Merseyside on April 28th, 1972. Present at that event was the retired Captain James Rawe, the ex-Royal Navy Nigerian Navy pioneer who became the Principal Staff Officer and Commander of the Naval Base, Apapa. Rawe had planned the amphibious landings orchestrated by the Nigerian Navy during the Nigerian Civil War. My father arranged for the visit made by Rawe to Nigeria to naval installations in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar.

My Father’s 18-month-long posting to London ended in April, 1973.

Lieutenant Commander Makinde, who had previously served as the Flag Lieutenant and Flag Secretary to the Chief of Naval Staff, went on to become the Director of Naval Supplies.

He retired in 1982 at the rank of Captain.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2026).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.