This 1968 photo shows Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama during the Nigerian Civil War, alongside women attached to the 3 Marine Commando unit—likely serving as support personnel rather than frontline soldiers.

Alabi-Isama was Chief of Staff to Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle and a key strategist in the war. His planning, especially the famous “Pincer 2” operation, helped liberate today’s Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and Bayelsa States, and played a major role in bringing the conflict to an end.

After the war, he became an author and statesman. His book, The Tragedy of Victory (2013), remains one of the most detailed accounts of the Civil War from a commander’s perspective.