Sports heroes from around the world including Abebe Bikila, Pelé, Muhammad Ali, and Jesse Owens were invited to attend the opening ceremonies.

Ben Jipcho, Kenya's 3000 meter silver medalist at the Munich Olympics, tied the world record in the steeplechase with a run of 8:20.8.

African nations continued to put pressure on South Africa which was not invited to participate due to their apartheid policies.

At the closing ceremonies the torch was passed to Algiers, Algeria to begin preparations for the IIIrd All-Africa Games in 1978.

*   Host nation (Nigeria)Only one athlete defended his title from the 1965 Games, namely Malian discus thrower Namakoro Niaré.