Alfred George Tekenate Spiff

Alfred George Tekenate Spiff Studied 1961-1962

Alfred George Tekenate Spiff was born in Twon Brass, Rivers State, Nigeria, in 1926, his father an Archdeacon for the Anglican Diocese on the Niger, of the Church of Nigeria. Alfred attended Okrika Boys School and the Bishop Crowther Memorial School, Abonnema, before entering the Dennis Memorial Grammar School at Onitsha, completing his secondary education in 1945. He passed the Public Works Department examination, with distinction, and served as an Architectural Assistant in Kaduna from 1947-50. He was then accepted on a six-month training course at the PWD school in Lagos in 1950, followed by three years of architectural study at the Technical Institute in Yaba. A move to the University of Sheffield, UK, followed, funded by an Eastern Nigeria Government Scholarship. He graduated in 1958 with a BA (Hons) degree in Architecture and then worked for the London County Council Architects’ Department from 1958-1960. In January 1960, Alfred travelled from Liverpool to Lagos and his appointment as an Architect at the Ministry of Works, Enugu, from July 1961, was duly announced in the Eastern Nigeria Gazette. Presumably as training for his new role, he returned to England, on a British Council scholarship, in order to take a place on the Architectural Association Department of Tropical Studies post-graduate course from September 1961. The Eastern Nigeria Gazette records his return and assumption of his duties within the Ministry of Works from April 1962. He was subsequently promoted to the role of a Chief Architect in 1964, serving in the capacity for the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70. During 1970, following the end of hostilities, Spiff moved to Rivers State, where he was employed as it’s first Chief Architect. He was responsible for establishing the Rivers State Housing Corporation and served as its first General Manager from 1972-1976, his major achievements including the development and construction of the Elekahia and Rumuibekwe housing estates in Port Harcourt. In 1976 Alfred retired from public service to up his own practice, ‘A.G. Spiff and Partners’, based in Port Harcourt. Amongst the major works completed by his practice are the Union Bank Headquarters Building, Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt and the Federal Mortgage Bank Headquarters Building, Calabar, Cross River State, whilst also playing a significant role in the Finima Town Relocation Project in Rivers State. He was the first Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and a President of the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt in 1978, also serving as Diocesan Building Adviser to the Niger Delta Diocese. He was instated as Chief Ada VIII, of Ada-Ama (Gbobokiri), Twon Brass, in 1989. Following his tragic murder in 1994, whilst travelling by boat from Port Harcourt to Spiff, an annual memorial lecture was set up in his name by the Rivers State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects.

Sources

Architectural Association Student Register, 1961-62. AA Archives
Architectural Association Council Minutes, 19th February, 1962. AA Archives
The National Archives, UK; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-
Eastern Nigeria Gazette, Vol. 10, No. 1, 5th January, 1961, p.562
Eastern Nigeria Gazette, Vol. 11, No. 2, 4th January, 1962, p.261
Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette, Vol. 57, No. 40, 9th July, 1970, p934
The African Guardian, 28th February, 1994, p10
Brief Biography of the Late Chief A.G.T. Spiff ADA VIII of Ada-Ama (Gbobkiri), Twon Brass, author and publisher unknown, 1994. [Received through personal correspondence with Chief A.G. Tons Spiff, 31st July, 2025]
‘Nigerian Institute of Architects Inaugurates New Exco… Celebrates World Habitat Day’, The Newswriter, October 4th, 2012. Accessed: 24th June, 2025: https://www.thenewswriterng.com/2012/10/04/nigerian-institute-of-architects-inaugurates-new-exco-celebrates-world-habitat-day/
Personal correspondence, Chief A.G. Tons Spiff, 31st July, 2025.