I read the interview Diete-Spiff had with the Punch Newspaper correspondent on this site: http://www.punchng.com/feature/interview/national-youth-service-scheme-favours-north-over-south-diete-spiff/

I have a question about the intelligence of journalists and the short term nature of national memory:

Why was he not asked about his role in the 'Abandoned Property' saga in Port Harcourt and how come no one remembers that (reading the comments on the Punch website')?

By age 25, in 1967, you were already a naval lieutenant commander and military governor of Rivers State. How did all of that happen that early in your life?

I had always wanted to be a sea-faring officer. I got my inspiration from my father who, in one inspired moment, called his youngest children and said to my immediate elder brother, you will be a reverend gentleman and this young man, that is me, will be a marine captain. I was so excited. I worked towards it. Even at the age of 12, he had taught us air riffles. In 1955, when the West African Airways advertised for pilots. I was only 13 years of age then, and I had the cutting of that advertisement. I was that keen on flying, but my old man had also implanted in me the idea of being a marine captain. So, the only way to achieve both my ambition and his wish and blessing for me was to join the Nigerian Navy, which had just been formed in 1959. I joined the merchant Navy and transferred to the Nigerian Navy in 1961. I trained at the HMS Kwara at Apapa. The commander identified me as a serious cadet and got me transferred from the Inland Waterways to the Navy. Then, I was able to train as a navigator and also a gunner. My father was a keen conservative. He was a hunter. He used to shoot elephants, hippos and animals like that. I grew up a hunter myself. I had a combination of being able to fly with the Navy, navigate with the Navy and also shoot those big guns. My life has been full of surprises.

So, how did you become governor?

I was sitting quietly on board my ship HMS Benin, with my 2IC (Second-in-command), Admiral Murtala Nyako, the present governor of Adamawa State, when it was announced that I had been appointed the military governor of Rivers State. It happened just like that. So, I handed the ship over to Nyako and went into the political arena. That was where I was until 1975, when we were shown the way out, when Gen. Yakubu Gowon, was overthrown by Murtala Muhammed and his cohorts. Then in 1978, my people made me the king of Twon, Brass, a coastal community, which played a great role in the abolition of slave. There, I am, still navigating the sea; doing the things that I love doing.

Two weeks ago, this interview page featured Gen. Gowon (retd) and he said his government was going to make Nigeria a world power. As a governor of a state during that regime, what can you say about the development of the country then, especially with the oil boom?

Let’s face it. There were 12 state governors at the time. I was just one of the 12. Today, we are talking of 36 governors. Then, people knew we were a no-nonsense government. There was no politics or talking left, right and centre. It was a matter of there is a job to be done, let’s get it done in the most efficient manner. Some of us went to school and trained as military officers. We were trained to be efficient. If you are going to war; go and get the job done. Don’t use two bullets when one will do the job.

You became governor of Rivers State, the year the Civil War started, and your state was in the region that was called Biafra. How did you manage the situation?

We had 12 states, some people said they wanted to go away and become a country on their own, forgetting that some people in that region, still wanted to remain as Nigerians. That was how the very unnecessary war, which started as a police action, and had to escalate to a full-fledged war, began and lasted for two and half years. You can imagine the hardship and the amount of victimisation that took place on those who told their abductors and captors that they were not part of the war effort. My people said they didn’t want to leave Nigeria. You can imagine what they suffered. We did what we did to make sure Nigeria remained one. During the war, I could not go back to the state that had been created for the Rivers people. I had to stay in Lagos, at 24 Queens Drive, to run the show until, January 1970, when all those areas were liberated and the war had come to an end. And those who had lost had to take off to foreign lands. But the beauty of it all is that at the end of that war, the Nigerian government under Gen. Gowon said no victor, no vanquished. That was an achievement that has been acclaimed all over the world, even as of today. But then we that stood by and insisted that Nigeria must remain as one ended up being given the boot and dismissed from the Navy, other services and our careers; while those who were on the other side of the line came back, were promoted and given medals. That is the level of sacrifice some of us have made for this country called Nigeria.

When you said some people wanted to remain in Nigeria, were you referring to South-South people?

I said, the South-East wanted to pull out; their officers came back after the war and were reinstated and promoted, but I was shown the way out. That is life. This part of the sacrifices we have made for Nigeria. I was the youngest governor ever in this country. I was 24 years old, going to 25 when I was made governor. And I was shown the way out at the age of 33. And nobody cared how I fed and survived, even up to date. But we’ve survived by the grace of God, bodily strength and the use of our number six. This country should realise that we are the people who sacrificed everything for this country to remain one. We still believe in that. Thank God we are being vindicated. One day, the truth will come out that we sacrificed a lot for this country. I was dismissed from the Navy and my rank was taken away but was restored later. Even my house was taken away from me. In Port Harcourt today, I live in rented quarters. It is as bad as that. But Nigeria continues as one Nigeria and that is my achievement.

You said the war was unnecessary. But with the level agitation amongst ethnic nationalities and the fact that people still question the 1914 amalgamation of North and South, don’t you think the people who wanted to secede had a point?

There are differences. Education wise, the South was more advanced. The North was not quite ready, even for self-government in 1955. It had to slow down the process till 1957. They did very well to catch up with the rest of the country. Politically, they were very astute and today they are still very articulate. So, you now have a situation where we must learn to tolerate one another. It’s about give and take. This country has been together since. It is not about the amalgamation. The British had their own programme. They had the North, which they had overrun with military operation; and the South, which they had taken over with treatise and protectorate deals. The land tenure system in the North was different from that of the South. They amalgamated these two, so you can see that it was like mixing sand and garri. They look alike but they are not the same. But it can blend or be made to blend. After 100 years of staying together, we should be able to give ourselves that tolerance and cooperate with one another. Definitely, I will not say the amalgamation was not a welcome development, but it was not popular. However, it suited the British. If some people say after 100 years we should review the amalgamation like Hong Kong did, they should bring their papers. These are some of the things President Goodluck Jonathan, would like to see. That is why he constituted the committee on national dialogue to go round the country, collate all these information, after which a body will be set up to diagnose all these and proffer solution so that we can enter a new marriage with our eyes open.

That means you support the proposed national conference.

Yes. I do.

What are the Ijaw going to demand at the conference?

We have already made our presentation. Leave all those who are arguing about whether it should national conference or sovereign national conference. It is all about semantics. Let us discuss. Those who have documents should bring them out and put them on the table and let’s find an agreed and well-articulated solution. It is not an issue of hide-and-seek or bluffing; if you have anything to say come and say it now, or forever hold your peace. Every man wants to play his own politics. Gowon was there as the most powerful African after Chaka de Zulu, he’s now praying for Nigeria. Everybody has a role to play; you come on stage, you do your best, you leave. I hear people say the youth are the leaders of tomorrow, but I say the youth had better buckled up, if not they will never lead this country. They should not wish the old people away without showing that they can offer something better.

Before the emergence of President Jonathan, the Ijaw have been crying marginalisation. Now Jonathan, an Ijaw man, has been President for over four years, are the Ijaw still marginalised?

You have just touched a sore point. The eastern group says their zone has only five states, while other zones have six and seven. Ask us in Bayelsa, we have only eight local governments. The minimum number of local government areas in a state should be 10, according to the constitution. As we speak, officially we have only eight, while some other states like Kano have as much as 44. If that is not marginalisation, what is? So, when you share revenue or you do delineation of constituencies, we get only the much that accrues to eight local governments. We have four people in the House of Representatives, while others have 24. Any time this thing comes up, it is those in the National Assembly that vote it down. They would say ‘go and keep quiet, after all you have a state, why are you complaining.’ I was told that by Gen. Jeremiah Useni and all the others. We said okay, leave us to create our own local governments, they said no. It has also been written in the constitution.

But isn’t there anything President Jonathan has done to address this?

He is one man and under the political system, there is not much he can do. People were saying they wanted a sovereign national conference, he said here is a committee that will go round and bring recommendations on what name it should be called and what the terms of reference should be. What is wrong with that? But the very same people, who were asking for sovereign conference, were the same ones who said they don’t want to talk to the committee. Is that the sort of politics we call democracy? You go right, you are wrong, you go left, you are wrong, you stand still you are wrong. Some people are just being mischievous. Under such circumstance, what can the President do? He has to wait for his committee’s recommendations. Those that do not submit what they want to this national conference committee are enemies of this country and should be condemned squarely by the people.

There has been stiff opposition to Jonathan’s bid to go for a second term as President, particularly from the North. And some Ijaw youths, ex-militant leader, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo in particular, have threatened chaos if Jonathan does not get it. What do you think about this?

Politics is politics. There is the referee, the lines men are there; there are 11 players on both sides. That is the rule of the game. In politics, you can say what you like but majority carries the day. Everybody is saying what they wish to see. The North says it should be their turn to take over. The rule says everybody is entitled to two terms. Remember when Jonathan came in, he sent a bill to the National Assembly to change this thing to one term of six years. And it was turned down by the lawmakers in their wisdom or lack of it. So, he is entitled to a second term. They were given a chance to change the system but they didn’t take it. Politics is a game and the rule says you are entitled to four years and four years again. After we in the Niger Delta have had our turn and the thing swings across, it would be in another 48 years that a Niger Deltan will be eligible to be considered for the office of the President again; that is if all the six zones have their eight years each. So, we said, ‘Jonathan, move, we no fear, you are in charge.’ Some of us are not going to live for another 48 years, this our golden age, let us finish out turn and hand over to the next group. If people are ready to tolerate each other, they will know that we have a point. The question to ask is: is he doing a good job? Can we get somebody from the Niger Delta, who can do better than him? The answer is clear. The man went to school; he worked in the intervention body called OMPADEC (Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission) then, so he understands the problem of the Niger Delta and the nation. He became deputy governor, he served in that position. He became governor, he served in that position. He became Vice-President, he served in that position. He became President and he is serving in that position. Who else in the Niger Delta is as qualified as he is to continue and finish the race? When you look at his experience and exposure, you will see that he is our best champion. Moreover, he has learnt on the job. Nigeria should be among the top 20 economies in the world in the year 2020; we set that target for ourselves. The most qualified person to finish that race is Jonathan.

There is an ongoing political crisis in the River State, believed to be caused by the quarrel between the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and President Jonathan. From your perspective, what really is the problem and what has Niger Delta elders done to resolve it?

You said there is a problem. The governor does not agree that there is a problem and the President does not agree that there is a problem. There is no problem. Parallel lines don’t meet. One man was voted to be governor of a state and the other one is voted to be the President. It is a political situation. The traditional rulers tried to intervene and everybody said there is no problem. So, what do you do? It’s all rumour. The press said there is a problem, but the people involved said there is no problem. It is as ridiculous as that. If the two parties do not meet a mediator, can anybody mediate? They said there is no problem.

There was a report that a journalist, who wrote about a teacher strike, when you were governor, was publicly flogged and his hair was shaven by one of your aides. What really happened?

That is the celebrated Amachree case; it’s another ridiculous thing. Even the judge that sat on the case knew he was biased. If I begin to open up those things, there would be many fallouts. Let’s just say let sleeping dogs lie.

Generally, are there national policies and programmes you think need to be abolished or reviewed?

There are many, but the most burning one is that I was a member of the Supreme Military Council when this thing called National Youth Service Corps was introduced. I think that thing should now be scrapped. The first reason: the name of the Corps is National Youth Service Corps, but are we actually reaching out to Nigerian youth with that programme? The answer is no. We are reaching out to only the graduates; the privileged few who have been through the university and other higher education institutions. They are given one-year jamboree and used as slaves, because they are not paid the appropriate salary for their grade. You now send them to different parts of the country to become teachers and so on. The people in the North will come to the Niger Delta and will be posted to the oil companies, while my own children will go to Sokoto and other parts of the North to teach. After one year, the people who came to Rivers and served in Agip, Shell, Total and other oil companies, get acquainted with the officers of those companies, while my own son does not know them. So, the youth from the North are more likely to get jobs in those oil companies than my son. That means his natural inheritance is now being swapped by some clever manoeuvres. How long will this sort of thing go on all in the name of national unity? In advance countries, every youth, who reaches 18 years of age goes and does military service for one year. Let us scrap the youth service programme, which actually should be renamed as graduate service if we want to continue with it, and introduce a youth service which will touch every 18 year old. Every 18 year old should go and do one year military service. If they are in the university, whenever they graduate, they should go and do theirs.

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My quick take on this man is that he is a coward and very dishonest man.

Can anybody please help me make sense of this statement (while talking about the amalgamation of North and South by the British):

They amalgamated these two, so you can see that it was like mixing sand and garri. They look alike but they are not the same. But it can blend or be made to blend.

This is what I call convoluted speak.