Port Harcourt - History

History

Port Harcourt was founded in 1913 by the British colonial administration of Nigeria The purpose of Port Harcourt was to export the coal which geologist Albert Ernest Kitson had discovered in Enugu in 1909. The colonial government caused the people of Diobu to cede their land and by 1913 the building of a port-town was started. Other villages that were later absorbed into the city included Oroworukwo, Mkpogua and Rumuomasi; In the creeks to the south of the original port were the fishing camps and grounds of the Okrika-Ijaw group.

During World War I Port Harcourt was used as a point for military operations against the Central Powers in German Kamerun. After the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri in 1956, Port Harcourt exported the first shipload from Nigeria in 1958. Port Harcourt became the centre of the Nigerian oil economy and it subsequently reaped benefits of its associations with the petroleum industry by undergoing modernisation and urbanisation. Port Harcourt's growth is further due to its position as the commercial centre and foremost industrial city of the former Eastern Region; its position in the Niger Delta; and its importance as the centre of social and economic life in Rivers State. After the Republic of Biafra seceded from Nigeria in 1967 Port Harcourt fell to Nigerian forces on May 19, 1968. A 1973 social survey found that migrants made up 72 percent of Port Harcourt's population. From an area of 15.54 km2 in 1914, Port Harcourt grew uncontrolled to an area of 360 km2 in the 1980s.