How Coal in Enugu led to creation of Port Harcourt- (Rivers state Nigeria )

The city now known as Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State in Southern Nigeria, was originally called Iguocha—a name believed to derive from the Igbo expression “Ụ́gwụ́ Ọ́chá,” often interpreted as “Bright Hill” or “White Ridge.” When the British colonial administration sought a coastal outlet for exporting the newly discovered coal deposits in Enugu (found in 1909), they established a port city along the Bonny River. In 1913, Governor-General Lord Frederick Lugard renamed the area Port Harcourt in honor of Lord Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1863–1922), the then Secretary of State for the Colonies. Its primary purpose was to serve as the export terminal for Enugu coal to Britain.

Historical Relationship Between Port Harcourt and the Igbo People
• Early Settlement and Cultural Links:
Before colonial development, the area now called Port Harcourt and its surrounding villages were inhabited by communities with deep cultural and commercial ties to the Ikwerre, an ethnic group whose language and cultural patterns show strong historical connections to the wider Igbo cultural sphere. Many scholars consider the Ikwerre to be part of the larger Igboid linguistic group.
• Igbo Migration and Urban Growth:
As the port city expanded under colonial rule, thousands of Igbo people from various regions—particularly from Imo, Abia, and Anambra—migrated to Iguocha/Port Harcourt in search of work in railways, docks, coal transport, and emerging industries. By the mid-20th century, Igbo traders, artisans, and professionals played a major role in shaping the city’s commercial identity.
• The Railway Connection:
The Enugu–Port Harcourt railway, completed between 1913 and 1916, linked the Igbo hinterland directly to the coast. This line strengthened the economic integration between Igbo populations and the growing port city, making Port Harcourt a strategic lifeline for Eastern Nigeria.
• Cultural Influence:
Markets, festivals, and social institutions in early Port Harcourt bore strong Igbo influences, as Igbo-speaking populations became an essential part of the city’s demographic and economic structure.

A photo captures Lt. Colonel Chris Ugokwe (left) and Brigadier Muhammadu Buhari sharing a meal with a chilled bottle of Coca-Cola sometime in the early 1980s. The relaxed moment reflects a bond rooted in their long military service, years of shared discipline, and the camaraderie that defined officers of their generation.

Both men joined the Nigerian Army in the early 1960s. Ugokwe would later recount that he enlisted on the exact same day as Muhammadu Buhari and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, a coincidence that tied their careers together from the very beginning.

Ugokwe’s service took a dramatic turn after the July 1966 “reprisal coup.” Although he was officially placed on army leave, the atmosphere in the North had become dangerous for officers of Eastern Nigerian origin. His safety—and ultimately his survival—was secured through the intervention of Lt. Colonel Hassan Usman Katsina, the then governor of the Northern Region, under whom Ugokwe served as aide-de-camp.

In September 1966, as tensions escalated and the situation deteriorated further, Katsina personally ensured Ugokwe’s escape from the North. He was discreetly escorted to safety, marking the end of a perilous chapter and the beginning of his withdrawal from an army he had joined alongside some of Nigeria’s most consequential military figures.

Today in November 1968, the Biafran town of Uli—home to the famous “Uli Airstrip” (code-named Annabelle)—became the most bombed piece of runway in Africa.

Despite this, it remained Biafra’s only lifeline, with relief and arms flights landing only at night, guided by lanterns, cigarette lights, and sometimes even the glow of burning buildings.

Pilots described landing there as:

“Racing a ghost down a strip of darkness while the world watched Biafra starve.”

Meanwhile, thousands of starving civilians gathered silently in the surrounding forests each night, waiting to hear the rumble of aircraft—the sound that meant food, hope, and survival.

Obasanjo removed History from our school.
A Yoruba man called obasanjo removed History from our school because history didn't favor them
THE Yoruba COUP THAT LED TO THE EXTERMINATION OF TAFAWA BALEWA

Since Nigeria became independent in 1960, there have been five military coups. Between 1966 and 1999 carried out by different officers in the Nigerian Army, Non of this coups were given an ethnic coloration except that of 1966 tagged IGBO coup but in reality, that coup was a Yoruba coup but their manipulated the whole story to be against Igbo tribe considering their intention which was meant to release Awolowo (a Yoruba man) from prison and install him as the Prime Minister. taking advantage of their numbers the Yorubas amongst them suggested they Ki|| Tafawa Balewa so Awolowo can emerge. this was a well planned coup to save their tribesman, so it was a Yoruba coup if we're to tag it based on ethnicity.
So, let's take a look at the list of the coup plotters and their tribes:-

1. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu(Igbo)
2. Major Adewale Ademoyega (Yoruba) author of "Why we struck"
3. Capt. G. Adeleke(Yoruba)
4. Maj. Ifeajuna(Igbo)
5. Lt. Fola Oyewole(Yoruba) author of "The reluctant rebel"
6. Lt. R. Egbiko(Esan)
7. Lt. Tijani Katsina(Hausa/Fulani)
8. Lt. O. Olafemiyan(Yoruba)
9. Capt. Gibson Jalo(Bali)
10. Capt. Swanton(Middle Belt)
11. Lt. Hope Harris Eghagha (Urhobo)
12. Lt. Dag Warribor(Ijaw)
13. 2nd Lt. Saleh Dambo(Hausa)
14. 2nd Lt. John Atom Kpera (Tiv).

There you have it. But I’m sure that apart from Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna, you probably never heard of the names of the other guys and the question is why? you probably never heard that the number of northerners who plotted the coup to exterminate their brother (Tafawa Balewa) was more than the Igbos right? That's because of the power of media. Yorubas was in charge of all newspapers in Nigeria then so they manipulated it. But today northerners are waking up to see their real enemy.

out of 14 coup plotters 4 are Yorubas and only 2 are Igbos yet it was tagged an Igbo coup? this is because some elements deliberately chose to tell a one sided story to further their ill agenda against a particular tribe and people; and after over 50 years the war ended, this same people are still hellbent on selling this same old and erroneous and fallacious narrative for the same primordial agenda.
But today we say no we must tell our children all Igbo blood the real story and history. Follow Justice ozobi if you wish to learn more.
this evil narrative instigated the civil war and the counter coup that led to the extermination of Gen Johnson Aguiyi Irosi an Igbo military head of state who never participated in the coup, same narrative further raised the uproar and animosity that led to the massacre of thousands of Igbos living in the North before the real genocide of Igbos even began. And you are telling me Yorubas are not wicked??
Some of you igbo brothers are funny.
You really don't know your enemy

Follow us let me expose more history that their banned in school

Relax
Am still coming for more.
My dad was once a history teacher so I no everything about Nigeria

Follow Justice ozobi

We bring the history to your door steep.

Without lies and compromise.

The news of the capture and summary execution of Brigadier General M. Uba by ISWAP really broke my mind. Back to where we stopped.
If terrorists can move freely like this, what is "sovereign" about Nigeria? Some people were shouting "Nigeria is a sovereign nation. We don't need America! We don't need anyone!"
But let us tell ourselves the truth. What kind of sovereignty allows t£rror!sts to capture and k!ll a whole General like a common recruit?
Because if terrorists can cross our borders at will, enter our villages at will, ambush military convoys at will, take entire towns at will, and now capture a Brigadier General..Then what exactly are we protecting with this so-called
"sovereignty"? Is it sovereignty when terrorists are the ones controlling forests, highways, and communities? Is it sovereignty when commanders are killed and everywhere stays silent? We opposed the USA when they wanted to help Nigeria destroy terrorists. We shouted "Don't interfere!" "Don't touch our sovereignty!"But what is left to protect when terrorists already operate like a government inside a government? A country that cannot secure its land is not sovereign. It is vulnerable.
A country where terrorists can humiliate the military is not sovereign. It is under siege. A country that refuses international help while soldiers die is not sovereign. It is stubborn to its own destruction.
If a General can fall like this, then all of us are näk£d. This is not the time for pride. take entire towns at will, and now capture a Brigadier General...
Then what exactly are we protecting with this so-called
"sovereignty"?
Is it sovereignty when t£rror!sts are the ones controlling forests, highways, and communities?
Is it sovereignty when commanders are k!ll£d and everywhere stays silent?
We opposed the USA when they wanted to help Nigeria destroy t£rror!sts.
We shouted "Don't interfere!" "Don't touch our sovereignty!"
But what is left to protect when t£rror!sts already operate like a government inside a government?
A country that cannot secure its land is not sovereign. It is vulnerable.
A country where t€rror!sts can humiliate the military is not sovereign. It is under siege.
A country that refuses international help while soldiers d!e is not sovereign. It is stubborn to its own destruction.
If a General can fall like this, then all of us are näk€d.
This is not the time for pride.
This is not the time for ego.
This is the time to ask
What is sovereignty worth if it cannot save a single
Nigerian life?

Igboland Is Not Southeast, See 1856 and 1911 Map of Igboland by British Researchers

For those with good knowledge of history, the geographical location of Igbos and Igboland is one of the earliest well defined with its coordinate as far back as 1856 before Nigeria came into Existence.This is the official documentation of Igbo boundaries, a people who have lived in the forest region for thousands of years. This is also the Igbo cultural areas (ICA).

The maps and descriptions below describes Igboland and not southeast. Southeast was created following balkanization of old Eastern Region in 1967,almost over 100 years after igboland is already defined in 1856.

#uruallatv #Igboland southeast

Sundiata Keita – The Lion King of Mali

Long before the world heard of Mansa Musa’s golden empire,
there was a boy — a boy who could not walk, a boy mocked by his own people,
a boy who would one day rise to become Sundiata Keita, the first Lion King of Mali.

His story did not begin with strength, but with prophecy and pain.

Sundiata was born in the 13th century to King Maghan Kon Fatta of Mali and his second wife, Sogolon Kedjou — a woman many called “the Buffalo Woman” because of the prophecy that her son would one day become a mighty king.

But at birth, Sundiata could not walk.
He crawled while other children ran.
He listened while others laughed.
He endured whispers that he would never rule anything.

Yet inside him was a quiet fire — a destiny waiting for the right moment.

---

When Sundiata was still a child, tragedy struck.
His father died, and a rival queen — jealous of Sogolon — forced Sundiata and his family into exile.
So they wandered from kingdom to kingdom, strangers in foreign lands.
But exile became his teacher.

He learned languages, studied cultures, and trained with warriors across West Africa.
Every hardship sharpened him.
Every insult strengthened him.
Every journey prepared him for the throne he was born to claim.

---

Then came the darkness.

Back home, a powerful conqueror named Sumanguru Kanté, king of the Sosso, rose like a shadow over Mali.
He burned villages, controlled trade routes, and brought fear where there was once peace.
The Mali people, once proud, were now desperate.

And so, messengers traveled across the savannah, seeking the boy they once mocked —
the boy who had now become a man.

They said, “Sundiata, your people need you.”

That was the moment the Lion stood up.

---

Sundiata returned with the strength of an army and the wisdom of a seasoned leader.
He united the Mandinka clans — something no ruler had achieved before.
He brought archers, cavalry, and warriors from lands he once wandered as an exile.

His banner was not just war.
It was hope.

At the Battle of Kirina in 1235, Sundiata faced Sumanguru.

Legend says the earth shook.
Arrows darkened the sky.
War cries echoed through the plains.

But Sundiata fought with intelligence, not just force.
He used superior tactics, outmaneuvered his enemy, and struck with precision.
By the end of the battle, Sumanguru was defeated — and Mali was free.

---

With victory came transformation.

Sundiata united the regions into one powerful empire —
the Mali Empire, one of Africa’s greatest civilizations.

He created laws known as the Kurukan Fuga Charter, one of the earliest constitutions in human history.
He reorganized trade, protected farmers, and strengthened alliances.
Under him, Mali became a land of prosperity, justice, and unity.

Sundiata Keita began as a child who could not stand.
He became the Lion King who made an empire stand tall.

His story still echoes today —
a reminder that destiny is not given…
it is earned through courage, resilience, and purpose.

THE WONDERS IGBO PEOPLE ACHIEVED DURING THE BIAFRA WAR — A STORY OF RESILIENCE!

When the world shut its doors…
When hunger, bombs, and blockade surrounded the East…
The Igbo spirit stood tall.
Biafra became a land of impossible creativity and unbreakable courage.

1. OGBUNIGWE — The Biafran Bomb
Designed and produced locally under war conditions.
A weapon so effective that foreign nations later studied it.

2. Local Refineries
With total blockade, Igbo engineers built emergency refineries that produced petrol, diesel, and kerosene from scratch.

3. Handmade Armoured Cars
Mechanics and blacksmiths turned trucks and metal scraps into armored vehicles that shocked the world.

4. Uli Airport Runway
Built in days.
Operated only at night.
The lifeline of Biafra — the most dangerous runway on earth at the time.

5. Survival Foods
Despite starvation, Biafrans invented protein biscuits, powdered foods, and nutrient mixes that saved thousands of children.

6. Biafran Currency, Passports & Government
Even under siege, Biafra ran its own administration, minting money, printing stamps, and issuing passports.

7. Unbreakable Igbo Spirit
Communities fed each other.
Children walked miles for survival.
Church services continued under candlelight.
A people who refused to disappear.

The Biafran story is painful — but it is also beautiful.
It is the story of a people who turned suffering into strength, hopelessness into innovation, and war into a testimony of courage.

NDIGBO, YOU ARE AMAZING. NEVER FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM.

#BiafraHistory #IgboSpirit #Ndigbo #Resilience #NeverAgain #BiafraWarStories #IgboInnovation #AfricanHistory #StrengthInSuffering #BiafranHeroes #ProudlyIgbo #NeverForget

Kaduna Nzeogwu
The image is a photo of Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, a Nigerian military officer who played a leading role in the 1966 Nigerian c0up d'état.

Nzeogwu originally from okpanam Delta state was born on February 26, 1937, and di£d on July 29, 1967.
The c0up, codenamed "Operation Damisa," overthrew the First Nigerian Republic.
The c0up plotters' aim was to establish a strong, united, and prosperous nation free of corruption and internal strife.
Nzeogwu is quoted as having said in a letter to his friend, Major Olusegun Obasanjo, that he would establish a new Nigerian Army within Biafra comprising Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, and all other ethnic groups.

——————
Igbo History Since 3000bc

Ojukwu Saw Tomorrow And Knew Some Tribes Will Ferment Trouble

The Aburi Accord of January 1967 was not just a meeting; it was the last genuine chance for a peaceful, restructured Nigeria. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, haunted by the 1966 pogroms that slaughtered tens of thousands of Igbo and Easterners in the North, insisted on a loose confederation where no region could dominate another. Yakubu Gowon shook hands on it in Ghana. Both men agreed: true federalism, regional autonomy, and veto power on critical issues would end the cycle of ethnic suspicion and bloodshed.

But Britain had other plans. Shell-BP’s oil fields in the East were too lucrative to lose. British officials pressured Gowon to abandon Aburi, rewrite it into Decree No. 8, and recentralize power. When Ojukwu saw the betrayal, he made the only dignified choice left: on 30 May 1967, he declared the Republic of Biafra—not out of greed, but to protect his people from the very genocide the broken accord now made inevitable. Britain responded by arming, advising, and bankrolling the federal side, turning Nigerian soldiers into instruments of an imperial agenda while enforcing a blockade that starved over a million children.

Today, the chaos Aburi was designed to prevent has returned in full force: terrorist insurgencies, Fulani bandit massacres, farmer-herder carnage, and the slow-motion disintegration of trust between regions. The same Britain that once lectured Nigeria on “unity” now issues travel warnings for half the country and trains troops to contain the fire it helped ignite—yet offers no apology, no reparations, no acknowledgment.
History did not lie. Ojukwu saw it coming. Aburi was the road not taken.
“He who refuses to restructure peace today will spend tomorrow burying the dead of war.”— A lesson written in the blood Nigeria still sheds.

The religion we practice in Nigeria, especially since the 1990s, appears to be a sham religion. In a true religion, religious leaders are the conscience and shepherds of society. In times of injustice and oppression, they rarely remain silent. Therefore, they are considered the voice and mediators of the divine. How can it be explained that we have thousands of religious leaders/ personnel in this country that is soaked in blood, terror, injustice, and evil?

BREAKING NEWS ❗️

Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has condemned the continued detention of popular Anambra native doctor Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki, demanding his immediate release.

Akwa Okuko was invited for a meeting with the Deputy Governor, Dr. Gilbert Ibezim, but was detained upon arrival and taken away in a police van. He has now spent months in custody without any official charge or explanation.

A viral video shows him saying he stopped preparing “Okeite” charms after the state government launched a clampdown on native practitioners.

Sowore accused Governor Charles Soludo of persecuting traditional worshippers while openly attending church crusades where “fake miracles” are performed. He questioned why practising traditional religion is now treated like a crime in Anambra.

Human rights group Intersociety had earlier reported that over 40 traditional worshippers were unlawfully detained in the state without trial, some held in illegal facilities far beyond constitutional limits.

Public outrage continues to grow, with many demanding transparency and the release of Akwa Okuko and others detained under similar circumstances.