Timeline of Port Harcourt

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This is a timeline of the history of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria.

19th century

• 1869 – A civil war in the Bonny Kingdom splits the polity into rival houses; Jaja leads the Opobo (Opubo) group to found Opobo at the Imo River estuary, reshaping trade routes across the Bonny–Imo river corridor near the future Port Harcourt area.^[1][2]
• 1884–1885 – Britain proclaims the Oil Rivers Protectorate over the Niger Delta (confirmed in the wake of the Berlin Conference), extending consular jurisdiction over the Bonny River approaches and adjacent creeks.^[3][4]
• 1893 – The Oil Rivers Protectorate is renamed the Niger Coast Protectorate, consolidating British administration across the eastern Niger Delta prior to amalgamation into Southern Nigeria in 1900.^[5][6]

20th century

Port Harcourt in the 1930s

• 1925 – Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (now Rivers State University Teaching Hospital) begins operating.^[7]
• 1961 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt established.^[8]
• 1965 – Port Harcourt Refining Company founded at Alesa-Eleme.^[9]
• 1971 – Newspaper The Tide begins publication.^[10]
• 1972
  • Rivers State College of Science and Technology opens (later Rivers State University).^[11]
  • Sharks F.C. formed in Port Harcourt.^[12]
• 1975
  • University College, Port Harcourt created (later the University of Port Harcourt).^[13]
  • Port Harcourt Zoo established.^[14]
• 1977 – University College gains university status and becomes the University of Port Harcourt.^[15]
• 1980
  • Rivers State University of Science and Technology replaces Rivers State College of Science and Technology (now Rivers State University).^[16]
  • University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital begins operation.^[17]
• 1981 – Radio Rivers begins broadcasting.^[18]
• 1984 – Rivers State School of Basic Studies commences in Port Harcourt.^[19]
• 1985 – Rivers State Television (RSTV) inaugurated.^[20]
• 1988 – Dolphins football club founded.^[21]
• 1993 – Sister-city relationship with Kansas City formed.^[22]
• 1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine are buried in Port Harcourt Cemetery.^[23]
• 1996 – Meridian Hospital begins operating.^[24]
• 1999 – Rivers State School of Basic Studies is revamped and renamed Rivers State College of Arts and Science.^[25]

21st century

• 2001 – Liberation Stadium (now Yakubu Gowon Stadium) opens.^[26]

• 2004
  • National Network newspaper begins publication.^[27]

• 2005 – Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes.^{[citation needed]}

• 2006
  • Port Harcourt International Airport stops operations for maintenance.^{[citation needed]}

• 2008
  • Garden City Literary Festival begins (later renamed Port Harcourt Book Festival).^[28]
  • Street Rhymes Studios opens for business.^{[citation needed]}

• 2009 – Port Harcourt International Airport named Nigeria's third-busiest airport.^{[citation needed]}

• 2010 – Bus electrocutions accident occurs in the region.^{[citation needed]}

• 2011 – 91.7 FM begins broadcasting.^[29]

• 2012
  • Port Harcourt selected 2014 World Book Capital.^[30]
  • Massacre of four Uniport students (Aluu killings).^[31]

• 2013
  • Kelsey Harrison Hospital and Rivers State Dental and Maxillofacial Hospital begin operations.^[32]
  • I'm on Fire becomes a successful Port Harcourt–based mixtape release.^{[citation needed]}
  • Port Harcourt International Fashion Week begins.^{[citation needed]}
  • Garden City Literary Festival is renamed the Port Harcourt Book Festival.^[33]

• 2014 – Port Harcourt hosts the World Book Capital programme events.^[34]

See also

• Timelines of other cities in Nigeria: Ibadan, Kano, Lagos

References

1. "Capability Distribution and Onset of the 1869 Bonny War". Nordic Journal of African Studies. 1999. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
2. "Bonny Nineteenth Century Slave Revolt Revisited" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
3. Ofonagoro, W. I. (1979). Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria 1881–1929. Enugu: Fourth Dimension.
4. "History – Nigerian Ports Authority". Nigerian Ports Authority. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
5. Ofonagoro, W. I. (1979). Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria 1881–1929. Enugu: Fourth Dimension.
6. "Colonial Nigeria". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
7. "About RSUTH". Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
8. "Diocese of Port Harcourt (Nigeria)". GCatholic. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
9. "Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC)". Nigerian National Petroleum Company. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
10. "About Us". The Tide. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
11. "History of Rivers State University". Rivers State University. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
12. "Sharks FC history and milestones". The Guardian (Nigeria). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
13. "About UniPort: History". University of Port Harcourt. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
14. "Port Harcourt Zoological Garden". Rivers State Tourism Development Agency. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
15. "About UniPort: History". University of Port Harcourt. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
16. "History of Rivers State University". Rivers State University. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
17. "About UPTH". University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
18. "Radio Rivers at 33". The Tide. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
19. "History". Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic (formerly Rivers State College of Arts and Science). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
20. "About RSTV". Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
21. "Dolphins FC club history". Rivers State Government – Sports. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
22. "Port Harcourt, Nigeria". Kansas City Sister Cities Association. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
23. "Nigeria's Military Leaders Hang Playwright And 8 Other Activists". Deseret News. 1995-11-11. Archived from the original on 2014-07-27. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
24. "About Meridian Hospital". Meridian Hospital Port Harcourt. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
25. "History". Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
26. "Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt)". World Stadiums. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
27. Kwaaba, Frank (2 December 2011). "Seventh Year Anniversary Celebration: National Network Makes History". ModernGhana. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
28. "About". Port Harcourt Book Festival. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
29. "All New Radio Port Harcourt, Commissioned". Digicast Magazine. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
30. "UNESCO: Nigerian city of Port Harcourt named 2014 World Book Capital". UN News. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
31. "Nigeria Uniport student lynching arrests". BBC News. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
32. "PH, New Hub For Medical Tourism". The Tide. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
33. "Nigeria: Garden City Literary Festival Now Port Harcourt Book Festival". AllAfrica. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
34. "Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014". The Punch. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2025.

Bibliography

• Kevin Shillington, ed. (2005). "Port Harcourt". Encyclopedia of African History. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6.

External links