Early as 1913, Lugard wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for the establishment of port Harcourt. Lugard’s objective in writing the letter was to ask Harcourt’s permission to associate his name with the region. The letter stated:
‘𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗼𝗯𝘂 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗴𝘂𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗮 .. . 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 . . . 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 £1000, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗴𝘂𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗮 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 £300. 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗴𝘂𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀.