Land Use In Nigeria

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Land use and land cover are distinct yet closely linked characteristics of the Earth’s surface. The use to which we put land could be grazing, agriculture, urban development, logging, and mining among many others. The term ‘land cover’ originally referred to the kind and state of vegetation, such as forest or grass cover but it has broadened in subsequent usage to include other things such as human structures, soil type, biodiversity, surface and ground water. The term "Land use refers to the manner in which the biophysical attributes of the land are manipulated and the intent underlying that manipulation – the purpose for which the land is used" (Turner et al. 1995). The magnitude of land use change varies with the time being examined as well…show more content…
The changes in land use and land cover are likely to affect natural resources and ecosystems as well as urban human activities in complex ways. Determining the effects of land use and land cover change depends on an understanding of past land use practices, current land use and cover patterns, and projections of future land use and cover, as affected by human institutions, population size and distribution, economic development, technology, and other characteristics. This paper attempts to review the land use changes in eight Nigerian cities; these cities are Ibadan, Jos, Port-Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna, Owerri, Calabar and Suleja…show more content…
The development has led to the categorization of the city into two; the metropolis which comprises five local governments and the wider Ibadan also comprising of five local governments and the six local governments located outside the built-up area. In 1952, it was estimated that the total area of the city was approximately 103.8 km2. However, only 36.2 km2 was built up. This meant that the remaining 67 km2 were devoted to non-urban uses, such as farmlands, river floodplains, forest reserves and water bodies. These “non-urban land uses” disappeared in the 1960s: an aerial photograph in 1973 revealed that the urban landscape had completely spread over about 100 km2. The land area increased from 136 km2 in 1981 to 210-240 km2 in 1988-89. It was estimated that Ibadan would covered 400 km2 by the year 2000 (Onibokun,

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