The Need for Land Use Planning and Governance in Suleja Niger State, Nigeria: What It Is and What It Ought to Be,

Abstract

Suleja has been witnessing rapid developmental changes in terms of physical landscape, city growth and urban sprawl since the movement of the Federal Capital Territory in 1991. This study examines the dynamics of urban growth, land consumption rate and forecast the future land risk in Suleja. The data source for the research was the documented materials as historical records and topographic map of Suleja which was collected from the Ministry of Lands and Survey, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria, Satellite imagery of the study (Enhance Thematic Mapper (ETM) 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2018) over a period of 18 years was analyzed to determine Land consumption trends. Thus, it was observed that Suleja population is growing steadily, the available land for both vegetation and built up are being consumed gradually and grown at 16% in 2018 while built-up at 13.6%. This research proposed that to maintain sustainable land management, valuable plots on the major and strategic locations has to be redesigned for ‘fit-for purpose’, immediately update of the existing master plan and adoption of computerized land records (GIS) for proper land registration and titling in the Suleja be provided.