Fifty Years of Post-Colonial Mapping in Nigeria: An Overview

Abstract

Since achieving political independence from Great Britain in 1960, Nigeria has assumed full responsibility for the mapping of her territories. Fifty years on, the country has made some progress in mapping; this progress has not met all mapping needs, but it has advanced into the realm of the geospatial sciences. Digital systems linked to satellite observations and aerial surveys have been developed. There remains a gap between the demand for and the supply of maps and allied products in Nigeria. In the early part of the period under study (1960–2010), many mapping projects initiated in Nigeria became moribund, while some did not get off the ground at all. Consequently, like most African countries, Nigeria still lacks basic maps needed for judicious resource planning, development, and management. Instability coupled with lack of a well-established mapping policy, shortage of funding, and successive governments' failure to integrate mapping into national development has affected mapping in the country. The national development process has thus far not fostered the growth of a rich mapping culture. Nigeria, like many other countries in Africa, needs a national geospatial data infrastructure (NGDI), a robust mapping policy, improved funding of mapping programs, and strong cartographic institutions. If vigorously pursued, those measures will surely revolutionize the state of mapping in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.