Abstract Although there has, for a long time, been a desire for an accurate census on which planning in Nigeria could be based, it has not been possible to achieve this goal. Most of the errors in past Nigerian censuses have been attributed to some organizational defects, prominent among which is the lack of adequate information on the number of settlements and the delineation of enumeration areas. The use of remotely-sensed data for the identification and demarcation of settlement boundaries, demarcation of enumeration areas and intercensal population estimation has been suggested. It is hoped that the National Population Commission will show enough interest in these areas and use the available capabilities of remote sensing to solve some of the census problems facing Nigeria.