Africa’s progress towards achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is receiving considerable attention, due to
the magnitude of its development challenges. As the second most
populous continent, the world’s “progress” on the MDGs is
heavily dependent on whatever progress is made in Africa. Using
a similar analogy, whatever progress Nigeria makes – being
Africa’s most populous nation- is likely to determine to a large
extent the measure of success recorded by the continent. This
study explores MDG 7: to ensure environmental sustainability,
specifically Target 11 which seeks to improve the lives of at least
100 million slum dwellers by 2020. Based on a case study of
Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja where the Federal Capital Territory
Administration established the Abuja Geographic Information
System (AGIS) as an infrastructure to support land administration,
housing allocation and urban planning, the paper discusses how
AGIS, as an e-government tool, has helped in addressing the
emergence of slums within the capital city. Supported by evidence
from Africa and Asia, the study concludes that if there is
substantial replication, GIS-based applications in land
administration by sub-national governments across the country
can ultimately contribute towards the MDG of reducing the
number of slum dwellers in Nigeria.