Empirical assessment of the role of geospatial technology in delivering governance and strengthening democracy in Nigeria Ganiy I. Agbaje . Innocent E. Bello . Adebayo Gbenga Ojo Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017 Abstract The paper examined the concept of devel- opment in line with the role of geospatial technology applications in governance and geospatial manage- ment in Nigeria. It also evaluates the previous efforts made by successive governments in managing gover- nance process through geospatial technology initia- tives using Lagos State as a proof-of-concept. It empirically demonstrates the role of monitoring spatial development initiatives using Landsat multi- dates satellite images 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 5005, 2010 and 2016 and Geographic Information System technique. The paper then identified, mapped and examined the settlement growth of Lagos using Ikorodu Division as an empirical proof-of-concept. The study reveals a geometric increase in uncoordi- nated human activities resulting from sporadic spatial development (builtup area) from 27.67 sq km (7.7%) in 1985–313.02 sq km (87.3%) spatial coverage in 2016. Based on the regression line, the study reveals a strong correlation between increasing settlement development and time. Low level of community involvement and lack of sense of ownership of development project initiatives in developing a local ‘‘vision’’ and strategy are identified as a problem. The paper re-emphasized that sustaining democratic processes as well as the fight against poverty will be won or lost mostly in the rural and less in the urban areas. The rural area is home to about 70% of the world’s poor due to lack or inadequate government services and basic amenities. The study suggest that making the future better for the yet unborn requires appreciable fundamental dataset, technologies, human resources and reliable govern- ment structures. Keywords Geospatial technology Á Good governance Á Sustainable development Á Settlement growth Introduction An early concern with the social aspect of develop- ment and good governance comes from the 1946 United Nations (UN) Charter on Standard of living (Omofonmwan 2016). In recent time, governance and government services are now efficiently and effec- tively rendered to citizens using the e-government structures with a view to improving development initiatives (Song 2005; Fountain 2001a). E-govern- ment encompasses the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in internal gov- ernment processes (Akingbade 2012). In order to G. I. Agbaje (&) Á A. G. Ojo African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education, Ile-Ife, Nigeria e-mail: gagbaje@gmail.com I. E. Bello National Space Research and Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria 123 GeoJournal DOI 10.1007/s10708-017-9797-4