Population explosion, globalization of the economy and the technological advancement of
man are responsible for major modern-day transformations in the nature and flow of the Earth
ecology, which has a very broad historical background that dates back to ancient times. Presently, the
fast urban growth in Nigeria has affected approximately 400,000 hectares of vegetative cover. In the
Kuje area council, the increases in urbanization and sprawling pattern of development in Abuja have
culminated into the quick disappearance or total transformation of fertile agricultural sites into periurban
development. This study use questionnaire administration in the ten wards of the area council
and multitemporal images of Landsat TM and Nigeria Sat-1 over a period of 35 years (1975–2010) to
assess the level of urban encroachment on agricultural lands and displacement of farmers in Kuje
area council. The study reveals that urban encroachment into agricultural lands is alarming at the rate
of 15.7 Km2
annually, and a total of 509 Km2
of agricultural land have been lost to urbanization within
the 35 years under review. It is therefore recommended among other things that land management in
the area council should be incorporated into the existing Abuja Geographical information System
(AGIS) for effective sustainable human development.