The International Archives oj the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B4. Beijing 2008 
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governance namely, Federal, State and Local governments. The 
decentralization policy formed that base for both the 1979 and 
1999 constitution of Nigeria (Ekwueme, 2003). The 1999 
constitution enable political, administrative and fiscal 
decentralization to all tiers of government. But there are still 
rifts within the tiers of government pertaining to autonomy of 
governance and resource control. This can be seen in various 
court injunctions on constitution clarifications between state and 
federal government of Nigeria. 
The hierarchical structure of most public organizations is based 
on the institutional framework that is fashioned out of this 
policy that has been adapted into Nigeria constitution. GI 
organization such as mapping agencies that is institutionalized 
with several functions in all levels of governance are also based 
on the policy. It functions as the provider of national data 
custodian and topographic map producer at the national level, it 
also function as the cadastre office and land conflict resolution 
at its lower level. The organization finds it difficult to manage 
the information across all levels of the organization and also to 
maintain its processes at each level. Another good instance is 
the urban service delivery that is the function of the Urban and 
Regional Planning sector that is spread across all tiers of 
government in Nigeria. 
There has been overlapping of mandates, fuzzy boundaries 
within operations, roles and spatial coverage. This has lead to 
wide negligence of responsibilities and controversy in 
organization system. Emanating from the situation are various 
organizational structure and frameworks among the State 
governments within particular organizational settings. 
With so many organizational problems and inter-organizational 
challenges, Nigeria is still having forging ahead in the 
implementation of GISs and also proposing establishment of 
National SDI for the country. Many of these organizations still 
struggle with data managements and control, having difficulty 
with the issue of decentralizing services to the local level. There 
are still issues surrounding central decision making and tiers 
autonomy at the governance level and also in various GI 
organizations. It will be of importance to know how SDI can be 
successfully implemented in such governmental system. 
4 EXISTING SITUATION IN NIGERIA 
In 2003, Nigeria launched spatial satellite (SAT-1) to monitor 
the environment. That began a new era of Geo-information in 
the country. This opened several chances for GIS development 
within the country. Since then there have been several 
developments in GIS both at the national level and state level. 
Various GI Ministries and Parastatals started using GIS for data 
management, services delivery and also for the purpose of 
decision support. Private organizations such as telecom 
companies, banks and oil and gas sectors also contributed a lot 
to the development of GIS within the country. Many of these 
companies possess digital data of various utilities as well as 
imageries covering greater area in the country. 
Several states have started establishing state level GIS and SDI, 
initiating several GIS projects with the help of United Nations 
and World Bank. Such projects include Lagos State Land 
Information System that was co-funded by World Bank, Abuja 
GIS that is managing the land information of the Federal Capital 
Territory of Nigeria. 
Research institute such as Regional Centre for Training in 
Aerospace Survey (RECTAS) and Centre for Space Science and 
Technology Education (CESSTE) have been part ot the 
development of GIS in Nigeria. They are responsible for 
capacity building within the country alongside some other 
universities providing various levels of training on GIS and 
Remote Sensing. 
In general, GIS is fast establishing in Nigeria and its 
applicability to all fields is becoming clearer through training 
from home institutions and also foreign institutions. But in 
setting up a national or regional infrastructure on GIS, there is 
still more to be achieved in the country. Most established GIS 
are inform of stand alone or concentrated. Each organization 
doing its own GIS and runs with the technology as it evolves. If 
care is not taken these blooming projects may at the end become 
failure. Lack of connectivity between these organizational and 
regional GIS developments may limit the growth of GIS in the 
country. 
This is why SDI is very important in for the country. It is high 
time things are done rightly from the start instead of amending 
situation when it already becomes chaotic. Having a local, state, 
regional and national SDI is a right step that may lift the country 
from the present situation and help in accomplishing a 
successful GIS in the country. 
Presently the country is taking series of steps in implementing 
NSDI; there has been a GI policy draft. Great minds Nigeria GI 
sector came together in 2003 and drafted the GI policy to serve 
as a guide in implementing the NSDI in the country. The policy 
is to be an essential backbone for the efficient realization of the 
NGDI. Data sharing is to be facilitated through a coordinated 
and structured access to geospatial data owned by public and 
private sector organisations within a legal framework in order to 
ensure the rights of all parties (Agbaje and Akinyede, 2005). 
Although the present stage of the process is not clear but the 
policy has been drafted and await ratification from the member 
of Nigeria parliament. This effort and some others from both 
national and state organizations are relevant movement on SDI 
within the country. 
5 PROSPECTS OF SDI IN NIGERIA 
5.1 Existence and Awareness of GIS 
The prospect of SDI in Nigeria lies firstly in its existing 
situation. The current situation of GIS in the country has given 
it edge in establishing a successful SDL The awareness of GIS 
in the country is relatively increasing. Many State governments 
are fully aware of the usefulness of GIS for the support of 
decision making and service delivery. This is evident is several 
GIS projects in several States and regions. Also there are many 
seminars and workshops on GIS usage and SDI implementation 
within the country. 
The existence of NASRDA that is the custodian of GI in the 
country is also a prospect for the country. The spatial satellite 
(SAT-1) has sensitized many GI organizations to utilize digital 
data and satellite imageries in their processes. 
5.2 Decentralization System 
Establishing NSDI may look like a white elephant project for 
developing countries, considering resources factors and time of 
implementation. Many countries might have abandoned the 
issue of NSDI based on the magnitude of the input and the long 
time of expectance of the benefit. Country leaders may want to