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This paper examines the relevance and application of quantitative techniques in geographic study with emphasis on landcover change and environmental management in a typical urban city of Warri and its environs in Nigeria. It uses an experimental study that adopts Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Accuracy Assessment in reducing data dimensions and enhancing image visualization for onward classification into landcover classes using 1987 TM, 2002 ETM+ and ETM+ 2011. The 2011 ETM+ was later excluded due to scan line and cloud cover errors.  The PCA results show that 1987 Bands of 145 has variance of 834.71 (88.09% of total components) while the 2002 Bands of 147 has variance of 1287.21 (85.344% of total components). Supervised classification results show overall accuracy of 96.19% (for 1987) and 96.30% (for 2002) respectively. The study reveals that there was increase in urban landcover (17.2% to 34.93%) and swamp (10.11% to 11.61%). Correspondingly, light vegetation and thick vegetation decreased from 41.76% to 27.38% and 26.31% to 22.36% while water also reduced from 4.63% to 3.73%. The study indicates a higher demand for urban settlement which requires landuse control to avoid urban blight and environmental decay.  Abstrak Makalah ini membahas relevansi dan penerapan teknik kuantitatif dalam penelitian geografis dengan penekanan pada perubahan tutupan lahan dan pengelolaan lingkungan di kota urban khas Warri dan sekitarnya di Nigeria. Menggunakan studi eksperimental yang mengadopsi Principal Component Analysis (PCA) dan Penilaian Akurasi dalam mengurangi dimensi data dan meningkatkan visualisasi gambar untuk seterusnya klasifikasi ke dalam kelas tutupan lahan menggunakan 1987 TM 2002 ETM + dan ETM + 2011. 2011 ETM + kemudian dikeluarkan karena garis scan dan kesalahan awan. Hasil PCA menunjukkan bahwa 1.987 Bands dari 145 memiliki varians dari 834,71 (88,09% dari total komponen) sedangkan 2002 Bands dari 147 memiliki varians dari 1.287,21 (85,344% dari total komponen). Hasil klasifikasi diawasi menunjukkan akurasi keseluruhan masing-masing 96,19% (untuk 1987) dan 96,30% (tahun 2002). Penelitian ini mengungkapkan bahwa ada peningkatan tutupan lahan perkotaan (17,2% menjadi 34,93%) dan rawa (10.11% menjadi 11,61%). Sejalan dengan itu, vegetasi ringan dan vegetasi tebal menurun dari 41,76% menjadi 27,38% dan 26,31% untuk 22,36% sementara air juga berkurang dari 4,63% menjadi 3,73%. Studi ini menunjukkan permintaan yang lebih tinggi untuk pemukiman perkotaan yang membutuhkan kontrol penggunaan lahan untuk menghindari hawar perkotaan dan pembusukan lingkungan.

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The geographical occurrence and spread of the current novel COVID-19 pandemic are partly a function of the awareness, socio-economics, mobility, and health management practices in place. Ossiomo watershed in Edo State, Nigeria, is mainly a rural region with limited healthcare access and abundant water from River Ossiomo. One of the recommendations for preventing COVID-19 is washing hands with soap using running water. Thus, the novel COVID-19, a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral disease, requires effective management of available water resources for sustainable health development. The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria was announced on February 27, 2020, when an Italian citizen in Lagos tested positive for the virus. In most rural Africa, including Ossiomo, no pipe-borne water except rain harvesting for survival. Using GIS Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation technique, the rainfall map produced (derived from a 31-year collated geo-located hydro-meteorological data - rainfall and discharge, covering the Ossiomo watershed) shows that rainfall decreases northward with minimum monthly precipitation of 18.8mm in January and to the south with a mean maximum rainfall of 339.0mm in July. NCDC records on Covid-19 were used to create Choropleth maps that revealed very low confirmed cases and relatively high deaths, though considered relatively low compared with global statistics. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) further indicates a strong correlation between rainfall and catchment discharge with r=0.717. With adequate socio-economic activities and water provisions, coupled with effective COVID-19 management practices, the pandemic may not linger in the study area.

A general notion from majority of researchers noted that connecting rural-urban services with Information Technology (IT), Internet of Things (IoT), Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making cities smarter. This is because, the global urban population is expected to grow by 63% between 2014 and 2050 – compared to an overall global population growth of 32% during the same period. The Federal Capital City (FCC), Abuja, Nigeria is no exception to urban population growth which requires IT, IoT, ICT and AI technologies if she must be regarded as a Smart City. This study was, therefore, aimed at mapping and assessing a three-decade urban dynamics of the FCC, Abuja, towards ascertaining the suitability of the FCC, Abuja being regarded as a Smart City. Three (3) epochs of Landsat ETM+ data from the US Global Land Cover Facility web platform was analyzed using the maximum likelihood algorithm to process the Remote Sensing images for thirty (30) years time period (2000, 2010, and 2020). The study shows that the urban builtup land cover increased significantly from 72.88 km2 (22.04%) in year 2000 to 145.77km2 (44.09%) in 2020. As the causative alteration of natural vegetation paved the way for urban infrastructure, the study re-affirms a corresponding effects on the decrease in light vegetation cover from 119.85km2 (36.25%) in 2000, to 29.24km2 (8.84%) in 2010, and down to as low as 13.49km2 (4.08%) in 2020. Other land covers also decreased due to population upsurge and physical urban developments. The findings confirm the suitability of the FCC, Abuja as an emerging Smart City as the study further revealed a number of efforts made to digitalized government services through e-governance. The total (overall) accuracy of the supervised classifications of LULC for 2000, 2010, and 2020 images were 97.3%, 99.2% and 99% respectively with corresponding strong positive Kappa statistics of 0.95, 0.99 and 0.97. It is recommended that Smart City initiatives anchored on digital hub tools such as IoT, AI and ICT; Remote Sensing; and GIS Technologies  be deployed in the ongoing and future city-wide development initiatives in order to fast track smart, smooth, effective and efficient service delivery in the FCC, Abuja, Nigeria.