Many parts of the world are vulnerable to land use/land cover (LULC) change but information is scarce about the association of the change with land surface temperature (LST) in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluated the attributes of LULC changes and associated Land Consumption Rate (LCR) and Land Absorption Coefficient (LAC) in relation to LST in a commercial town in southwest Nigeria using a mix of multi-date (1989–2019) Landsat imageries and social surveys. The study showed that built-up areas increased (by 167%) more between 2000 and 2010 period than 1986–2000 and 2010–2019, open land/bare surface changed by 68.9, − 42.0, − 21.3% in 1986–2000, 2000–2010 and 2010–2019, respectively; light forest/cultivated land (279.6, 159.7, − 3.2%) and dense forest (− 31.4, 11.3, − 77.7%) also varied differently within these respective time slices. The change in urban built-up areas and light forest/cultivated areas corresponded to a decrease in areas covered by forested areas and open land/bare surfaces. In addition, a positive linear relationship existed between built-up area and LST (b = 0.01–0.05), while the land size–LST relationship pattern for light forest and open land/bare surface was complex; dense forest–LST relationship was negative for minimum, maximum and mean LST. The study linked urban growth and consequent decrease in size of forested areas to increase to the warmer land surface temperature within the area, and concluded that the influence of local LULC change is an important driver of warmer climate. Urban greening through focused planning is recommended for the study area and urban areas in the region.