The President of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, Dr Kayode Oluwamotemi, on Tuesday, urged states and Federal Government to develop geospatial infrastructures to tackle the problems of insecurity, insurgency, and communal clashes plaguing the country.
He disclosed this in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, during the opening of the body’s 56th Annual General Meeting/Conference with the theme, ‘National mapping policies, strategies and spatial infrastructures development for sustainable e-governance in Nigeria.’
According to him, the environment can be better protected using Geospatial Information.
He stated, “The problem of Nigeria is poor land administration which is why we probably have community clashes across the country, the challenge of insurgencies, and lately the herdsmen conflict with local farmers and communities, all because our country is not fully spatially enabled.”
He urged state governors to grant the Office of the Surveyor General of the states extra-ministerial status and ensure that surveyors headed their Geographic Information System agencies for maximum benefits, hinting that it was capable of boosting revenue generation.
Oluwamotemi said, “Management of information through the GIS application led by a surveyor will provide all necessary information necessary for all levels of decision making and policy formulation across the spectrum of government agencies and ministries.”
This, he said, would include issues of security planning, execution, monitoring of land and property use, and change in use among others.
He added it will entail proper and adequate information on these areas is a veritable internal revenue generation window as the changes necessarily attract fees and levies.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by his deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi, charged the surveyors to come up with meaningful recommendations that would be of benefit to the Federal and State governments and as well to their profession.
He said, “The government of Ekiti State is quite aware of the uniqueness and relevance of surveying and geo-informatics as the bedrock of all meaningful developments. It is of note that no single development project will be well accomplished without accurate geo-information of the place.”
