Experts in the Geographic Information System (GIS) industry say the scheme remains a critical tool towards solving the challenges associated with land administration in Nigeria.
The experts spoke at the 2023 GIS Day organised by the Surveyor General of the Federation in collaboration with National Population Commission, FCT Administration and other partners on Tuesday in Abuja.
The theme of the event was, “Celebrating the GIS Professionals.”
The Surveyor-General of the Federation, Mr Abudul-Ganiyu Adebomehin, advocated for establishment of National Geospatial Data Infrastructure(NGDI) for Nigeria.
Adebomehin harped on the need for professionals, administrators and executives to help in achieving the desired outcomes in terms of planning and implementation of GIS.
“In celebration of this year 2023 Geographic Information System GIS day in Nigeria, a first of its kind, I commend the various organisations that co-sponsor this year celebration.
“We hope that we will have more sponsors for us in the coming years in order to continuously drive home the importance of GIS in planning, implementation to have informed decision making.
“We will seek for the mainstreaming of GIS in especially planning and implementation of public projects; the theme of the day is inspiring; it is my hope that it will provoke conversation not only on the relevance of this.
“But the role of the GIS professionals in issues around national security and socio economic development remains critical.” he said.
The surveyor-general said GIS helped individuals and organisations to better plan and coordinate the available data for effective project execution.
“Make it a reliable decision making support system for effective execution of project implementation of programmes.
“GIS is a veritable tool for urban planning and development; so, it has added facial analysis, water management, among many other things” he said.
On his part, Dr Ibrahim Jalo, the former Executive Director, Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), said that building a good land administration system would help to boost the nation’s economy.
Jalo said it could be achieved through the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) which was critical to land management going by the growing population in Nigeria.
According to him, reports indicate that 60 per cent of population in Nigeria will relocate to urban centres by 2030; hence, the need for planned for urbanisation.
The AGIS boss said that was the idea behind planning for smart cities with necessary infrastructure to address the growing population in Abuja.
He said that AGIS played a significant role in tackling challenges of land allocation in the federal capital territory.
According to him, it addresses the issues of double allocation, increase value of land and boost revenue generation of the city.
“The value of the land is there; it also documented the use of the land and its associated resources; it also includes the termination of rights and other attributes of the land.
“So, you can see how AGIS help to build a good land administration system; now, you build a market; a financial market for land, is itself, a big economy.
“So, if you have a good land administration system, the economy will grow very well; therefore, land acquisition is part of the entire overall process of Land Management” he said.
Earlier, a GIS expert, Mr Joseph Aro, who corroborated the position of the surveyor-general, canvassed effective implementation of GIS by policy makers.
Aro said that GIS presented special opportunities for policy formulators to use in solving problems.
He called on the stakeholders to support the harmonisation of data by Federal Government agencies.
Aro said that achieving NGDI required long term planning and sustainable funding (NAN)
Comments powered by CComment