The acting Surveyor General of the Federation, Surveyor Taiwo S. Adeniran has said that surveyors are critical and fundamental to Nigeria’s quest for socioeconomic recovery and Infrastructural Development. He said this at the Survey Coordination meeting with the title, “Surveying and Mapping in Sustainable Infrastructural Development and Good Governance” held recently at Lafia, Nasarawa State.
The acting SGoF stated that the task of Surveyors in nation building could not be undermined because there is hardly any sector of the economy that does not require the inputs of Surveyors in order to achieve useful results. He said it was on this premise that the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF) decided to realign all its activities with the Next- level Agenda of the Federal Government.
Surveyor Adeniran says “This is the more reason why I have consistently advocated for the realignment of all the activities of OSGOF to the cardinal areas of the Next- level Agenda of the federal Government so that its policies and Programmes of action designed to take Nigeria out of her socioeconomic woes would be realized.”
He therefore, urged Surveyors to buy-in into the policies and programmes of action of the Government especially in the aspect of economic recovery and development. He expressed deep belief in the Economic Recovery Growth and Development of the Government and encouraged all professionals to be genuinely connected and be committed to rebuilding Nigeria into an enviable country for the benefits of the good people of this country.”
Surveyor Adeniran further charged the participants to come up with a model that would help in harnessing the rich resources in the land, and provide necessary geospatial information for the need of individuals, groups and all sectors of the economy and the governments at all levels. He says “OSGOF has been able to produce the country-level Plan for the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF) for Nigeria.” This according to him would enhance the development of our Integrated Geospatial Information System (IGIS). He noted that it would provide a very good base for policy formulation and good decision-making.
In his remarks, the Executive Governor of Nassarawa State Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule who was represented by the Commissioner of Land and Urban Development Professor Salihu A. A Alizaga said that it was because of the critical roles Surveyors and Surveying play in national development that prompted the Government of Nassarawa State to accept the hosting of the conference. He further gave the assurance that the state government would give necessary support to matters of Surveying and mapping in the state.
In his vote of thanks, the Director of Survey Coordination, OSGOF, Surveyor Uzoma Anyadiegu Godwin explained that the Survey Coordination was backed by the Survey Coordination Act of 1962 and it was to enhance uniformity and best practices in surveying and mapping in all states of the federation.
He said the Conference of Survey Coordination and Advisory Board on Survey Training expected to be held annually was critical while thanking the Nasarawa State Government of being a worthy host.
The conference deliberated on two key papers, “The relevance of surveying in infrastructure development in Nigeria” presented by the Director of Photogrammetry and Remote-Sensing, Surveyor Akpoyoware A. O; and “Surveying and mapping as a sustainable solutions to population census enumeration area demarcation presented by Surveyor Shuaibu Mohammed Ade on behalf of Dr. Adejare Quadri of Surveying and Geo-informatics, Bells University of Technology, Otta in Ogun State.
By Peter Zira
