The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for relocating the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation to the Presidency.
The President of the Institution, Pius Chukwuemeka Eze, made the commendation at the opening ceremony of the 60th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the institution on Tuesday in Kano.
“The surveyor does not only merely demarcate boundaries, we establish the primary structural framework upon which all sustainable national development is engineered.
It is in this vein that we are delighted that the President and Commander in Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu moved the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation to the Presidency, underscoring it’s vast importance and significance in actualizing the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.
He said it was in response to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration, where every sector of the economy is actively seeking sustainable pathways towards structural transformation, the organizers of the conference selected the theme: Navigate to Elevate: The geospatial blueprint for multisectoral growth.
He noted that macroeconomic progress is often discussed in the context of fiscal policy and legislative framework without critical evaluation of geospatial data which is the foundation of every successful physical and economic undertaking.
Eze said it was impossible to construct critical infrastructure or optimize agricultural yields and secure national boundaries without precise understanding of the terrain.
” In the absence of rigorous mapping and geodetic data collection,all other sectors would operate with financial and administrative risks, relying on speculative estimate rather than spatial certainty,” he added.
While noting that no development decision could be made without geospatial data, Eze said surveying is not a subset of engineering or architecture, unveiling plans to engage the National Assembly to ensure that the Survey Coordination Act is strengthened so that surveyors can be contracted on their own contents of infrastructural development process.
Dr Ibrahim Yakubu Tudun Wada, Director Research and Development at the National Space Research and Development Agency said the works of surveyors shape economies, secure communities for sustainable development.
” We are living in the era of data where geospatial data holds the power to multisectoral growth because no nation can achieve sustainable development without a robust geospatial blueprint,” said he.
Kano State governor Abba Kabir Yusuf represented by the commissioner for Land and Physical Planning Abduljabbar Umar, said successful economies are driven by accurate data which is critical for decision making adding geospatial technologies are increasingly strategic part of governance.
” Our administration places geospatial data at the centre of governance.Kano State Geoinformation Service KANGIS is a full pledge agency.The future belongs to cities that understand their problems before they emerge,” the governor said.
