Surveyor General: $230,000 Needed to Acquire Modern Mapping Server

The Surveyor General of the Federation (SGOF), Abuduganiyu Adebomehin, has said that Nigeria will need to invest $230,000 on a geospatial server to properly map the country.

Stressing that this will put the country in charge of its own affairs, Adebomehin explained that the last topographical map of the flying map of Nigeria was carried out by the Canadian government between 1966 and 1970.

The Surveyor General spoke in his office in Abuja at the weekend, according to a statement by the Head  of Information and Public Relations in his office, Henry David.

He said: “The last topographical map of flying of Nigeria was carried out by the Canadian government between 1966 and 1970. There has never been any other mapping of the country as a whole. 

“So there is a need for us as Nigerians to be in charge of our affairs. Then it means we need to properly map Nigeria.  Another thing is, looking at the geospatial sector that we are in right now, there’s a need to change our server. It  was acquired about 30 years ago and there’s a need to change that server. When you are talking about the server, a modern day server goes for as much as $220,000 or $230,000. We have the personnel we have trained on ground. The data has to be on the server. And  such data cuts across some government agencies and for decision taking.”

Also, he explained that some areas in the country were prone to earthquakes, citing the case of an area in Abuja popularly known as Mpape, where there was a  mild shaking of the earth.