The federal government has disclosed plan to elevate the oldest specialised institution for the teaching of surveying and geo-informatics in Nigeria, the Federal School of Surveying in Oyo, Oyo State established in 1908, to a university.
Surveyor General of the Federation (SGoF), Mr. Taiwo Adeniran, who is also Chairman of the Governing Council of the school, speaking after the council meeting of the institution, stressed that the Gambian Government had officially made a request for the training of its nationals on surveying and geo-informatics at the institution.
He added that the rector and management staff of the school were looking to collaborate with the Federal University of Technology, Akure and Ajayi Crowther University, Abeokuta since the school would be running some other courses like geology, geo-physics, hydrography and post-graduate courses among others.
According to him, the council was putting in place necessary arrangements for the school to benefit some projects from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as part of efforts to upgrade the school to meet standards of foremost institutions of higher learning.
A statement by the Head of Press and Public Relations, OSGoF, Michael Abu, said the SGoF was conducted round some of the ongoing projects, including administrative complex, 1000-seat capacity lecture theatre and the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) capable of streaming data for users and other consumers in Lagos, Ibadan and Osogbo.
Adeniran encouraged the institution to put the projects to good use so as to increase the capacity for Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He said his focus was to install CORS across the country for streaming of data, and for online surveying and mapping in order to do away with unwarranted errors.
Because of the cost implications, he explained that he was already in contact with big providers for partnership to would benefit the country in no small measure, with the country according to him, requiring about 200 of such facilities.
In her comments, Rector of the school, Dr. Olayinka Nihinlola-Dosunmu expressed appreciation for the release of some funds for the ongoing projects in the school, mentioning that the new lecture theatre and the administrative complex would be completed before the end of the year.
She noted that with the increase in prices of building materials, the N220 million lecture theatre and N88 million required about additional N40 million and N88 million after review for completion.
