The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has charged surveyors in Nigeria to deploy geospatial technologies for the improvement of Nigeria’s soil to boost food production.
He gave the charge at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Survey Coordination Conference and meeting of the Advisory Board on Survey Training in Abuja.
He said theme of the conference, which was, “Geospatial Approach to Harness Agro Planning and Food Sustainability for Economic Development,” indicated that it was vital for surveyors to deploy geospatial technologies in agriculture.
Geospatial technology is an emerging field of study that includes Geographic Information System, Remote Sensing and Global Positioning System.
It enables surveyors to acquire data referenced to the earth and use such data for analysis, modeling, simulations and visualisation.
Speaking at the event, Fashola said, “It is my earnest belief that this conference of surveyors will brainstorm on more feasible approach by which geospatial technologies and techniques can be deployed in unlocking the land, assessing and improving the soil for sustainable food production and security.
“I strongly believe that the outcomes from this conference will provide the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation the basis for better collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant authorities towards boosting agricultural production.”
The minister noted that to be able to meet the geospatial needs of MDAs, surveyors from OSGoF were being posted to agencies to man their surveying and mapping units to aid effective decision-making and implementation of projects.
On his part, the acting Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adebomehin, stated that agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of crude oil.
He noted that with the discovery of oil at Oloibiri in 1956 by Shell BP, attention was diverted from agriculture when Nigeria joined the ranks of oil producing states in 1958, but stressed that with geospatial technologies the country could improve its agricultural sector.
Adebomehin said, “Although, we have failed in tapping our rich agricultural resources over the years, agriculture itself is already encumbered by climatic and environmental factors.
“It means that for us to achieve food sufficiency and security, there is urgent need of applying geospatial inputs into our agricultural system.
“Hence the incumbent administration is paying diligence to agriculture as part of efforts in achieving the diversification of the economy and the plan is to help in redirecting the country from the unhealthy path of mono-economy.”
