‘Mapping could check infrastructural challenges’

Can you give us the historical background and the essence of the creation of the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation?The Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation is about the oldest government office in this country. Before the amalgamation of the North and South of Nigeria, there was a survey department […]

Can you give us the historical background and the essence of the creation of the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation?
The Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation is about the oldest government office in this country. Before the amalgamation of the North and South of Nigeria, there was a survey department in Lagos and in Kaduna and after the amalgamation, the two offices merged with the headquarters in Lagos.
Essentially, this office is responsible for mapping and all aspects of surveying, including production of geo-special information. Geo-special infor-mation covers the location base and of course everything on the surface of the earth has position. We are responsible for all government boundary matters and government maps. In this office, we have a Data Centre which avails us an avenue of selling any form of data information.
We have 2.5 meters satellite imagery which almost covers the entire country. That means we can produce our maps with those imageries and indeed we have tried to produce as much maps as possible. We have 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 so the coverage we have as at today is close to 50 per cent and that is a big thing in terms of achievement.
We are also trying to scout all the footprints of all the road networks in this country. There are certain figures that are being circulated, but the truth of the matter is that some of those figures are not right because it is only through the satellite or through area photograph that we can correctly ascertain how many roads that we have. Also, for the first time in the history of this country, we now have what we call zero order control points. Control points are like the skeleton of people, if we don’t have the control points then we cannot map. We are the only country that has that in the sub-Saharan Africa.
We have also produced a National Atlas of Nigeria and we are waiting for the President to give us approval to publish it. Once approved, this atlas talks everything you can imagine about Nigeria.
Despite the remarkable milestones that the OSGoF has recorded since its establishment, little is known about the office. What do you think could have been responsible for this relatively low profile?
It is very unfortunate that even the so-called educated ones do not appreciate the importance of map. If you don’t have a map of an area; you are like a blind man walking in the bush. With a map you will know where to assign the different pictures of infrastructure, but unfortunately, every Nigerian sees land as a plain space and they just work on it, which is not right.
If you map, you will be able to know where to put drains and where to avoid. There are areas that are supposed to be kept natural for some obvious reasons but it is unfortunate that even the enlightened ones do not understand what a map is. We all see what happens in developed countries, but we often fail to replicate it in our country.
If surveying was here before Nigeria, how come many educated Nigerians do not observe this? It is a very painful thing. It will be very difficult to achieve sustainable development without appropriate mapping. You can also not achieve sustainable economy without geo-special information.
You have spoken so eloquently about the importance of mapping to nation building. Can it also be deployed to address the issue of insecurity in the country?
We cannot talk about security without the maps, but it is unfortunate that the nation’s security forces have failed to come to terms with this. We can work with them to provide those basic things that they need. You cannot bomb an estate if you do not have accurate map because it is from the map you will determine how far the place is. If you have an up-to -date map you will see all the roads and path ways to plan ahead of your action. If we do things right we should know if a certain road is passable or not, those are matters of details.
Is it possible to deploy maps to locate the abducted Chibok school girls?
We cannot achieve that through the instrumentality of mapping, it can only be done through the use of surveillance drones. Surveillance drones can detect people and even ascertain their number, but you must have an idea of the location before deploying the surveillance drone there. They may not see your face, but they will see you as a human being but not the way we see ourselves in photographs. Our satellites cannot be used to locate people but they can be used for mapping. The Nigerian satellite at best will give a 2.5 meter resolution which cannot show location of people.
The influx of illegal immigrants into the country through our nation’s porous borders is alleged to be aggravating the security challenges in the country. How can your office be useful in checkmating this?
If you have high resolution imagery, we can see the routes. As we are producing maps, we are seeing all the routes but the problem is that in the desert, it is more difficult because you are looking at a situation where you have bare land. However, it is still possible though not as easy as when it is done down South or in the Middle Belt. Although it is also possible in North, it won’t be an easy task.
One other thing that can be used is drone. It has ability to get imagery in centimetres. It can easily show people moving. There are some images that can give you less than 30 centimetres and it can show people including a name tag clearly. These kinds of things can be deployed by those responsible for the management of the borders to carry out patrols.