Nasarawa in final phase of Geographic Information Service

The council which was presided over by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (FMLHUD) Mr. George Ossi, on behalf of the minister, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi advocated that the office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation should be supported to provide at least one CORS in every state with […]

The council which was presided over by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (FMLHUD) Mr. George Ossi, on behalf of the minister, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi advocated that the office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation should be supported to provide at least one CORS in every state with a view to fast-tracking the process of cadastral mapping and creating an Enterprise Geographic Land Information System (GISLIS).
It was attended by commissioners in charge of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, chieftains of housing agencies and mortgage finance institutions and related professionals who brainstormed on the future of survey in the country.
At the time the recommendation was made and taken by states, Nasarawa State was expecting the latest deliveries in its final stage of the journey to turn the state from a mere agrarian society, to a sophisticated one, via the project called Nasarawa Geographic Information Service (NAGIS). The state has already acquired this 21st century survey equipment.
CORS which is acronym for Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) is a place of high-tech equipment that gives precision in survey. According to National Geodetic Survey, CORS networks provide Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data consisting of carrier phase and code range measurements in support of three dimensional positioning, meteorology, space weather, and geophysical applications throughout the United States, its territories, and a few foreign countries.
Surveyors, GIS users, engineers, scientists, and the public at large that collect GPS data can use CORS data to improve the precision of their positions. CORS enhanced post-processed coordinates approach a few centimeters relative to the National Spatial Reference System, both horizontally and vertically, according to the agency.
“The CORS network is a multi-purpose cooperative endeavour involving government, academic and private organizations. The sites are independently owned and operated. Each agency shares their data with NGS. NGS in turn analyzes and distributes the data free of charge. As of January 2014, the CORS network contains more than 1,900 stations contributed by over 200 different organizations and the network continues to expand,” the agency said on its website.
The partners in the NAGIS project, comprising the state ministry of Land and Urban Development, Siraj Consultancy Engineering, Aeroprecisa Limited, and GIS Transport have already delivered a GIS system. GIS started in Nigeria during the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, former FCT minister.
The acquisition and installation of CORS at NAGIS operational office in Mararaba, the gateway to Abuja came as the latest provision in the project.
 The installation by done by the technical team from Leica Geosystems based in Switzerland, which also conducted a training of the survey staff of the ministry to administer it. Three professionals from Leica, led by the firm’s application engineer Ivan Planovosky and one from the NAGIS team, Mario Hasan Bajouk, who is a consultant on ICT took the state surveyors including the Surveyor General, through the relevant technology, taking relevant questions from the trainees.
Mario Hasan Bajouk told Daily Trust that the training is expected to continue because of the relevance of the technology in the implementation of NAGIS.
State Lands Commissioner Sonny Agassi said the administration of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura proved to the whole country that the acquisition of this technology at the time the nation was making the recommendation for it underscores the determination of the administration to continue to fly the flag in GIS in the country.
“The delivery and installation of this technology highlights the fact that we’re already far ahead of the rest of the nation, and Africa in all,” Agassi, a Nigerian-Canadian driving the GIS project in the state said.
In 2013, the ministry began to raise the ante for survey. Applications for statutory titles on lands in the state must be accompanied by proper survey plan in the bid to fully implement government’s reforms in lands management and administration in line with international best practices.
 The introduction of the new system, which came into effect on January 3, 2013 is in strict compliance with relevant laws, particularly CAP 425 Laws of the Federation, as well as the regulation by Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON).
The enforcement which seeks proper layout plans for both public and private use of land in the state, in accordance with the approved rules and regulations is according to Agassi, a step taken by the governor to provide effective and efficient land management and administration there. He said this will greatly improve on the revenue generation capacity of the ministry.