Nasarawa in last lap of lands registry technology

An orthophoto, or orthoimage is an aerial photograph geometrically corrected (“orthorectified”) such that the scale is uniform: the photo has the same lack of distortion as a map, according to the Wikipedia. Orthophotographs are commonly used in the creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS).  Aeroprecisa Limited, the firm handling the provision of Digital Aerial […]

An orthophoto, or orthoimage is an aerial photograph geometrically corrected (“orthorectified”) such that the scale is uniform: the photo has the same lack of distortion as a map, according to the Wikipedia. Orthophotographs are commonly used in the creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS).
 Aeroprecisa Limited, the firm handling the provision of Digital Aerial Mapping (DAM) of Nasarawa, in what will lead to the computerization of the land management and administration in the state, completed flying the state to capture the images, in the late days of December, 2013.
The firm resumed flying after the operation was suspended several times between 2012 and 2013 because of the ceiling of cloud that thickened around at various periods. Approvals to fly the state borders with FCT – considered a restricted area because of the No-Fly-Zone also did not come easy from concerned authorities including the presidency and the military high command, until last December, the state government said.
 Sonny Agassi, state commissioner of Lands and Urban Development, supervisors of the project, told Daily Trust that the flight operations with light aircraft fitted with high powered cameras that captured detailed images of every property on the ground across the 27,300 kilometres of land in the state, was completed after full approvals were obtained from high authorities by the governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.
He said relevant authorities including regulatory and security bodies had given the approval to fly parts of Karu at the border with FCT, designated as No Fly Zone because of the nearness to certain security zones in Abuja.
The name of one of the light aircraft that captured the state is Diamond DA42 MPP, with registration number 9H-AEV, and an ultra super camera system called Vexcel UltraCamLp.
DAM, a component of the N2.7 billion (US$16,876,561) Nasarawa Geographic Information Systems (NAGIS), a 24-month project of urbanization, is being handled by the firm under the totality of the NAGIS project undertaken by Siraj Consultancy Engineering.
NAGIS is a 21st-century urbanization project with an output expected to provide the roadmap that will lead the current administration to give Nasarawa the same planned development as its big neighbour, Abuja.
Siraj took up the job which is part of the administration’s overall land reforms, to provide the Digital Aerial Mapping of the state, GIS, as well as provide an effective cadastral districts planning in Karu, Keffi and Lafia – in what is expected to tackle the uncontrolled growth of slums in the state. The entire project aims to provide for physical planning and development control of the land use in the designated areas.
 NAGIS was first awarded to JM Technologies, a firm contracted by the previous government of Aliyu Akwe Doma. The firm had the about N500 million job to provide digital aerial mapping but almost two years later, the present government inherited a badly muddled up NAGIS section in Lafia. All that were found were a generator as well as a Toyota Hilux van. The present administration unbundled the project and re-awarded it to Siraj to include two more components.
Aeroprecisa Limited, handling DAM for Nasarawa, is one of the first providers of geospatial products and services in the Middle East and Africa, according to its website.
The firm commenced test flights operations on May 31, 2012 over Keffi and resumed flying of Lafia, Keffi, Nasarawa and Doma towns in December of the same year capturing aerial images processed into the data base at NAGIS’ recently commissioned complex in Mararaba, near Abuja. Now, every detail of property on ground in the entirety of Nasarawa is photographed and processed into a computer data base, to provide the foundation for the three components of NAGIS: GIS, Digital Aerial Mapping, and Cadastral Districts Planning.
“It’s a milestone, making Nasarawa one of the first generation of areas in the whole of Africa, to acquire this technology,” Sonny Agassi, a Nigerian-Canadian who is supervising the project said. He said, “From an agrarian state, Nasarawa has now become the most sophisticated part of Nigeria – with a technology that beats the rest of the country.”
Nasir el-Rufai, the former FCT minister who pioneered GIS there confirmed when he participated in the commissioning of NAGIS complex in Mararaba on May 30, 2013 that NAGIS beats AGIS (Abuja GIS) because AGIS lacks DAM. The FCT administration, several years after the project was executed in 2003, is yet to have the flying component, compelling AGIS to rely on Google images, or satellite images to provide the foundation for their GIS.
This is just as the 2013 Global Geospatial Conference, Africa’s largest and regularly occurring Geographic Information Systems (GIS), attracted participation from the NAGIS partners, and provided opportunities for the state to showcase its GIS programme. Also, the Surveyor General of the Federation(SGOF), Professor Peter Nwilo and members of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SUCON) have long ranked Nasarawa top among the 36 states and the FCT in the implementation of lands reforms to conform with world best practices.
By these affirmations, Nasarawa, which is also the only state to execute GIS after FCT, has pioneered aerial mapping in the entire country, with maps showing details of what can be found on the ground across 27,300 square kilometers. For accurate information, GIS needs images captured through DAM. But the maps produced through the flying component are completely absent in AGIS, making Nasarawa a flag bearer in this technology.  
 The maps, according to NAGIS Project Manager, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibril provide detailed information about contour or land cover type to aid town planners and developers in site selection, urban renewal and general civil engineering.
The maps, according to the project manager, will also come handy for government’s disaster management, planning for education, agriculture, commercial facilities and general development because decision making can be taken from an informed position with maps in the hands of authorities. The maps are also helping the project in the making of land titles because survey errors committed previously due to assumed mappings are now being corrected as the coordinates are now easier to locate.   
The firm’s crew, including the Operations Manager, Brian Glynn Lovett; the former Chief Pilot, Captain Fernando Marquez; and Captain Richard Tomlinson who picked up flying by March of 2013; as well as the Aerial Survey Operator, Kadir Namaz explained part of their challenges, after the completion of the flight.
Captain Tomlinson, who has flown for Australia, Ghana Air Force and Tanzania, as well as Kenya said flying low altitude to get clear images came with the difficulty of continually searching for a break in thickening clouds.
Esna Swart, the project’s mapmaker said the final images captured by the firm is now been processed, to create the complete data base of the state. She said the orthophotos are used to create the foundation for the entirety of the GIS project, and will create maps even for commercial purposes.
 Agassi, the commissioner described this as “part of the big dream which actualization will change the landscape of Nasarawa forever.”