The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), has called for new mapping of the country as a viable path to address the nation’s festering state of insecurity across the country.
NIS President, Dr Matthew Ibitoye, who expressed this view at the 4th NIS Lasis Ali Memorial Lecture, on Tuesday (yesterday, August 20) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said the maps in the country were done since 1965 and have become obsolete and can no longer meet the needs of the modern era.
Accordingly, Ibitoye urged the Federal Government to collaborate with NIS to carry out new mapping of the country as a strategic step that would help the security agents to tackle insecurity, adding that urgent action must be taken to produce new maps with modern technology for the country to win the war against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other crimes.
“The best mapped country is the best developed country. We have been advocating for a long time now that Nigeria should be mapped with the latest mapping technology…as the map we are using in Nigeria was produced in 1965 when many of us had not been born,” he said.
“This means we are giving wrong data to the people, and our communities are expanding everyday.
“We have what it takes as professionals to track some of these insurgents. The technology in the surveying profession has gone beyond using old physical approaches to curb banditry.
“We are ready to partner with the government in the war against insurgency.”
The NIS president decried the lack of interest in surveying by prospective students in Nigeria, saying graduates are not interested in being lecturers in surveying departments of the universities because of poor remuneration.
“We have more than 10 universities offering surveying apart from polytechnics in States within South-West, Nigeria, but some of them don’t have more than two to four lecturers in the whole department.
“We are working to see that we encourage our surveyors, especially those with higher academic qualifications, to go into lecturing, so that we can produce more qualified surveyors for the country,” he said.
The guest lecturer at the event, Mr Lanre Agoro, urged surveyors to sensitise the public to dangers inherent in the outright sale of their landed properties.
Agoro, a legal practitioner, added that surveyors in countries such as France and other developed nations, always encourage leasing of properties for economic development and to secure the future for the unborn generations.
Speaking on the theme: “Empowering the Nigerian Economy: Grassroots Solutions to Counter Naira Devaluation”, he urged the government to deploy strong political will in controlling trade deficit, monetary policies and inflation to boost the nation’s economy.
Agoro decried high taste for imported products at the detriment of locally produced products by Nigerians, saying the attitude has contributed to the devaluation of the Naira.
Earlier, the NIS Chairman in Oyo, Waheed Lamidi, urged citizens to avoid accepting back-dated survey plans from quacks in the surveying profession.
Lamidi said the qualified members of NIS could be recognised through their unique registration number and seal.
He said that the lecture was organised in honour of an icon, Lasis Ali, who distinguished himself as one of the past fellows of NIS and president, who upheld high ethical standards of the profession.
