Air Travel: Surveyor General’s Office, NAMA Collaborate to Produce Safety Charts

Emmanuel Addeh

The Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGoF) is to synergise with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to produce charts, which will enhance the safety and security of air travels in Nigeria.

Surveyor General of the Federation (SGoF), Abdulganiyu Adebomehin made the assertion in a meeting at the Survey House, Abuja when a three-man delegation from NAMA visited him in his office.

He stressed the need for surveyors from OSGoF that would work together with the technical staff of NAMA to see it as national assignment, the task of producing charts and maps that would guarantee safety and security of aircraft and their passengers.

Adebomehin noted that his office has the capacity to provide the best charts and maps, which would also be made available to stakeholders for improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the Nigerian government.

Expressing concerns over the huge financial demands on the government by various sectors of the economy, he added that his office would as well provide geospatial services to discourage unnecessary financial outflows.

The leader of the NAMA delegation, Asifat Badmus, a Deputy General Manager explained that the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) are important for the safety of lives and for flights.

The DGM pointed out that the VFR charts would guide, provide directions, locations and to quickly identify hills and mountains, bodies of water and other physical features for easy navigation.

Badmus said as the apex surveying and mapping institution of the country, the surveyor general’s office would always be required to provide the base and positioning for better air traffic services.

NAMA, according to him needs updated topographical maps and charts as well as the data from OSGoF to function.

“Collaboration with OSGoF would help NAMA provide charts that would meet the International Civil Aviation (ICAO) standards that would be accepted worldwide,” he said.
The Surveyor General thereafter designated Azeez Afeez, Izuegbu Uju and . Alamu Samsudeen to work with the NAMA technical team for the production of the required enhancement for air services.

Meanwhile, Adebomehin has said that some of the most developed countries of the world place high premium on the use of geospatial data and maps for planning and implementation.

He spoke while playing host to the Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Abiodun Alonge who led the Chairman of the Association of Private Practicing Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN), Solomon Olutokun with fresh officials of the FCT chapter to the Survey House in Abuja.

He called for the engagement of qualified surveyors in every stage of ongoing projects in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for seamless improvement and durability of projects.

Adebomehin observed that Abuja was still in its initial stages of development and would require requisite geospatial inputs to achieve the desirable physical infrastructural arrangements and expansion for the entire Abuja.

According to him, there would be need for the surveying of the entire Abuja for effective monitoring of violation against the master plan of the country’s capital and other inimical activities that may frustrate the developmental efforts of the government.