NIS Laments Country Reliance on 1966/1967 Map for Land Devt

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

The Nigerian Institute of Surveyors (NIS) has lamented that Nigeria was still relying on the 1966/1967 map of its land for development hence the continuous crisis and unclear demarcation of the country’s land, available resources in them and how they can be developed.

The institute, therefore, called on the government to review the situation and to also ensure that the activities of surveyors are spelt out in the Land Use Act which is currently due for amendment, adding that despite the very important role surveyors play, they were not recognised or given any role in the existing Act.

These and many other issues were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of NIS 58th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and conference held in Benin-city, the Edo State capital.

The President of the NIS, Dr. Matthew Ibitoye, while reading the communiqué, said the institution recommended the establishment of a National Policy on Surveying and Mapping.

He said: “In my address I told the gathering that we rely on the 1966 and 1967 maps as of today in Nigeria.”

 “So you can now see the level to which we cannot come up with a very good development if we rely on that map. Nigeria has not mapped its environment since that time up till the present moment that I am talking to you. The only thing that some states did is just a fire brigade approach that is not comprehensive, so that is the bitter truth that Nigeria has not even injected money into this aspect.

“Imagine the development of a city in 1966 comparing to what we are having now, they are not the same so it is the real issue that we have been telling the government to try as much as possible to map the whole country for development.”

Ibitoye noted that the vast Sambisa forest notorious for the activities of the Boko Haram has assumed such infamous status partly because there is no clear understanding of the area due to the mapping of the country.

“We are talking of Sambisa today; Sambisa is in Nigeria and with the map of the country, you will be able to trace where Sambisa is, and people are living there. Is that place really a forest or is it a place habited by people or they are not habitable? They  make us realize today that Sambisa is a forest but do you know that some people are living in that Sambisa and they are making money in that Sambisa? Foreigners are coming from outside the country and entering Sambisa for business, so can we say Sambisa is a forest? They told us that it is a forest but some activities are taking place there to show that it is not only a forest but a deposit for some minerals that can make Nigeria great,” he said.

Besides, the communiqué also observed that “Surveyors’ roles in land development plans are not adequately recognised by government agencies; lack of comprehensive legislation on surveying and mapping; insufficient government funding for survey projects among others.”

The communique, therefore, recommended a “legislative action to define surveyors’ roles in land development. The roles played by survey is very germane in the country’s Land Use Act but unfortunately the Land Use Act that is subjected for amendment now did not in any way recognise survey and the surveyor is the one who will determine the land for the government and their owners so we are advocating that surveyors’ roles need to be specified in such an amendment.

“Establish Surveying and Geo-informatics faculties in universities and encourage more professionals to enter academia.”