The Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation has pledged to deploy a Geographical Information System expert for the Border Communities Development Agency to help establish its GIS unit.

According to a statement signed by Head Press and Public Relations, Sani Datti, the Surveyor General of the Federation, Abuduganiyu Adebomehin, stated this when the Executive Secretary paid him a courtesy visit at the agency headquarters in Abuja.

He reassured the agency of his support and collaboration in mapping, identification, and information regarding border communities nationwide.

“If it pleases you, we will be ready to draft one of the best hands to be with you and be in charge of your GIS, as it would not be meaningful if you don’t have someone who understands the transformation and coordinate systems,” he stated.

He noted that it was one thing to have imagery and another to be able to read it.

The Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency, Dr. Dakorinama George, requested unparalleled collaboration with the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation to fill in the gaps and with the vision to reposition the agency to be able to fulfill the mandate for which it was established.

He said, “We have borders spread along 105 local governments in about 21 states, across all the geographical zones, access to some of these communities is difficult.

“So, you begin to wonder how they survive, which is one of the reasons we need the support and collaboration of the Surveyor General’s Office to properly locate and reach out to them and get to know their needs.

“We need every piece of information you can give us regarding our border communities because you have been in touch with them. You have a lot of border data, and we want to depend on your field data. We want to tell you that we want to reestablish the collaboration and the existing synergy between your office and our agency.”

He noted that he recently requested approval from the Presidency to establish a GIS unit in the agency because of the need for a dedicated desk to be a liaison between the agency and the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation.