Nigeria has been elected as the chairman of the governing council of the African Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST) at the 55th council meeting in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State; the Surveyor General of the Federation, Surv. Abuduganiyu Adebomehin (fnis) being the representative of the Nigerian government will steer the council’s leadership for the next two years.
This election is significant as it highlights Nigeria’s leadership role in advancing geospatial information science and technology in Africa. It also underscores the country’s commitment to fostering regional collaboration and development in this critical field.
In his acceptance speech, the Surveyor General of the Federation said “On behalf of the Nigeria government, I want to assure you that this tenure will be a highly successful one that will be proud of by the member countries. I want to sincerely appreciate and thank the outgoing chairman of the council (Ghana) for his commitment and resilience to the council over these years”.
Surv. Abuduganiyu pledged to be guided by the laid down principles of the institute’s council. He further said that through the cooperation of each member country and the Nigerian government, the institute will witness infrastructure improvement to meet the growing demands of its students and faculty, thereby providing a conducive environment for learning and research.
The 55th Governing Council meeting also approved the admission of Liberia as a new council member and the appointment of a statutory committee of the governing council which cut across members’ states.
AFRIGIST is a joint bilingual (English and French) inter-governmental institution for development of geospatial science and technology capacity in Africa. With the admission of Liberia, the institute has nine memberships including; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria (the host country), and Senegal. The institute holds full diplomatic status in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its membership is open to all African countries.
Sani Datti
Head Press and Public Relations
