Surveyors can help govt in combating crimes – NIS

The National President of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Dr Matthew Ibitoye, has called on the government to engage surveyors’ expertise in combating insecurity and other forms of crimes.

The NIS president said this at the 2024 Annual Luncheon of the Oyo State Chapter of NIS in Ibadan on Thursday.

Supreme News reports the theme of the luncheon is “Expanding Horizons: Exploring Income Diversification for Professionals in the Face of a Challenging Economy”.

Ibitoye noted that the government could monitor and capture black spots in the country using surveyors’ remotely sensed data.

He added that NIS has the capacity and equipment to produce hot spot maps for security agencies to capture criminals.

“All the crimes committed in the past in Nigeria are location-based, as no criminal can operate without location and data from surveyors are very important in tracking the movements of criminals.

“If services of surveyors can be incorporated into the security engagement of Nigeria, it will provide a better respite for all crimes being committed in the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state chairman of NIS, Waheed Lamidi, urged the government to ensure effective land administration in the state.

He lamented that the majority of land for agriculture in the state had been turned to housing estates, posing a great threat to food security in the near future.

“If we continue without proper control from the government, it may get to a stage that it will greatly affect food available for consumption.

“Before any land is approved for estate development, the government must do proper checks and ensure such land will not affect food production.

“The governments of western and other regions in the past leveraged agriculture to develop our economy in those days,” he said.

The guest speaker, Mr Taofik Odukoya, charged NIS members not to be static in areas of career development.

Odukoya, a pharmacist, urged surveyors to diversify beyond surveying and take advantage of artificial intelligence and other latest technologies to advance their profession.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State noted that his administration had deployed digitisation and other modern innovations to ensure effective land administration in the state.

The governor, represented by the Special Adviser on Housing and Urban Development, Olakunle Akinsete, promised that the state would continue to be at the forefront of digitising land management system in Nigeria.

This, he said, would be for the benefit of both the government and citizens.