Nigeria Elected Chairman Council of African Regional Institute

Oru Leonard 

Nigeria has been elected as Chairman 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 that has Surv. Abuduganiyu Adebomehin as a representative of the Nigeria government will steer the council’s leadership for the next two years.

The 55th Council meeting also approved the admission of the Republic of Liberia as a new council member and the appointment of a statutory committee of the governing council which cut across members’ states.

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 institute’s principles of the 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, providing a conducive environment for learning and research.

AFRIGIST is a bilingual (English and French) inter-governmental joint institution for 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, membership is open to all African countries.