By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Surveyor General of the Federation, SGOF, of Nigeria Surv. Abudulganiyu Adeyemi Adebomehin has canvassed for creation of enforcement unit in his office to tackle encroachment of flood area, especially during housing development, in Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement signed and issued Thursday by head, Information and Public Relations, Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, OSGOF, Henry David.
The country’s number one surveyor made the advocacy while speaking on TVC News’ Breakfast live programme on Wednesday as guest speaker on the topic: Mapping a Brighter Future: Enhancing Nigeria’s Development Through Accurate Mapping.
Surv. Adebomehin said, “The floodplains are where some people like to go and build their houses, despite warnings. But we don’t have that enforcement unit.
“Now, talking about the enforcement unit, we need a whole lot of constitutional amendment. Is there an act or whatever by the National Assembly for them to see reason why we should go for international best practices in that regard, are you independent from the normal government operations? If you give warning, this is the floodplain and people go to build, do you have the enablement to come up with a notice and say, no? Do you have right to stop people? And if not, why?
“We have what we call forest maps and when you talk about security, apart from the fact that we don’t carry guns, we don’t carry ammunition, anybody who fails to listen or abide by those maps we produce, will be by the Office’s Protection. That’s what we call it,” he said.
According to him, OSGOF has the relevant information and data on where the flood plains are in Nigeria. However, when people encroach, there is no special power given to the office to enforce compliance, and unless there is an act of parliament empower his office to enforce, it cannot stop encroachment of flood plains in the country.
“We have forest maps, environmental maps, and critical security-related geospatial data. But unlike security agencies, we do not carry arms or have legal backing to enforce map-based decisions. Anyone who ignores these maps effectively undermines national safety and planning,” he added.
Surv. Adebomehin lamented the lack of consistent collaboration between OSGOF and some security agencies, stating that while some agencies recognise the office’s role and consult accordingly, others overlook its relevance entirely.
“OSGOF is the only agency that truly understands and defines Nigeria’s geographic realities. Our data is sovereign and scientifically grounded. Yet, not all security stakeholders engage us before taking action on the field,” he concluded.