To steer the leadership of the council of the African Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST) for the next two years, Nigeria's Surveyor General of the Federation, Surv. Abuduganiyu Adebomehin, has been elected as chairman of the governing council.
Surv. Adebomehin, who is a representative of the Nigeria government at the Council, was elected at the AFRIGIST's 55th council meeting held in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State.
This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Head Press and Public Relations of the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, Sani Datti.
It also disclosed that the 55th Council meeting 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.
The statement noted that the election is significant as it highlights Nigeria's leadership role in advancing geospatial information science and technology in Africa.
It said it also underscored 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." the statement stated