The Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, Ekiti State Branch, Timothy Ajala, has advocated proper mapping of the state to accelerate all-round development and as well tackle the challenge of security.

Ajala, who said having a good base map of the state would make administration of the state in all sectors including security easy, said, “Our appeal as professionals to the state government is that it should try as much as possible to do the mapping of Ekiti State.

The NIS chairman, who spoke in Ado Ekiti during the handover ceremony of the Surveyor-General of Ekiti State, Samuel Ibidunmoye, who retired after 35 years in service, to the Deputy Surveyor-General, Adebayo Faleto, said, “Availability of base map will make the administration of the state easier and better”.

He said, “When you have a good base map of Ekiti, you will know what is where and who is where. You can stay in your office and monitor what is happening throughout the state – you know the roads and their states, you know the location of schools, hospitals etc and their conditions. The map will be very good for the security agencies also to know what happens where”.

Ajala lauded the retired surveyor-general, who he said followed the ethics of the profession and uplifted it through programmes and policies, saying, “We are all enjoying what he has done”.

The acting surveyor-general, Faleto, who assured stakeholders that he would build on the legacies of his predecessor to better a lot of the profession and service to the state, said the gain of uan p-to-date map to the socio-economic development had made it imperative.

Faleto said the Geographical Information System programme which the Kayode Fayemi administration had begun would aid in the mapping of the state to replace the map which had been in existence since the 1960s.

He said, “There are a lot of gains in having a good map. Surveying is the basis of all development. The product of surveying is the map, without a map, you cannot do the planning, we use maps for proper planning.

“By the time we update the map of Ekiti State, you will see that the spate of development of the state will change entirely. We are going to generate enough money for the government by the time we get the map updated. Every development in existence will be seen at a glance on the map and others in need of development will get it.”

“We have been making frantic efforts to ensure that the old map we have in Ekiti State is updated. I want to thank the government of Dr Kayode Fayemi for introducing another dimension in the area of how we can update the map of Ekiti State.

“The GIS that is in the offing will really assist us in getting the map updated without delay. Very soon, the programme will take off and the map of the state will be updated in a very short while,” Faleto said.

While handing over the insignia of office to his successor, Ibidunmoye, who thanked staff of the office for cooperation, cautioned Faleto to be cautious and shun the temptation of abuse of office and privileges.