By Bianca Iboma
Prof. Peter Chigozie Nwilo of the Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos has charged Nigeria to acquire geospatial data information (GDI) to survive floods and other environmental threats.
He said urban development needs attention at the moment, and Lagos has destroyed its wetland which is affecting the natural space water need to flow into. “When the flood comes it would definitely threaten residents that have taken part of its space. If the governments don’t make use of geospatial data information for infrastructure and sustainable development, the country would face a lot of floods and environmental degradation which would be more dangerous than the present.”
He lamented the destruction of wetlands without providing infrastructures for flood.
”They keep building in Lagos claiming the natural space of water, and this indiscriminate development needs urgent attention to correct, and the importance of wetland which are gradually disappearing would haunt our environment more in the future.”
Also, he said the government should take environment challenge serious because when flood comes and there is no space for the water to flow, they create space for themselves. He also advised the government to ban cars with much carbon gas emission as they pollute the environment that cause more rainfall, melting of the ice and rise in sea level.
Speaking on Geospatial Information as an Imperative for Infrastructural Development and Environmental Management in Nigeria, Nwilo said his arrival at the conclusion that development of GDI, will enhance search and retrieval of geospatial data in Nigeria was from his findings after a research.
During the research, Nwilo said he discovered that most states in the country do not have timely access to accurate geospatial data, and this has hindered meaningful social and economic development.
He warned that floods are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, claiming more lives and causing more property damage than any other natural phenomena.”In Nigeria, though not leading in terms of claiming lives, flood affects and displaces more people than any other disaster; it also causes more damages to properties. At least some population is at risk from one form of flooding to another.”