The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, has revealed that the Federal Government intends to include a budget line for geospatial data in government agencies’ budgets.
Speaking through his Special Assistant, Dr Zakari Lawal, at a sensitization workshop on geospatial data for development planning and decision-making held in Abuja, he disclosed that the government has made provisions for monitoring and evaluating projects in the country, and this will also apply to geospatial information systems.
According to the minister, the government is determined to ensure transparency, accountability and effectiveness in all projects by geo-locating them.
He also emphasized the role of geospatial data in combating poverty in the country, stating that it is crucial to have a good understanding of the geospatial information system implementation to fight poverty in Nigeria.
Mrs Foluke Adebayo, the Director of Data Quality Management at the National Population Commission, further emphasized the importance of geospatial data, citing its usefulness in identifying the poor and vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She highlighted how georeferenced population data helped the government determine the number of households in a particular area, the number of people in those households, their location, and earning capacity.
This information enabled the government to distribute resources equitably to those in need, ensuring that the resources of the nation were well managed.
In conclusion, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, stated that the government has started implementing the budget line for geospatial information systems in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and aims to ensure that every agency has a budget line for its implementation going forward.