Survey means measurement. Land Surveyors should know where they belong in the 3 sub-systems of GIS (1. data acquisition/input, 2. Data management, and 3. data presentation/output sub-systems).

The origin of GIS has nothing to do with surveyors but rather on carrying out spatial analysis in mapping by visualising different scenarios based on factored parameters. It actually results from analytical cartography or mapping. An expert in map making is called a Cartographer. We don't have up-to-date maps in Nigeria simply because the Surveyors have, by virtue of the Act establishing Surveyors Registration Council downplay other geoinformation specialist such as the Cartographers, Photogrametrists/Remote Sensing, Hydrographers, And recently GIS experts especially in the office of the surveyor General.

Guess what, go to well established National Mapping organisations such as the UK Ordinance Surveys, The Dutch Cadaster in the Netherland, The US Geological Survey, etc, you will see a mixture of different experts such as photogrametrists, computer scientists, GIS specialists, Land Surveyors, RS, Cartographers, Land administrators, hydrographers, climatologists, environmentalists, Geologists, estate surveyors, etc. all working together for one common goal. All helping in either data gathering, analysis or carrying out the actual topographic/thematic mapping as the country demands. But come to Nigeria, rather than join forces of different geoinformation or earth related disciplines/experts, the Land surveyors think, act and do as if others are not important.

Go back to the Text Books and be re-schooled on the origin of GIS and the discipline that championed it and made it available to virtually other disciplines having anything to show or geovisualise in map form. The end product of a good GIS is a map and the accompanying statistics. The operational heart is data in a database management system, and the philosophy is about geometric and attribute information. The platform for analysis is provided by the computer scientist as hard and software while the map data presenter is the Cartographer. Today, when you get properly trained in GIS, you don't have to be biased because you need the contributions of other disciplines of knowledge. Hence, you are expected to take courses in Computer, Database, Cartography, Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry, Mathematics and application areas in Geographic study. This could be health, crime, environment, land, population, disease mapping, air quality, geospatial intelligence, military intelligence, transportation, etc. The advent of GNSS with high end sophisticated GPS receivers has made data acquisitions less cumbersome compared to the early surveying using ranging pole, gunters chain, etc was the talk of the town. With improvements in science and technology especially computerised or automated hard/software surveing and mapping system, geographic analysis has become very easy especially for those who are frankly interested in geospatial sciences.

Knowledge should be for service and not for raising bragging.

Hospital is not meant for doctors alone. The doctor needs the nurses, the lab scientists, the radiographers, the hard/software engineers, and the community medicine practitioners and field workers. A house is not built by one expert but by different experts with their expertise. Let geoinformation production and management in Nigeria be like that. Read research papers or books from Michael F. Goodchild. If you have not read anything from this author, then you have to go back and do so or otherwise, don't speak when GIS is been discussed.

GIS is like our body with many functional parts which can perform different roles but cant work in isolation of any of the other parts. Abd none of the parts could claim or boast superiority over the other as all work together to provide the human body with the needed vitality.


GIS is beyond surveying location, Geography, Mathematics, survey, geodesy,geology,ecology,forestry, computer science, astronomy, Environmental management, cartography etc.

But the integration of all equals GIS ..

My work.I'm a GIS (Geographic information system analyst). I train people on different GIS software's such as Arcgis,Qgis,idrisi terrset,Google earth,smartGIs editor,Global mapper,snap and surfer.analysis performed are image classification,creation of elevation map (contour),location allocation analysis, service area analysis, study area maps,thematic maps(population map,election map etc),NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index).etc.Any interested person should contact me on dis no 08106244065.thanks and God bless.