Prof. Lazarus Mustapha Ojigi of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has been appointed as the executive director (ED) of the African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AGRIGIST).
The host nation member states of Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Nigeria jointly oversee AFRIGIST’s Governing Council, which is presided over by the Surveyor General of the Federation (SGoF), Abudulganiyu Adebomehin, and Prof. Aderemi Adediji.
According to the letter of appointment dated November 11, 2022 and signed by the council’s chairman, Mr. Alain Sourou Kiki, who represented the government of the Benin Republic, the appointment, which would be for a fixed term of four years, would take effect on January 6, 2023.
Dr. Akingbade Adewale Olusola’s term will end on January 5, 2023, and Ojigi would succeed him. The council received 32 applications for the position, of which four were later shortlisted and interviewed.
Ojigi received his National Diploma in Surveying from the Federal Polytechnic in Idah, Kogi State (1988), and his B.Sc. in Surveying from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. He is currently the Director of Mission Planning and Satellite Data Management at NASRDA (1994).
He completed the National Youth Service Program in the modern-day state of Kebbi in 1993–1995 and his postgraduate studies at the Federal University of Technology in Minna resulted in his master’s degree and doctoral degree in applied remote sensing in 1998 and 2005, respectively.
The Secretary Committee for Nigeria/Nigerian Union of Planetary and Radio Sciences, Ojigi, is an expert in space and satellite geodesy, remote sensing and marine geospatial, engineering surveying, and spatial data science.
He had around 28 years of combined teaching and research experience. He belonged to numerous other national Generals of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) organizations, both domestically and abroad.
Under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), AFRIGIST, formerly known as the Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS), was founded in 1972 with the goal of enhancing capacities in geospatial information, science, and technology, including their applications.
The prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is located on the campus of Ile-Ife, Osun State’s bilingual (English and French) Intergovernmental Joint Institution for African countries. It has full diplomatic accreditation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
