A Professor of Geoinformatics, Momoh Lawal Rilwani, Thursday, come short of saying that mapping and geoinformation played important roles in addressing the environmental challenges of Agriculture and food security in Nigeria.
Rilwani, in furtherance to his argument, pressed home the need for environmental monitoring to generate up-to-date data and information about the land and the resources therein. With this, he assured that Geoinformatics can be used to arrest the challenges of environmental disharmonies caused by man’s uncaring attitude to the environment.
He maintained that the process requires integrated mapping to serve as the pivot for articulating environmental management programmes and policies.
Delivering the 113th inaugural lecture of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, on the topic “Sensing and Synthesis for advancement: Exploit with Geoinformatics”, Rilwani said the geoinformatics approach needs to be entrenched in the entire food production process by adopting precision Agriculture methods, which will not only ensure optimal productivities but also environmental sustainability.
Lamenting the country’s food security challenges, Rilwani said one of the most threatened environments in the world is the Niger Delta. Oil exploration and exploitation have resulted in colossal damage to the environment.
“How bad this situation may look like for the Niger Delta region clearly there exist alternatives that can be implemented to save it from future contamination,” Rilwani said.
“Satelite imagery combined with the use of Geographical Information System, GIS and indeed geoinformatics can be put to work quickly to identify and track spills oil.
“To hasten clean-up of spills, regional clean-up sites along the problem areas could help contain spills more quickly.”