A s Lagos State races towards its ambition of becoming a 21stcentury megacity, a relatively quiet but powerful institution has emerged at the heart of the transformation: the electronic Geographic Information System (eGIS) Office.
What was once seen as a data-mapping agency is now fast evolving into a utility powerhouse, quietly powering and coordinating some of the most ambitious urban reforms in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
Urban planning
From environmental surveillance to urban planning and disaster preparedness, the Lagos eGIS Office has become a trusted partner to virtually every key ministry, department, and agency (MDA) of the state government.
Through its real-time data mapping, satellite analytics, and digital terrain modeling, it is helping shape the planning, enforcement, and future development of Africa’s fastestgrowing city.
“Think of the eGIS Office as Lagos’ digital nervous system,” Architect and built sector practitioner, Biodun Adegboku, put it, adding: “It’s the central data switchboard that connects, coordinates, and supports almost every transformation project under the Greater Lagos vision.”
Smart coordination
At the core of its function, eGIS captures, analyses, and visualizes geographical data — but the implications go far beyond just mapping.
Through collaborations with MDAs such as the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Waterfronts Infrastructure Development, to mention but a few, the eGIS office helps ensure that every physical intervention across the state is grounded in reliable spatial data.
Flood zones
From identifying flood-prone zones to mapping informal settlements and planning evacuation routes, for the Ministry of E and WR, the eGIS Office ensures that planning is no longer reactive or fragmented.
It is now scientific, data-driven, and spatially coordinated. This digital intelligence has made it an indispensable partner on flagship initiatives, including the urban regeneration of blighted communities, drainage and flood mitigation efforts, management of incidental open spaces, state car parking policies and the safe expansion of infrastructure into coastal zones.
Illegal land use
One of the most visible uses of eGIS technology recently came into the spotlight through its partnership with the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, which declared a crackdown on illegal land reclamation activities along the state’s fragile coastlines and waterways.
With the aid of real-time satellite imagery and historical geospatial analysis, the eGIS Office now helps the ministry track unauthorized dredging and reclamation projects, especially those carried out under the radar, often at night or in remote locations.
“In the past, it was difficult to prove when and where land was illegally reclaimed,” said Dayo Bush Alebiosu, Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development.
Alebiosu added: “Now, with our eGIS partners, we have irrefutable digital footprints of every infraction. It’s a gamechanger.”
This collaboration with MWID recently led to a landmark policy that mandates the forfeiture of illegally reclaimed land and imposes heavy market-based fines on violators, backed by real-time evidence provided through geospatial data, who is provided by the eGIS office,currently manned by the Special Adviser to the Governor, Olajide Babatunde.
Collaboration
Interestingly, the utility of the eGIS Office extends even further. In conjunction with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, the office is helping define and secure the boundaries of traditional jurisdictions and indigenous land rights.
In an environment where land ownership can be complex and contested, this digital mapping is not just about city planning.
Additionally, it is about preserving identity, tradition, and social harmony. It allows the government to document customary land tenure systems alongside modern statutory claims, thereby preventing overlaps, encroachments, and communal conflicts.
In this regard, the office recently partnered the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development to resolve issues around the ongoing modernisation of the Alaba-Okoko Transnational Market, formally known as Alaba Rago.
Safer future
In collaboration with the ME & OE, the eGIS office is shaping a smarter, Safer future.
This is so as the eGIS tools are being deployed to monitor illegal waste dumping, deforestation, wetland encroachment, and the spread of pollution hotspots across the state.
Similarly, for LASEMA, the technology is used to model disaster scenarios and plan emergency response logistics with precision — cutting down rescue times and saving lives.
The Office is also enabling Lagos to anticipate and mitigate the risks posed by climate change, sea-level rise, and over-urbanization, especially in vulnerable zones like Lekki, Ikorodu, Badagry, and the Lagos Island coastline.
Smart city
As Lagos transitions into a truly data-driven smart city, the relevance of eGIS is further growing, with sensors, cameras, and IoT systems being deployed across public utilities and roads.
Each of these systems, whether for traffic, water, power, or security, must be mapped and integrated spatially.
AI-enabled traffic control
It is, therefore, safe to say that over the next five years, as Lagos scales up its smart infrastructure, which includes electric buses, AI-enabled traffic control, flood sensors, and energy grids, the eGIS Office will become even more critical.
It will not only map infrastructure but predict patterns, enabling the government to act preemptively rather than reactively.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Adeyinka Adeniji
Quelle/Source: New Telegraph, 11.06.2025
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