It was a memorable moment for me attending State of the map Nigeria 2024 conference as I was opportune to meet and engage with professionals and volunteers from different backgrounds.

FROM ZARIA TO ILE-IFE

All the away from Zaria in Kaduna state, Northwest of Nigeria down to Ile-Ife in Osun state, Southwest of Nigeria for State of the map Nigeria 2024 conference. Since it was a long Journey I had to stop at Lokoja, Kogi state for a day. The following day I continued the journey down to Ile-Ife, Osun state. The venue of the conference was at African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST) inside Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun state, Nigeria.

THE OPENING MAPPING PARTY

It was a good beginning starting the programme with an opening mapping party. The opening mapping party started around 6:39pm with the introduction of attendees. A welcome address was done by Dr. Victor Sunday who welcomed everyone to the opening mapping party. Thereafter, the session was handed over to Mr. Calvin Menttor from Ghana who introduced the attendees to OpenStreetMaps.

Activities accomplished in mapping party

1. OSM account opening
2. Downloading and installation of JOSM
3. Linking of JOSM with OSM account
4. JOSM setup and plugins installation
5. Building mapping: Project 657 (Nigeria- Mapping Missing Roads and Buildings in Ilesa) was done
6. Uploading of mapped layer to the OSM server The chairperson in person of Dr. Victor Sunday concluded the session by giving the history of OpenStreetMap and how it became global. The mapping party came to an end by 9:45pm

DAY 2 OF THE CONFERENCE

The programme started by 9:35am with an opening prayer followed by the singing of the national anthem. The introduction of guests to the high table was done and the opening remarks were given by Prof. Lazarus Mustapha Ojigi. The welcome address and the goodwill message were delivered by Dr. Victor Sunday.

Key activities for day 2

1. The lead keynote speaker (Prof. Lazarus Mustapha Ojigi) made a presentation on Artificial intelligence-Assisted Geospatial mapping and Modelling Techniques for achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.
2. TomTom OpenStreetMap program – Community & Partnership delivered by Salim Badum
3. The UAVs Geospatial Intelligence, Surveillance and Data Analytics for SDGs in Nigeria: Spatial Matrix Approach and Example by Captain Tobi Sowole
4. AFRIGIST lightning on Open Geospatial Data in Africa Prof. Joseph Oloukoi
5. Capacity Building in Space Science and Technology: UNARCSSTEE
6. Paper presentation
7. Citizen Science and Community Engagement towards Achieving SDGs: Perspectives from Scistarter -Unique Mappers Collaboration by Dr Caroline Nickerson
8. The Transformative Power of Youth led data collection in improving health care facilities through electricity planning by Anuoluwapo Kuye
9. Unlocking Geospatial Insights with Open Source Tools: A QGIS and OSM Tutorial by Ezekiel Ogungbemi The activities for the day came to an end by 6:00pm

Day 3

The programme started by 9:15am with an opening prayer followed by the introduction of guests to the high table. Key activities for day 3 1. The lead keynote speaker (Prof. Kamorudeen Folorunso Aleem) made a presentation on Open Geospatial, AI Technologies and Geospatial Data Policies in Nigeria: Implications for SDGs. 2. Keynote speaker Adeola Akinwale: Empowering Communities through Drone-Assisted Mapping: A Pathway to Women - Inclusivity and Sustainable Development 3. Keynote speaker ProfAndrew A. Obafemi: The Availability, Quality and Currency of Maps and its Implications for Achieving SDGs in Nigeria

WORKSHOP SESSION

It was an exciting moment as I had the privilege of holding a workshop session with the participants on Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change detection, modeling and prediction using QGIS and Modules for Land Use Change Simulations (MOLUSCE). The workshop entailed practical demonstration that included: i. Change detection/identification between two epochs ii. Change detection map production between two epochs iii. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) learning curve training iv. Future LULC prediction and simulation v. Question and answer session Data and video tutorial was provided to participants for them to practice at their convenient time.

Other workshop session for the day include;

i. AFRIGIST: Practical session on Downloading and streaming data from DE Africa sandbox to QGIS ii. Hajar El Ouafi: Mapping with Maproullete iii. Caroline Nickerson: Scistarter

Other activities for the day include; Academic paper presentation on Pavement Condition Analysis by Sterling Umoren and Panel Discussion with views on the theme of the conference and the take home

The conference came to an end with Vote of thanks from Dr. Victor Sunday and closing prayer

Departure

The following day many participants started their journey back home. I rested for a day before moving to Abuja and from Abuja back to Zaria my base. It was an amazing conference