Following mobilization of volunteers and OSm newbies at Benue State University to kick-start a new chapter and team of Unique Mappers to drive Map Nigeria Mapathon project and the Makurdi on going project .We had a training for newbies. More than 20 newbies has been mobilized and signed up to OSM. These include William Hundu, the Team Coordinator, Lucas, Glory,Shater ,Jacob an others After the virtual meeting ,I hope to travel to Makurdi for in-person training and MOU with the University and Unique Mappers Network,Nigeria

Also .we are planning for stakeholders workshop for data use cases

It works !! OSMfight as a gamification for community engagement of OSM contribution -This week we are engaging paired mappers for OSMfight for the next one week - we need to get our project task running,engaging and fun to map https://tasks.openstreetmap.us/projects/815#description

OSMfight this week engages volunteers from our 1. Unique Mappers Abuja Mapathon Center 2. Unique Mappers Enugu Mapathon Center 3. Unique Mappers Port Harcourt Mapathon Center 4. Unique Mappers Kaduna Mapathon Center and others

Our challenge remains breaking the barrier of high cost of internet data subscription in Nigeria

Sustaining our mapathon centers with basic volunteering motivations

Engaging data users stakeholders workshop and lost more

We look forward to our partners and supporters !!!!!

You can support us here https://uniquemappers.org/donate/

Today, I had a good time at the national office and Mapathon center of Unique Mappers Network-the OpenStreetMap Nigeria Community NGO (osm.org/#map=18/4.899962/6.921081) to engage newbies, signing them up and training them on how to contribute to OpenStreetMap. Among them are Ngozi,Fortune,David and Chika (NMak,verified,Peter Msiion D and Victoria Jaja). Please, check out for them to welcome them and share your success stories and motivation for OSM volunteering. Fortune(verifiedfortune) joining Unique Mappers IT cohort 1 for 2025 would be contributing for the next 6 months as part of his IT task. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7329531711480926209 ![ ]

On 3rd May, We got back to our Map Nigeria Monthly Mapathon to sustain active OSM community participation in Nigeria, especially as we have mapping projects being coordinated in collaboration with TomTom one of Unique Mappers Network partner https://tasks.openstreetmap.us/projects/815#coordination . Volunteers joined from across the states and universities in Nigeria in a virtual coordinated mapathon, especially, the Unique Mappers Team we recently established in Abuja,Kaduna.Ile-Ife and Enugu.

In the first quarter of 2025, we have mobilized,signed-up and trained more than 100 newbies coordinated in a new whatsaap group of the community whatsaap group for orientation purposes. However, mapping contributions has been quite slow as the recent high increase in internet data subscription in Nigeria makes it more difficult for both old and new OSM volunteers to sacrifice the high cost of internet for voluntary mapping in OSM. You can hardly find free internet broad band access to engage volunteers in Mapathon.

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Hi everyone ,happy to sign up and engaged newbies today . Also attended an Innovation week exhibition where we exhibited our work at unique mappers

Thank you Daniel Akor for an amazing job, hosting the Orientation and training of new team leads of LMT-Nsukka.

Look forward to their most active participation with Unique Mappers Community Nigeria as well as university community engagement at UNN

Cheers

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Motivations

Have you ever wondered when on earth, you would have opportunity to meet in person, have a handshake, a hug, an off-screen smile, take a coffee or even a lunch together with friends and colleagues you have remotely worked with, as weeks, months and years keeps counting in a virtual world of OpenStreetMap global community? Yes, our trending techs and AI keeps offering us the best of smart connectivity with everyone in a digital space of daily online activities that builds around us a world of virtual communities with uncertainties, barriers and boundaries of never meeting physically in our life time. Have you ever, thought about, the uncertainties of meeting in person such cool guy as Geoffery kateregga and the rest of HOT and OSM Africa local community leaders after consistently working virtually in HOT working groups, OSM Africa Mapathon, Community meeting and the rest for weeks, months and years in a virtual world of OSM.

What about meeting your boss-Pete Masters the Head HOT Global community (of course, if you are a community leader or aspiring and being mentored to be one) after having series of community mentorship, supervision, and virtual meetings through WhatsApp zoom, jitsi and the rest of the virtual platform that makes you forget the distance barrier and that you never had an opportunity to meet in person. Infact, after meeting virtually for years gone by, it only dawned on me that my very boss-Pete Masters had such an intimidating height that would dare me stretching out my neck when I first met him on my arrival for SOTM2022, in Florence, Italy. So, my virtual assumptions were wrong after all, thanks to FOSS4G2022 and unSummit HOT.

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Today I participated in Unique Mappers OSM Nigeria monthly Mapathon during which I facilitated the mapathon and providing training to newbies in the beginners room. It was so exciting to have everyone joining from diffrerent parts of Nigeria and beyond ,including Germany and Tanzania. We look look forward in the few weeks ahead Etsako east project would be completely mapped to provide open map data to drive humanitarian response and social good project

It was amazing and exiting to have our Unique mappers community joining again for the 1-week Mapathon Webinar #mapmyvillage . Good to have Raph-the HOT Global Validation Team lead joining us to handle the validation training room.And thanks to Kingsely and Chiosm Okwuchi for amazing job in the beginners room and advance mappers room. We had maore participants joining to learn how to map thier villages in OSM

It was so exciting to finally have a successful Monthly Mapathon kick-off in Nigeria on Saturday ,30th April 2022. One of the innovative aspect of this mapathon is the Panel session during which panelist from the Unique Mappers Community were able to discuss data use cases for data being contributed. This helped newbies to understand that we are not just mapping for fun but to drive development and humanitarian response. We also had breakout rooms for training using the zoom platform. Highlights of the 2housr mapathon includes: Unique Mappers Network -The Local Community of OpenStreetMap in Nigeria Launches a Monthly Mapathon Tagged : #MapMyVillage Campaign for Social Good Featuring Mapathon Training 1. Getting started as a Beginner Mapper in OpenStreetMap 2. Advancing your Mapping Skills in OpenStreetMap Panel Session Mapping My Village for Social Good Certificate of Participation Internet Data Support for 1-week Mapathon Since, we made it a one week mapathon ,newbies would be signed up and virtually be guided and trained to remotely map their villages in Nigeria. I sincerely appreciate all management team of Unique Mappers network for the amazing cooperation and passion to see this mapathon take off and we look forward to sustaining this effort.

It was quite exciting to meet virtually with the new team lead of OyoMappersTeam ,one of the founding team of Unique Mappers OSM Community Nigeria , The team was co-doundaed by Mrs Mary Marcellineus and Victor N.Sunday in 2017. The Team Coordinator, Mrs Mary was also excited to have us discuss ways of breaking barriers to community engagement at Oyo. One of the constraints she is battling is the access to internet connectivity for mapping which is very costly for members to afford . Most often she had to use part of her meager salary ,to ensure, a mapping event or training is hosted . In response, the team was given hope ,that ,such barriers is bound to be overcome as we all work together as a local community NGO for Nigeria -The Unique Mappers ,so we can seek for funding for humanitarian response mapping in Nigeria. If members were up and doing with annual dues/reg ,that would serve effectively to provide internet subscription support for the team but now we can only rely on possible micro grant and donations ,to help us provide sustaining fee internet subscription for mapathon. The team was advised at the moment to get Mi-fire for monthly subscription to hotspot for 32/64 participants or make use of their smartphones. While,Unique Mappers would always be there for the team to provide necessary support. The meeting was as an exciting way to wrap up the day’s activities for OSM volunteering

I participated in this training and was able to provide training on introduction to OSM and HOT Tasking Manager today. Really appreciates everyone who attended from Osun State,Enugu State,Abuja,Kogi,Ogun and others for Unique Mappers Community Nigeria