By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, has convened the National Steering and Technical Committees maiden joint meeting for the Geo-Referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development (GRID3) Nigeria.
In a statement by her Special Adviser on Media & Communications, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi on Friday, the Minister took the action in her capacity as the chairperson of the GRID3 Nigeria National Steering Committee.
According to the statement, the Committees are to support the Nigerian government’s efforts to use geospatial data in the country’s continued pursuit of sustainable development for Nigerians.
As members of the Committees, various government ministries, agencies and non-governmental partners were represented, while updates and progress on the short, medium and long term goals of GRID3 Nigeria were reviewed and adopted.
The goals of GRID3 Nigeria aim to ensure that the Nigerian people, particularly the poor and vulnerable, benefit from better evidence-based resource distribution and data driven policy implementation.
The objectives of both Committees are to be achieved through the sustainable and integrated use of GRID3 geospatial data on population, settlements, infrastructure and administrative boundaries across all sectors of the Nigerian society.
The Minister called on all members of the Steering and Technical Committees to ensure commitment towards the achievement of the objectives.
Recall that the GRID3 Nigeria Committees were inaugurated at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. The Vice President had then stated that GRID3 Nigeria was important for country’s developmental objectives, and added that GRID3 Nigeria data are open and available to all Nigerians to support interventions, programmes and researches.
