How many Houses are in Lagos as at December 2011?

2011 is a year that map and GIS experts in the Nigerian spatial industry would not forget in a hurry. It was the year when the Lagos State GIS project was launched with the fanfare and pageantry it rightly deserved.

In June 201, the Lagos State Government made a profound statement that there were at least 1,194, 525 houses in Lagos. (see: http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/03/08/1-2-million-houses-in-lagos/)


For the first time in the history of Nigeria, a state government could say categorically how many houses are found within the state without any fear of a back lash from the so called experts. This statement could easily be dismissed with the typical Lagosian impatience of “and so what”? However, for those that know, this announcement must be seen and celebrated as the most important and iconic declaration ever made by a state government since Nigerian Independence. For the first time, it is possible to plan adequately for infrastructures like schools, hospitals, roads, etc more efficiently and in a consistent way simply because the number of houses within the state can be determined spatially and accurately within a reliable level of confidence.

6months after, I am not sure that Lagos State govt is in any position right now to confidently issue an updated figure with confidence representing the number of houses in Lagos as at December 2011. My trepidation is anchored on the fact that during the official launch of the project in march 2011, very little was said about the data update strategy for the project to improve the data currency assurance going forward. If this seemingly insignificant piece of information was omitted during the project planning, then it was an important omission that could have significant impact on the future relevance of the project.

Is the data collection management a one off-sprint or is there a strategy that defines the systematic methology for collecting data updates? E.g, when a new building springs up somewhere in Lagos today, how long does it take to register it in the LAGIS database?
Will the LAGIS project still be dependable to give an accurate estimate of the total number of houses in Lagos 7years from now?

There were 2 types of incidents in 2011 that fueled my fear that the LAGIS may not be capable of supporting any serious decision making process 5years from now.




1. Lagos flood of July 2011 must have affected Lagos landscape one way or the other.






2. From March 2011 when the LAGIS project was officially launched by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, a number of buildings have collapsed while new ones are springing up almost every day.

Are all these updates reflected in the LAGIS database?

So I ask once again, what data update strategy is put in place to ensure that the LAGIS map database remains current and relevant
For the data to remain reliable dependable and capable of supporting decision making process in the most consistent way, (for which reason it was set up), it must be updated and versioned very regularly. A definite data lifecycle strategy must be applied rigorously to make the project relevant 50years from now. The ISO 19100 series of standards for Geographic Information could be very useful in defining this strategy.