The Governing Council of the African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AGRIGIST) has appointed Professor Lazarus Mustapha Ojigi of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) as the Executive Director (ED)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFRIGIST for a fixed term of four years, effective from 06 January 2023.

Professor Ojigi would be taking over from Dr. Akingbade Adewale Olusola whose tenure would expire by 5th January, 2023.

The incoming Executive Director of the Institute, Professor Ojigi, who is currently the Director of Mission Planning and Satellite Data Management at NASRDA had his National Diploma in Surveying, Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State (1988); B.Sc. Surveying, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1994) and had his postgraduate training at the Federal University of Technology, Minna for his Masters Degree and PhD in Applied Remote-Sensing in 1998 and 2005 respectively.

Professor Ojigi who specialised in space and satellite geodesy, remote-sensing and marine geospatial, engineering surveying, and spatial data science is the Secretary General of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) National Committee for Nigeria/Nigerian Union of Planetary and Radio Sciences. His experience spanned about 28 years both in teaching, research and administration. He belonged to many other regional and international organizations.

AFRIGIST formerly known as Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS) was established under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in 1972 to build and increase capacities in geospatial information, science and technology including their applications. It is a bilingual (English and French) intergovernmental joint institution for African countries having full diplomatic accreditation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is situated at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State.

AFRIGIST is jointly managed by Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Nigeria.