Posted by vicksun on 12 May 2025 in English. Last updated on 15 May 2025.
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. ![ ]
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.
We sincerely appreciate TomTom for enlisting Unique Mappers Network,Nigeria as one of the Countries OSM community beneficiaries of their recently distributed laptops. These few laptops in addition to the previous laptops from HOT Grant in 2018 are great support to growing and evolving community of volunteers but cannot engage a coordinated mapping volunteering without internet data access and other basic motivations.
Through HOT/WNAH community building grant support of 2022/2023,Unique Mappers Network OSM Nigeria was able to establish and sustain mapathon centers across Nigeria, where, volunteers on weekly basis had access to Internet data subscription,refreshment ,electricity supply and other basic motivation. Due to lack of funding support these mapathon centers are struggling to volunteer.
To seek for free will donations to provide humanitarian response mapping,implement our strategic plan and sustain active community engagement,Unique Mappers OSM Nigeria has created a donation page https://uniquemappers.org/donate to enable passionate individuals, partners and supporters help to sustain active community engagement in Nigeria.
We appeal to OSM data users in Nigeria. our partners and supporters to support Unique Mappers Network-the OpenStreetMap Community NGO in Nigeria to sustain an active volunteer community for OpenStreetMap project .
