Anambra State has attained international recognition at the inaugural Google Maps Platform Awards 2025, emerging winner of the Top Fan Vote category for its groundbreaking project on the digitisation of property tax systems.
The award recognises the State’s innovative deployment of Google Maps and Earth Engine technologies to strengthen property enumeration, mapping accuracy, and internally generated revenue administration through geospatial governance solutions.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Anambra State Government at his office following its delivery from Google Headquarters in Silicon Valley, California, the Executive Chairman of the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AiRS), Dr. Greg Ezeilo, described the recognition as a validation of deliberate reforms driven by technology.
According to him, the achievement represents “the fruit of sustained institutional effort now gaining international recognition.”
Dr. Ezeilo explained that the APLUC mapping initiative, commenced over a year ago, relied extensively on existing geospatial technologies such as Google Maps to obtain a comprehensive digital view of properties across the state.
He disclosed that the exercise successfully identified approximately 1.5 million properties statewide, with over 553,000 properties already properly clustered and captured for taxation and administrative purposes.
“This represents a dependable revenue stream for the State. Once the ongoing harmonisation process is completed, the benefits in revenue optimisation will naturally follow,” he stated.
The AiRS Chairman further commended members of the technical team, particularly Mr. Stanley, for their dedication to the successful execution of the project, noting that property taxation in Anambra State has now been firmly repositioned through technology-driven innovation and improvement science — placing Anambra alongside Lagos State at the forefront of modern revenue administration in Nigeria.
Award Category: Top Fan Vote — Digitising Property Tax Systems with Google Maps.
The project leverages Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map, classify, and digitally link property data, including imagery and tax records, thereby improving transparency, efficiency, and compliance in revenue collection.
The Google Maps Platform Awards commemorate 20 years of global mapping innovation, with winners selected based on impact, creativity, technological application, and public voting. The AiRS Digital Property Management Project emerged victorious from over 4,000 competing global entries within the category.
This latest honour further strengthens Anambra State’s growing reputation in digital governance, coming on the heels of its sweeping victory of four major awards at the 13th National Council on Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (NCCIDE) meeting in December 2025, where the State was recognised for excellence in ICT development and human capital advancement.
Caleb Okeke-Enyobi
Awka, Anambra State
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