By Fatima Saka
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The Federal Government says it would invest more in meteorological services for accurate, timely and reliable weather prediction.
The Director-General, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Mansur Matazu, said this at the 2022 World Meteorological Day, organised by the Agency, on Wednesday march 23, in Abuja.
Speaking, he said, such efforts will reposition NiMet and its products and services to further influence society positively.
However, Matazu said that the agency had decided to improve on infrastructure and creatively disseminate weather forecast to as many Nigerians as possible.
He also said: “NiMet is the organisation saddled with the responsibility of advising the government and people of Nigeria on every aspect of meteorology, including the socio-economic impacts of climate and weather.
“That is why we join the rest of the world to celebrate this year`s World Meteorological Day, with the theme: “Early Warning and Early Action. Hydro meteorological and Climate information for Disaster Risk Reduction.”
He said that the theme was to emphasise the critical role of issuing warning or forecasts early enough for prompt and early action by various stakeholders.
According to him, the main focus of the event is to reduce risks associated with weather related disasters.
Matazu called for more synergy among Disaster Managers, Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) and NiMet for better national prevention, preparedness and response strategies.
“An example of best practice is the adoption of co-production techniques in the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) of NiMet, which has over the years served as a multi-stakeholders’ Early Warning Tool.
“Aside the SCP, NiMet has an array of other products and services which are part of our catalogue of Early Warning Tools.
“That is why we were encouraged by the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, to rise up, take up NiMet forecast and respond with appropriate actions for resilience, adaptation and mitigation,“ he said.
Also, Dr Bernard Gomez, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Representative for North, West and Central Africa, said that about 40 per cent of WMO members had Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS).
According to him, there are large gaps in weather observations, especially in Africa and Small Island Developing States.
“In Africa; in 2019, just 26 per cent of reporting stations met WMO standards. These gaps pose a risk to the accuracy of early warnings locally and globally,“ he said.
He said WMO programmes and activities were implemented in support of developments in respective 187 Member States.
Also, Director Weather Forecasting Services, (NiMet) Mailadi Misau, gave assurance that the agency would continue to upgrade and modernise operations in order to meet societal expectation on weather and climate information.
“So, you can have all the advisories and early warning tools at your disposal for deision making.
“The objective of celebrating the day is basically to spread awareness about the behavior of the Earth`s atmosphere and our role in protecting it.
“This day connects NiMet with sister agencies across the globe by bringing to fore activities of agencies like ours and the WMO that coordinates all activities among the Members States,” he said.
