By Grace Ademulegun
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has expressed the need for a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to strengthen their collaboration against climate change.
NiMET believes the collaboration is in the interest of Nigeria’s continued socio-economic development.
Speaking at a meeting at NGF’s Office in Abuja last weekend, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, said that a formal relationship between the NGF and NiMet is in the best interest of the country.
“It’s no longer news that we are seeing increasingly frequent weather events that are affecting our communities,” he said, lamenting, “Every year we count losses of the number of our people that have been killed, families and communities displaced, and the economic damages.”
He said extreme weather events also trigger human trafficking, disease outbreaks, and other negative impacts.
Professor Anosike said that NiMet and NGF strongly believe that something should be done to mitigate the impact of climate change, stressing that the two establishments would sign a MoU to guide their relationship.
“If we can proactively collaborate and coordinate our activities, we should be able to reduce the impact of climate change,” he said, adding, “Our collaboration will ensure that weather and climate information get to the last mile – the Nigerian people”.
The NIMet helmsman described weather and climate information as critical to the sustainable economic development of the people.
“Early warning systems are systematic activities that will ensure that weather and climate information get to the Nigerian people and to the vulnerable to ensure that they would be able to respond accordingly, not reactively, but proactively,” he said.
On his part, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Alhaji Abdulateef O.T. Shittu, said that climate change is impacting economic well-being nationally and globally.
“NiMet is a critical federal government agency, hence the NGF has agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NiMet so that we can support and partner with them to implement all the climate change initiatives that the agency has in the interest of the Nigerian people”, Shittu said. END
Culled from NiMet news
