The Federal Government on Thursday in Abuja said it would invest more in meteorological data generation to improve weather prediction across the country.
Prof. Mansur Matazu, the Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) made the promise during his keynote address on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day.
Matazu , who was represented by Prof. Effiom Oku, NiMet Director, Research and Traning, said the Federal Government had been investing in meteorological data generation over land, water and in the atmosphere.
The theme of the event is “The future of weather, climate and water across generations“.
“The data generated are so critical for past assessments and future predictions including forecasting.
” In NiMet, we have placed special importance in the future generations by working with the young minds in the country.
“ Usually, our weather observers are largely youths who begin their careers in the field of meteorology at a very young age.
“Similarly, we have designed, developed and implemented a program called Young Meteorological Ambassadors whose members are here today, “ he said.
He said the agency had signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with several universities in Nigeria to promote the science of meteorology within the academic institutions at tertiary level to support national and regional development.
He said that NiMet continued to render services in support of aviation, agriculture, construction, tourism, defense, water resources management, telecommunications, environment and communications among others.
According to him, the development of NiMet`s products and services include the effective utilization of young minds as well as the experienced ones within the agency creating innovations “to what it does and how it does them”.
“This has positively impacted on our routine publications and on-demand services such as the Seasonal Climate Prediction as part of the Agency’s meteorological Early Warning System in line with the United Nations Early Warning for ALL.
“Other products and services include Hydro meteorological Bulletin, Annual State of Climate report in Nigeria, Agrometeorological Bulletin, Climate and Health Bulletin, Daily weather outlooks and bulletins, TV weather forecasts, Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts, Marine Bulletin, and impact-Based Weather Forecast.
“Multitudes of other routine and on-demand products and services cutting across all socio-economic sectors, “ he said.
The NiMet boss said the agency was also working to preserve its past resources in terms of publications and instrumentation, while developing new ones to provide a robust knowledge base for the upcoming generations.
He urged every Nigerian to invest in future generations and create awareness on the dangers of climate change such as extreme weather and loss of livelihoods by making the World a safer place for All.
Contributing, Dr Bernard Gomez, WMO representative North Central and West Africa, said science and innovation were also key tools to scale up the contribution of weather and climate services to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“ We all must continue to remember that climate change threatens the achievement of many of these goals and indeed our individual plans.
The world celebrates Meteorological Day on March 23 of every year.
The day commemorates the coming into force on March 23, 1950 of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) around the world have continued to monitor through observation (air, land and water) the weather and climate.
“Also providing evidence of the changing climate and leading actions through prediction towards adaptation, mitigation and creation of resilient societies. “ he said.
