NiMet’s Director General, Prof. Mansur Matazu
By Miriam Humbe
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet) has said it began receiving commendations from stakeholders as it turned 20 years as an Agency on June 19, this year.
The commendations, which came from stakeholders and those who used the Agency’s services across various sectors of the economy acknowledged that the Agency had over the years improved in its service delivery and had not just made its mark in the nation but at the regional level as well.
One sector in which NiMet’s services have been visible was air transportation and airline operations where NiMet had been providing weather updates for air travelers and air operations.
Mr Oladayo Smith, an engineer that shuttled between Lagos and Abuja to supervise his projects said: “I frequent Abuja on account of projects that I handle. I must say that my confidence in air travel in Nigeria has increased in recent years because of the safety level now. I also know that NiMet has done a lot to contribute to this”.
It could be recalled that a British Airways pilot was quoted in a national daily as saying that they now rely on NiMet’s weather report for their flight operation in Nigeria because the reports were accurate and reliable.
This was recently confirmed by the Director General/CEO, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, who said in an interview that NiMet had attained 95 per cent accuracy in weather prediction, which was above the 60 per cent threshold recommended by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Prof. Mansur attributed this to the continuous upgrade of equipment, training and retraining of staff and developing a culture of excellence in service delivery among others.
Prof. Matazu said that NiMet had not only carved a niche for itself in improved service delivery for the aviation sector but had also developed products and services that had helped the Federal Government achieve sustainable food security for the nation.
One such product is the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) in which the Agency presents to the public the annual rainfall pattern which has helped farmers and stakeholders plan their cropping season.
Alhaji Abdullahi, a farmer from Jigawa state said: “The Seasonal Climate Prediction from NiMet has been helpful to me and some farmers that agree to use it. The 2021 forecast was perfect, particularly at the onset and the end of the season. Cases of the dry spell were reported in some areas like Gwiwa, Yank washi, Kiri Kasama and Guri etc.”.
Another farmer, Rose Chioma from Imo state said: “The Seasonal Climate Prediction has been very important to us. The one provided for us last year has helped us and increased our yield. I have been using the SCP for the past two years now and those years without applying the SCP will never be compared to the last two years I started using the product”.
Recall that earlier this year in a press briefing, Professor Matazu disclosed that NiMet’s weather advisory saved the Central Bank of Nigeria N120bn because they adhered to NiMet weather advisory.
As NiMet clocked 20, stakeholders believed that the Agency had done creditably well and that the Federal Government should encourage it to achieve more, especially with the issue of climate change taking over the global discussion.
NiMet came into existence by an Establishment ACT of parliament on May 16, 2003 and got the Presidential assent on the June 19, 2003.
In 2022, the NiMet establishment Act 2003 was repealed and replaced by the NiMet establishment Act 2022 and signed into law by President Mohammadu Buhari on August 31, 2022.
The New establishment Act therefore granted the Agency the sole authority to grant approvals and licenses for the establishment of Meteorological stations and other related matters.
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