The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has advised that there is need to prepare for extreme weather events and climate variability in the coming days due to climate change.
Its Director-General, Prof. Charles Anosike, said the extreme weather events could cause damage to buildings, infrastructure, and farmlands, displacement of people and loss of lives.
The NiMet boss stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at a one-day sensitisation forum organised by NiMet in partnership with First Green White Resources.
Anosike while stating the strategic role of the media in communicating scientific data to the public, noted that the agency’s success depends not only on the accuracy of its forecasts but also on effective communication.
The DG urged the media to collaborate with the agency to make Nigeria better informed, prepared, and resilient in the face of climate variability and extreme weather events.
He said: ‘Reports by the media guide disaster preparedness, food production, and help pilots avoid hazardous situations. The success of NiMet does not rest solely on the accuracy of our scientific data and information but also depends on the effectiveness of the information to the public which is where the media play a crucial role.
‘The management of NiMet is poised to provide quality service in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu. Within the last year alone, we have sponsored staff to training within and outside the country, and we have taken necessary steps to address issues concerning staff welfare.
‘If we are better informed and better prepared, we will be more resilient in the face of the recent extreme weather events and climate variability’.
The Director of Weather Forecasting Services (DWFS), Prof. Vincent Weli disclosed that plans are ongoing to share weather information to telecommunication subscribers through NiMet’s partnership with MTN.
He said: ‘We just signed an MoU with MTN to be able to move to the next level where weather information can be appearing in the phones of Nigerians. We are not there yet, but we’re almost 70% to disseminate.
‘MTN is the only network provider for now, but we also believe that we will reach out to other network providers so that no matter the network people use, they will be able to have weather information in the language that they understand’.
