Keyamo, NiMet DG hold strategic meeting with WMO

Abdullateef Fowewe

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, and the Director General, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Professor Charles Anosike have held a strategic meeting with the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland.

Anosike who also doubles as the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the WMO and Keyamo had a meeting with the Secretary-General of the WMO, Professor Celeste Saulo, to discuss bilateral relations between Nigeria and the WMO at the sideline of the Aeronautical Meteorology Scientific Conference (AeroMetSci-2024).

The AeroMetSci-2024 was organised by the WMO for Weather, Climate, Hydrological, Marine and Related Environmental Services and Applications (SERCOM).

The conference which gathered professionals and industry players within the WMO, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Academics, Research, and Aviation Communities is held at WMO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and lasts from 21 to 25 October 2024 with the theme “Aviation, weather and climate: scientific research and development for enhanced aeronautical meteorological services in a changing climate”.

The goal of the conference according to a statement shared with our correspondent on Thursday, is to showcase scientific and technological advances in meteorological observations, forecasts, advisories, and warnings, expand focus on the integration of meteorological information decision support services into the global air traffic management system, and examine further the impacts of climate change and variability on aviation.

Among the Nigerian delegation are the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, Abiodun Adejola, and the Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Farouk Umar.

As stated in the statement, during the weeklong conference, the delegation will seek to understand the recent development in the science of meteorology and its application to operational aeronautical meteorological services which NiMet believe to be critical to the mandate of the Agency

While speaking at the meeting with Saulo, Keyamo recognised the role of meteorology in nation-building and aviation safety and the importance of Nigeria within the region, regarding technical assistance and capacity development initiatives for other member states.

The statement reads partly, “The minister highlighted areas that WMO could increase support to Nigeria such as training, skills acquisition, increased fellowship opportunities for NiMet staff, and early warnings capacity development for industrial professionals.

“The Minister advocated for increased WMO presence in Nigeria recognising the WMO Sub-regional Office located and supported by Nigeria.

“He pledged that Nigeria would continue to fulfil its statutory obligations to the Regional Office in Abuja and to the WMO headquarters. The Minister having approved that Nigeria develop a national road map of early warnings in line with the WMO Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, requested for WMO support to actualize the EW4All road map.”

In his remark, Anosike noted that WMO support is required for the proposal for Nigeria to become a Regional WIGOS Centre and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Centre of Excellence. He appreciated the WMO for the support received during the training programme on NWP and affirmed Nigeria’s readiness to support member states within the region.

Responding to the minister and Anosike’s remark, Saulo acknowledged the role of Nigeria in ensuring that no country is left behind in the region and its support in helping to develop other meteorological services in the region.

“She praised the government support being received by the Meteorological Service of Nigeria and emphasized the importance of such support especially towards resource mobilization for improved service delivery, and early warning system improvement, especially for extreme weather events in the developing world.

“Prof. Saulo further expressed her support for regional centres of excellence for meteorology and climate change. She pledged her support and that of the WMO for Nigeria considering the strategic importance of the country to the development of meteorological services,” the statement added.