The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has advocated for the increased presence of World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in the country by recognising the Sub-regional Office located and supported by Nigeria.
Keyamo made the call when he led a delegation comprises the Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Prof. Charles Anosike in the ongoing Aeronautical Meteorology Scientific Conference organised by the Commission 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 holding at WMO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland between 21 and 25 October, 2024.
Keyamo during the meeting, 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.
He 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.
He pledged that Nigeria would continue to fulfill 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.
The theme of the conference is: “Aviation, weather and climate: scientific research and development for enhanced aeronautical meteorological services in a changing climate.”
The objective of the conference 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.
Speaking, Anosike said 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, the WMO Secretary General, Prof. Celeste 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.