NIMET Turns 20, Extolled for Accurate Weather Reporting

Chinedu Eze

The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has received commendation from pilots for the agency’s accurate weather forecast.

According to pilots who spoke to THISDAY, accurate weather reporting by the agency did not just happen, but it took time as NIMET acquired state of the art equipment, employed the right personnel and had efficient management that developed a philosophy of excellence.

Few years ago, a British Airways pilot who regularly flies to Nigeria told THISDAY that in the past they used to rely on international weather report while flying into Nigeria’s airspace, but in recent years they have come to rely on weather reports by NIMET because the reports have become accurate and reliable.

As the agency turned 20 years on June 19, industry stakeholders have attributed a measure of safety in flight operations in Nigeria to the accurate weather reports of NIMET. They gave strength to this by recalling that some of the air crashes in the past were attributed to weather, like the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crash at the Port Harcourt Airport on December 10, 2015 and the ADC Airlines Flight 053 on take-off at the Abuja airport on October 29, 2006.

Since these tragic accidents, there have been significant improvement in weather reporting in Nigeria made possible by NIMET, which efficient management has elevated the agency to become one of the best in Africa and has been rendering services to other African countries.

The Director General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Prof Mansur Matazu recently confirmed that the agency has recorded 95 per cent precision and accuracy of weather predictions in the last 15 years.

This is far above the accepted minimum standard of 60 per cent, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

According to NIMET, meteorological services in Nigeria started in 1887 at Akassa (in present-day Bayelsa State). Followed later in 1891, within the premises of the Public Works Department (PWD), followed in Ilorin by 1907(present Day, Kwara State). In 1909 it started in Lokoja (present day Kogi State), then by 1911 in Zungeru (present day Niger State) finally in Kano (Kano State) by 1949.
By 1937, weather reporting had become one of the constituent services of the British West African Meteorological Services of pre-Nigeria. Hence observing weather in Nigeria effectively started over 130 years ago. The Colonial administration had set up Meteorological offices at various locations in both the then Southern and Northern Protectorates.
“By 1949, the service became a full-fledged department and was one of the seven colonial departmental structures used in running Nigeria. The meteorological department was subsequently domiciled in various ministries at different times with the introduction of the ministerial form of government.  This is not unconnected with the multi sectoral nature of its service delivery, and was semi-autonomously operated and differed from regular operations in the Ministry.

“Therefore, arising from the strategic importance of weather in our daily lives and how it serves almost all sectors of the economy, Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the 16th of May 2003 approved the transformation of the Department of Meteorological Services of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, where it was domiciled then, into the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) vide establishment Act No 9 of 2003 and it became effective on the 19th of June 2003 following Presidential assent,” the agency said.

NIMET acknowledged that to improve the agency, the Federal Government of Nigeria invested in providing necessary equipment, infrastructure and technology for the take-off of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency with the core mandate to observe, collate, and analyze meteorological data to provide timely and accurate reporting of weather, climate and hydrological information for socio-economic development and safety of lives and property.

The Director General of NIMET, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, said the on-going investment has not only transformed the agency, but also enabled it to provide world-class meteorological products and services. 

Industry observers said that the current management of MINET was able to glavanise all the efforts made in the past in the agency to build enviable agency that currently enjoy global recognition.

Matazu said the agency would continue to be driven by its nine Policy Thrusts for effective weather and climate services, namely: improved governance and institutional setting; effective partnership to improve service delivery; upgrade of observational infrastructure; improved data and product sharing policies to support climate – smart decisions and enhance socio-economic benefits of climate services in Nigeria; enhance numerical model and forecasting tools/applications; improve climate – risk early warning and advisory services. “It will improve our contribution to climate services; enhance products’ dissemination and outreach; improved staff motivation and welfare for job satisfaction and efficiency,” he said.

In 2022, the NiMet establishment Act 2003 was repealed and replaced by the NiMet establishment Act 2022 and signed into law by former President Mohammadu Buhari on the 31st of August 2022. The New establishment Act grants the agency the sole authority to give approvals and licenses for the establishment of Meteorological stations and other related matters.

According to Matazu, the new 2022 Establishment Act could not have come at a better time as this marks a paradigm shift for the Agency.

“We have established visibility and in the last couple of years demonstrated that we are relevant in providing products and services for socio economic activities,” he said.

“As NiMet marks its 20th year as an agency its core mandate remains to observe collate and analyze meteorological data to provide timely and accurate reporting of weather, climate and hydrological information for socio-economic development and safety of lives and property cannot be overemphasized. This is underscored by the United Nation’s recent recognition of early warning as a major factor that aids the mitigation of climate change related disaster and the subsequent policy statement the world body issued that in the next five years, all citizens globally should have access to early warning. This not only makes NiMet products and services visible and relevant in providing early warning but also makes its function essential for the safety of lives and property,” the agency said in a statement.