Keyamo, Anosike, Others Attend AeroMetSci-2024 Conference

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo,  the Director General, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Professor Charles Anosike, were among Nigerian delegation participating in the on-going Aeronautical Meteorology Scientific Conference (AeroMetSci-2024) 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.

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.

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

The Nigerian delegation used the sideline of the conference to hold a strategic meeting with Professor Celeste Saulo, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to discuss bilateral relations between Nigeria and the WMO.

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.

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

Speaking, Anosike said WMO support was required for the proposal for Nigeria to become a Regional WIGOS Centre and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Centre of Excellence.

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.