The Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Meteorogical Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, has been honoured with the Outstanding Mentorship Award by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for his exemplary and transformative leadership at NiMet as well as his various efforts at including young people as part of change makers.

Anosike was honoured alongside other personalities at the 2025 Students Mentorship Summit organized by NANS which took place at the OGD Hall, Olabisi Onananjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State. The theme of the summit was Every Role, Every Voice: A dancing Nigeria Through Innovation, Citizenship and Collective Responsibility.”

Others honoured at the event include Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Oladeji Olayinka, Engr. Farpuk Ahmed if the Nigerian Midstream and downstream petroleum regulatory authority and the Director General of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), among others

Earlier while speaking at the event, Prof. Anosike said NiMet has several programmes deliberately designed to benefit Nigerian youths, including students of universities and other tertiary institutions.

Represented by the Director, Research and Training, Prof. Odjugo Peter Akpodiagagaa Ovuyevwiroye, the NiMet DG called on Nigerian Students to take advantage of the various opportunities embedded in partnerships the Agency has with several national and international bodies to benefit in form of research, access to fund through weather and climate activism and other windows.

In his address, NANS President, Comrade Olusola Oladoja, said the summit was a call to Nigerian youths to rise and serve the nation, adding that the present generation of Nigerian is confronted with serious leadership challenge that requires everyone’s participation in the activities to address those challenges. He thanked the Vice Chancellor of the University for granting NANS access to use the institution and its facilities for the summit.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Oladeji Olayinka Agbola said the management of the school was excited to host the summit and promised welcome other similar activities of the students body any time.

It would be recalled that last week, Nigeria GovTech Public Service Awards 2025, recongised NiMet as the “Best Federal MDA in Open Data Excellence.” In addition, Prof. Charles Anosike, was honoured with the Distinguished GovTech Trailblazer’s Award. A combination of the two awards, serve as lasting testimonies that NiMet and its leadership are at the front seat, among agencies driving Nigeria’s digital agenda. They also serve as very loud testimony and acknowledgement of the agency’s outstanding performance in data transparency and digital transformation.

Within the same period, Anosike was also named as one of the Top 100 Environmental and Sustainability Professionals during awards organized by Environment Africa Magazine.

According to the organisers, Anosike earned the recognition, for his forward-thinking work in climate resilience, particularly his efforts to ensure that weather and climate information directly supports vulnerable communities, critical sectors, and long-term national planning.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has risen from relative obscurity to become one of best performing federal government agencies in Nigeria. The agency is now a household name in the country while at the same time, receiving accolades and laurels from several international publics and stakeholders, especially organizations that are concerned with weather and climate related matters.

Since he assumed office less than two years ago, more than 1,700 staff have benefitted from different categories of trainings to equip them with requisite skills and knowledge to operate a modern institution that is knowledge-based and critical to the overall wellbeing of the nation.

Before Professor Charles Anosike was appointed as the Director General/CEO, of NiMet in December 2023, the agency’s performance was rated low, caused mainly by factors like lack of leadership drive, slow and ineffective migration to modern technologies and a demoralized workforce that were denied series of entitlements and claims.

The current Grade-A performance of NiMet and the various recognitions the agency and its management are getting, are attributable to a triangular chain that include deliberate and concerted efforts to key into President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda which hammers on providing best quality service to the people; strict supervisory approach by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Management, Barrister Festus Keyamo, SAN, who does not joke when it comes to compliance to highest operational standards and the managerial acumen of Prof. Anosike, who has deployed his knowledge and talents to drive required changes through proactive approach that have resulted in modernization of operations.

According to a recent report, with a combination of several ‘Cs’ of leadership- including competence, Courage, Consistency, Commitment, Character, Communication and Clarity, Anosike has leveraged digital innovations and strategic partnerships which he has built with local and international institutions, to close critical gaps and achieve remarkable milestones in less than two years.

Under Prof. Anosike’s management, NiMet is undergoing series of transformations that have ensured that Nigeria’s weather services are more accurate, reliable, and impactful than ever before. Through the modernization efforts, there is currently, improved service delivery, effective communication through various synergy and partnership with the media which helps to successfully convey early warning to NiMet’s information consumers.

Among the technologies that have been adopted by the management is the Electronic Flight Folder (e-Flight Folder) for the aviation sector. This digital tool provides pilots with real-time weather updates, directly enhancing safety and operational efficiency at Nigerian airports, many of which have also achieved ISO quality management certification under Anosike’s tenure.

in the last three months in particular, the management of NiMet has taken several steps to further strengthen the agency’s capacity to, not only continue to deliver high quality services, but improve upon its standards. Several partnerships have been entered into with sister government agencies, universities and research institutions within Nigeria and across the world. The agency also participated in stakeholders’ forum and addressed gatherings meant to dialogue with the media to foster better understanding and improve working relationship.

On August 11, NiMet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). In partnership with Sahel, IRI and Gates Foundation, NiMet also launched ENACTS Initiative to strengthen access to climate data.

Another significant milestone within the period under review was successful launch of a centralised Secure Aviation Data Information Service (SADIS) Application Programming Interface (API) platform aimed at boosting Aviation safety efficiency in Nigeria.

At the stakeholders’ forum in Lagos on Wednesday September 11, with the theme “Early warnings: Raising awareness on climate risks and promoting early action,” NiMet said it is providing timely information to critical gathering of the economy such as aviation, agriculture, marine and blue economy, energy, health to achieve disaster risk reduction.

NiMet also entered into partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco on AI-Based Weather Forecast, Early Warning Systems.