By Bonaventure Phillips Melah

The Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Charles Anosike, has said training and retraining of staff would continue to take preeminence among programmes of the agency’s management under his leadership as according to him, workers need to be constantly updated with the latest technologies and skills needed to provide best quality service to the people.

Anosike made the pledge Friday in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message at the 2025 Strategists’ Forum of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria (Chartered) themed: Creating National Strategic Advantage for Sustainable Development through Public Private Partnership.

Represented by Prof. Vincent Weli, Director, Weather Forecasting Services, Anosike who is a Fellow of the Institute, commended its management for organizing the event which he described as timely, saying that Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are crucial for driving Nigeria’s sustainable development.

The NiMet Director General said that NiMet is committed to collaborating with stakeholders to harness meteorological data and services for national growth.

He said- “We believe that strategic partnerships will enhance our capacity to provide critical weather and climate information, supporting sectors like agriculture, transportation, and energy.”

According to him, some of the services offered by NiMet include Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) which provides critical weather outlook for the year, informing decision-making in agriculture, aviation, disaster risk management, and more; Weather Forecasts: includes daily forecasts, 3-day and 10-day tailored weather and climate forecasts; Aviation Services: provides meteorological data for safe flight operations, including weather updates and flight planning assistance; Agricultural Meteorology: offers weather and climate services for farmers, herders, and fishermen to enhance productivity; Climate Services: provides climate information for various sectors, including agriculture, aviation, and disaster risk management; and Hydrological Meteorology: focuses on water-related weather and climate services.

Other services provided by NiMet, according to him are: Marine Meteorology: offers weather and climate services for marine operations; METEOWIZ: an innovative weather solution developed in-house by NiMet staff; NiMetSCP App: allows users to access weather information for 774 local government areas in real-time; Weather Alerts: provides timely warnings for extreme weather events and State of the Climate in Nigeria Report.

“These products and services aim to support Nigeria’s socio-economic development, safety, and sustainability.” Anosike stated.

He listed some of the partnerships entered by NiMet with some agencies and institutions within Nigeria and other countries to include MoU with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), meant to drive climate-resilient agriculture across the continent; the NiMet and Sahel, IRI and Gates Foundation launch of ‘ENACTS Initiative’ to strengthen access to climate data; partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco on AI-Based Weather Forecast and Early Warning Systems; Strategic alliance with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); and MoU between NiMet Landmark University aimed at advancing meteorological research and deepening climate science education in Nigeria.

According to him, the partnerships have combined to engender several reforms and innovations in NiMet such as digitalization of operations and replacement of traditional manual flight folder system with an electronic flight folder also known as e-flight folder.

He said that NiMet has completed full audit of dilapidated infrastructures and ill-conceived projects; unveiled the Aeronautical Meteorology Bulletin; while its flagship product, the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), is a vital early warning tool for farmers, livestock practitioners, and other sectors of the economy as well as the implementation of a co-production process while at the same time, engaging relevant stakeholders in weather-sensitive sectors to craft informed, user-tailored weather forecasts.

He said NiMet has successfully launched a centralised Secure Aviation Data Information Service (SADIS) Application Programming Interface (API) platform aimed at boosting Aviation safety efficiency in Nigeria.

Earlier, the President of the Institute, Mr. Alex Ndudi Enebeli, welcomed guests to the event and urged members to continue to uphold the virtues of honesty, hard work and patriotism, adding that several leadership skills acquisition opportunities are inherent in the organization.

Highpoint of the event was the conferment of fellowship on 47 distinguished personalities drawn from diverse professions in the public and private sectors including 10 senior management officers of NiMet namely, Engr. Hamid Olayinka Abdulkareem, Director, Engineering and Technical Services; Mrs. Glory Amarachi Onyegbule, Director, Allied Meteorological Services; Akoji Alex Jusuf, Director, Finance and Accounts; Dr. Emmanuel Uket, SA DG (General Services); Halha Zakari, Deputy General Manager (Kano office); Aransola Abdulatif Yusuf, Balarabe Abubakar Murktar; AbDrubakar Sadiq Sani; Dr. Nasiru Sani, Director, Human Resources Management/Administration; and Barrister Odumodu Ebele Nwamaka, Deputy Manager, Legal Services.