By Nkechi Eze
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have joined forces to boost climate resilience and economic growth across the 36 states of the federation. Their partnership, formalized through a memorandum of understanding, aims to provide critical climate-smart information and meteorological services to key sectors such as agriculture, aviation, and disaster management.
Professor Charles Anosike, Director General and CEO of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), expressed gratitude to the governors of the36 states, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), and the NGF team for strengthening the collaboration between NiMet and the NGF. “This partnership is crucial for scaling up access to vital weather information, which benefits not only farmers but also the management of state airports, as accurate weather forecasts are essential for safe flights” he said.
The DG further informed the NGF team that the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, has approved the date for the public presentation of the 2025 NiMet Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP). “The 2025 NiMet SCP will be unveiled on Tuesday 4th February 2025. NiMet cannot implement the downscaling without the support of the state governments. Signing this MoU is a milestone for us and we thank the NGF team for this opportunity”, he said.
Responding, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Alhaji Abdulateef O.T. Shittu said that it was a good thing that both agencies are signing a formal MoU although they have had a 10-year-old relationship.
“NiMet is doing a good job. We still have in our libraries NiMet’s forecasts dating back to 10 years ago. We are delighted with the signing of this MoU because of what we will be able to do jointly for Nigeria and our communities in the states. The MoU NiMet and NGF will collaborate in providing meteorological and climatological data as it relates to the agricultural environment and activities or any area of meteorology for the development of climate change indices and impact in the 36 states of the federation”, Alhaji Shittu said.
