By Nkechi Eze
As the world marked the 2025 World Meteorological Day on March 23, with the theme “Closing the Early Warning Gap Together”, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) joined the global community to emphasize the importance of early warning systems in disaster risk reduction.
Against this backdrop, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, made a passionate call for global cooperation to strengthen early warning systems, highlighting the critical role they play in saving lives and livelihoods.
At a special ceremony to mark the day at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, 24th March 2025, Professor Anosike said, “We must recognize that closing the early warning gap requires ALL – including strong collaboration, coordination and cooperation between national and international partners, policymakers, the private sector, and local communities especially the youth. Government alone cannot do it”.
Professor Anosike paid tribute to Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, former Secretary General, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), an esteemed pioneer in many aspects of meteorology and climate who was one of the earliest scientists to recognize the role of early warnings in disaster risk management, and said that Investing in early warning systems not only saves countless lives and livelihood; “It generates ten times return on investment and strengthens economies”.
Continuing, Professor Anosike said; “Today in Nigeria, we at NiMet have remained at the forefront of advancing early warning systems through science-based weather and climate services. Our Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), daily weather forecast and bulletins, Impact-Based forecast and other publications have proven instrumental in disaster risk reduction across all socio-economic sectors. However, unprecedented weather extremes in past few years is surfacing early warning gaps such as inadequate finance and access to latest technologies, uncoordinated dissemination efforts, insecurity and maintainability of early warning systems must be proactively addressed.
Concluding, Professor Anosike thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, for their leadership and support of the activities of the Agency, the WMO for leading global effort towards ensuring that everyone is protected by early warnings especially through the Early Warning for All initiative (EW4All) and to all the stakeholders for their unwavering support and commitment towards building a weather-aware and climate-resilient society. Early warning Saves Lives.
The WMO representative in Nigeria, Bernard Gomez, who was present at the event shared a message from the WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, reminding that governments must lead the way, and that collaboration is key.
“Investing in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services isn’t just about forecasting—it’s about saving lives, strengthening economies, and securing our future. The time to act is now ”, the WMO Secretary-General Saulo said.
Gomez emphasized that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services should remain the trusted source for reliable warnings. Meanwhile, the private sector can play a crucial role in boosting innovation, improving how warnings are shared, and enhancing our understanding of risks.
