NAN-AE-12
SRP
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, March, 14, 2017 (NAN) The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has urged Nigerians to believe in the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to plan their farming.
Sirika made the call at the public presentation of the agency’s 2017 SRP in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that proper application of information provided by NiMet in the SRP would help in mitigating the effect of weather and climate change on socio-economic development.
The minister said that through collaboration with relevant agencies, the information provided in the SRP would be utilised by other sectors of the economy down to rural farmers for effective planning.
He advised the operators in the air transport sector to always abide by the information and instructions as it relates to visibility during harmattan to ensure safety in the sector.
According to him, the proper application of the SRP will reduce the risk of weather and climate related issues in the country as it affects agriculture, transportation and health.
“As climate and weather condition continue to pose a huge challenge, NiMet will strive to produce timely weather and climate information to all sectors of the economy.
“Today we are here to present the predictions of NiMet as it affects the totality of weather and climate for the purpose of planning.
“NiMet is the only government agency by law, responsible for the production, preparation and interpretation of government policies in the field of meteorology.
“It is pertinent to emphasise here that the aim of the SRP is to provide accurate and timely weather and climate information and advisory to government and the public for planning.
“It also helps in decision making toward climate and weather driven production and improved socio-economic development,’’ he said.
The outgoing Director-General of NiMet, Dr Anthony Anuforom, said that NiMet had continued to expand its mandate as unusual weather and climate change had become a phenomenon all over the world.
Anuforom said that 2016 was the warmest in the history of mankind, adding that environmental risk had become rampant due to climate change.
He said that on his assumption of office at the agency, he initiated the development of a new forecast methodology that had given NiMet a more accurate SRP with longer lead time.
This, he said, had made SRP a valuable tool for planning and decision making in climate sensitive sector of the economy.
According to him, today, NiMet has achieved over 80 per cent accuracy in its rainfall predictions in recent years.
“The level of accuracy is significantly higher than the acceptable World Meteorological Organisation (WMO’s) minimum acceptable threshold of 60 per cent.
“This achievement has increased the confidence of stakeholders and the general public in NiMet’s SRP.
“NiMet has developed e-SRP so that stakeholders can access far more detailed forecast throughout Nigeria and this I believe is one of its kind anywhere else in the world.
“I thank everyone for being part of the success story of NiMet’s SRP,’’ he said.
Dr Benard Gomez, Representative of WMO, said that international cooperation was key to achieving a successful weather and climate information by any national meteorological agency.
Gomez commended NiMet for surpassing the WMO’s threshold in its level of accuracy of SRP, urging the agency to do more in delivering accurate and timely weather information to the public. (NAN)
OYS/OFN/AFA
Edited by Felix Nwadioha/Felix Ajide