Prof. Sani Mashi, Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, says the agency has taken steps to reposition its training school to meet the World Meteorological Organisation standard.
Mashi disclosed this when Mr Bernard Gomez, WMO Regional Representative, North and Central Africa, led this team on courtesy call on NiMet in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the WMO Accreditation Team that visited the school recently made some recommendations that the agency was working hard to implement to ensure efficiency.
Mashi disclosed that part of the recommendations was the fact that the school had been poorly run without proper record keeping of its activities.
He said that the agency had recently appointed an academic professor from a university to run the school as well as engaging other academics from sister institutions on contract basis.
According to him, by the time the agency real out the plans it had on ground in addressing the challenges, the school will be ready before April to be able to achieve the WMO’s accreditation.
He said: “When the WMO accreditation came about two weeks ago, they made critical evaluation of our facility and they produced a catalogue of the things that they considered we need to address.
“Part of the observations is that our mode of documentation was poor in terms of effective system of record keeping on how we run the school.
“We have now appointed a full-fledged professor from a university, who was a Dean of Faculty to head that school, and we also engaged some academic staff from our sister institutions on contract basis.
“There are issues also that are related to some of the facilities there, particularly the e-Library collection, which we need to improve as well as the clinic.
“Another issue that we have been graduating students without issuing them certificate and WMO has raised that concern also.
“We decided to contact the Security Printing and Minting Company that have printed certificates for us that we are now issuing all our graduated students.”
Mashi said that WMO had recognised the Federal University of Technology, Akure as the institutional arm that would be supporting the activities of NiMet.
He commended the regional office of WMO for its support for the agency in providing improved weather forecast services in the West African sub-region and the continent at large.
According to him, NiMet has continued within its limited resources available to provide the leadership within the sub-region, particularly the programmes offered at its training institute in Lagos.
Mashi said: “Our visibility is being improved upon to ensure that our information is transmitted effectively through its own platform under construction.”
Earlier, Bernard Gomez, WMO Regional Representative, North and Central Africa, commended NiMet for playing a leadership role in weather forecast services in the sub-region.
Gomez, however, urged NiMet to take possession of the management of climate change in Nigeria to avoid being relegated by other agencies.
According to him, NiMet is doing what it ought to do but what is missing is the label because you have not given yourself a label that you are implementing the climate change services.
He said: “There is that danger that other sectors can come and say they are implementing the national climate change issue and once they have taken that label from you, it will be difficult for you to get it back.
“I appeal to you that as you are already providing climate services, you need to give yourself that label of implementing the climate service in the country.
“With climate change you cannot go much without climate services because weather is dynamic and climate is dynamic because every day you need new product.
“There might be other agencies that could be impeding on your mandate if you don’t give yourself that label.”
Gomez also urged NiMet to support other African countries in managing their climate services being the leaders in weather forecast services in the region.
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