By Lawani Mikairu

A VISITOR to Nigerian
Meteorological Agency, NiMet, who is used to the one duplex building NiMet was occupying as its Abuja head office will be lost when he is confronted with the current multi-storey office complex, equipped with state-of- the-art facilities, the agency currently occupies. This is one of the developmental strides of Dr Anthony Anuforom.

The Director General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, revealed that aside this infrastructural development, the agency has been positioned to increase its revenue from non-aeronautical sources to fifty percent. Anuforom said this at the commissioning of NiMet Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre and Scientific and Technical Information Library.

Taking the Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka and aviation reporters on a facility tour of NiMet complex, which include Central Forecast Office, National Weather Studio, Instrument Calibration Laboratory, Upper Air Station, before the commissioning of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre and Scientific and Technical Information Library, Anuforom said that the agency plans to increase the services it renders to the maritime, and oil and gas sector and this will drastically increase its revenue.

He said “Presently, non-aeronautical sources contribute less than five per cent of NiMet’s IGR. Our strategy is to increase the contribution of revenue from non-aeronautical sources (maritime and oil & gas) to 50% in the medium term, while ensuring that the aeronautical sources do not diminish. The ICT infrastructure we are commissioning today is a potent tool and platform for achieving this goal. We will also explore generating revenue directly by rendering direct ICT services, and also farming out any excess capacity in the Centre to other organizations.

Anuforom

The Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka who was overwhelmed by what he saw during the facility tour said in his address that “if you are looking for technological development, come to NiMet; if you are looking for technical growth, come to NiMet; if you are looking for technology-driven organization and a truly transformed parastatal, come to NiMet. The completion of these two projects is significant because it is in line with the policy of this Government that all projects started in the Aviation sector must be completed and there must be no abandoned project.

“The establishment of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre to enhance efficiency of collection, processing, archiving and dissemination of meteorological data and information is a clear evidence that NiMet has indeed transformed into a world-class technology-driven Organization whose operations are in consonance with contemporary global best practices. The facilities put in place in these projects will no doubt support the Agency’s activities in carrying out its mandate of monitoring weather and climate and providing early warning information; not only for aviation, but also for other sectors of the economy.

“Another remarkable achievement of this Agency that I am highly delighted with is the ISO 9001:2008 Certification of its Aeronautical Meteorological Services. I am also pleased to note that NiMet successfully scaled through the first maintenance audit of its ISO 9001 Certification last year. It is reassuring that NiMet has not only attained international standard in its service delivery, but also has institutionalized an in-built mechanism for sustenance of quality services.”

Advising the management and staff of the agency, the minister said “In our fast changing world in which scientific discoveries are ever evolving, the habit of reading and constant study is an imperative for survival. For operational Agencies like NiMet to remain relevant, its staff should always be abreast with contemporary scientific developments. This underscores the importance of the library we have commissioned today.”

A visibly elated Dr Anthony Anuforum who was overwhelmed by the effusion of praise from the aviation minister, thanked the minister and further revealed that in pursuance of its mandate, the management of the Agency in 2012 reviewed its previous five-year Strategic Development Plan and evolved the NiMet Impact Plan that was designed to align its projects, programmes and activities to the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government. Within the Framework of the Plan, the Agency set out to achieve a number of objectives, which include:

“Reinforcing the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure; Automating the processes of data collection, transmission, analysis, storage and dissemination of weather forecasts/information; Expanding NiMet’s revenue base so as to reduce dependence on government funding and contribute to national GDP; and Intensifying manpower development and capacity building.”

Anuforum also said NiMet operates a network of 54 surface weather observing stations across the country; each one taking measurements of a minimum of 15 meteorological parameters every hour. “These stations generate over 19,440 datasets each day.

Marine

stations

In addition, there are observations from marine stations, upper air stations, automatic weather observing platforms, weather radars, air quality stations, ozone monitoring platform, etc. This huge volume of data requires an automated and integrated system of data collection, transmission, analysis, storage and dissemination on national and global scales, in conformity with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards and recommended practices.”

He said in response to the above requirement, and in line with the NiMet Impact Plan, the agency conceptualized and developed the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre & Scientific and Technical Information Library. “The ICT Infrastructure is designed to achieve efficient data collection processing and storage, as well as generation of products for various applications. The Centre is equipped for processing, archiving and dissemination to various user communities, including international organizations. It serves as a hub for our wide area network (WAN receive real-time numerical and satellite data) and will eventually be linked to the WMO Global Telecommunication System (GTS).”

The DG also told the minister that the Scientific and Technical Information Library is a collection of world relevant documents dealing with various aspects of meteorology or related fields.