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The agency explained that the
move was imperative due to inadequate resources from the government to support
its operations and the high demand for meteorological and hydrological services
by Nigerians and other countries.
NiMet noted that the agency’s
goal to commercialise some of its services would be achieved through
collaborations and more Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
This was disclosed in Abuja
yesterday by the Director General of NiMet, Prof. Mansur Matazu at the first
French-Nigeria Meteorological Seminar and business meeting.
He said: “The world economies are
struggling due to various challenges around the globe, including natural and
man-made disasters, and the fact that most countries are yet to stabilise due
to the devastating COVID experience.
“The cost of conducting
meteorological business is also increasing amidst staff attritions due to
inadequate remuneration and many others. Hence, Government funding of
meteorological activities such as instrumentation, new technologies, equipment,
welfare, communication, and data exchange are grossly inadequate.
“It is therefore imperative that
Public Private Partnership must be embraced and explored”.
Speaking about some of its
services and the need to generate revenue that would boost the country's GDP,
Matazu said: “As a service provider, NiMet in line with its established mandate
promotes and implements activities in support of national socio-economic
development across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
“The Agency also develops various
products and services that are reliable, accurate, timely and actionable which
highlights vital Weather and Climate information that may affect socio-economic
activities in air, land, and water transportation, agriculture, water
resources, disaster management and mitigation, health, tourism, sports, power
and energy.
“For successful sustenance of
these products and services amidst the economic situations and the need to
adequately ensure the purpose of the United Nations Early Warning for All
initiative is achieved, it is critical for the adoption of available credible
Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and engagements that will provide innovative
and cost-effective technological solutions that will proffer ease of doing
business for maximum impacts.
“The climate change issue is very
challenging, so we need to open up more partnerships and there is a concept in
the WMO called weather enterprise which aims to see how government and private
sectors can work together in weather monitoring and in providing services for
improved and sustainable livelihood in Africa.
“So, commercialization is the way to go because if you check our services that are categorized into public service, government-support service and the tailored service; there is need to expand more on the tailored services to be able to generate more revenue for the agency and for government and also deliver more effective services to our clients in the country and beyond.”
Also speaking, the French
Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Emmanuelle Blatmann who described the seminar as a
win-win situation added that it would avail both countries opportunities to
share ideas on latest technologies.
Blatmann said: “The seminar on
meteorology and hydrology is part of the partnership agreement between Nigerian
authorities and the French government.
The French government responded to the request made by Nigerian
authorities because there is a need for a public-private partnership.
“France has been leading in climate change issues by integrating each of our projects and policies in all our partnerships abroad to mitigate the effect of climate change all over the world. So, the seminar is about sharing good practices and offering the latest technological solutions.”
Courtesy: The Nation
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