NiMet DG Prof. Charles Anosike urges cross-sector support to enhance cost recovery, strengthen service delivery, and expand climate risk early warning.

The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Charles Anosike, has made a passionate appeal for increased support and collaboration across different sectors in order to strengthen the agency’s service delivery, expand its capacity, and improve its cost recovery system.

Professor Anosike made this appeal while speaking at the 2025 Stakeholders’ Forum of the agency, which was held under the theme: “Early Warnings: Raising Awareness on Climate Risks and Promoting Early Action.”

The forum brought together policymakers, industry leaders, scientists, and other critical stakeholders to deliberate on ways to enhance Nigeria’s preparedness against climate risks, as well as strategies to strengthen NiMet’s role in providing timely, reliable, and actionable weather information.

In his address, the NiMet boss stressed that the sustainability of the agency’s operations requires far more than government subvention.

According to him, consistent investment, resource support, and partnerships are necessary to ensure that NiMet not only maintains but also expands its quality of service delivery.

He pointed out that while the agency has continued to rely heavily on cost recovery to fund its activities, it has always strived to maintain the highest service standards despite limited resources.

“We have relied primarily on cost recovery for sustainability, and despite the limited resources available to the agency, service quality has never been compromised,” he said.

Expanding further, Anosike explained that NiMet is mandated to provide critical meteorological and climate-related services to multiple sectors of the economy.

These include aviation safety, agricultural planning, marine and blue economy operations, disaster risk management, public weather forecasting, and health-related climate services.

He emphasized that in order to meet the increasing demand for these services, the agency has had to broaden its operational scope, which makes it even more urgent for stakeholders across the board to support cost recovery mechanisms.

To illustrate some of NiMet’s achievements, Professor Anosike highlighted innovations that have been introduced to improve efficiency and align with international standards.

Among these was the successful deployment of the Electronic Flight Folder (e-Flight Folder), a digital solution that has replaced the traditional manual preparation and collection of flight folders for aviation operations.

He also announced the recent ISO certification of Enugu Airport, which now joins four other ISO-certified airports in the country.

These milestones, according to him, demonstrate NiMet’s unwavering commitment to excellence and global best practices in meteorological services.

The NiMet Director-General also underscored the role of partnerships and collaborations in achieving the agency’s goals.

He cited existing collaborations with stakeholders such as MTN Nigeria and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as evidence of how cross-sectoral cooperation can enhance the delivery and accessibility of weather and climate information to the public.

He stressed that such partnerships are indispensable in improving early warning dissemination, supporting public health interventions, and safeguarding vulnerable communities against climate hazards.

Speaking about the importance of the Stakeholders’ Forum, Anosike noted that the platform was designed to deepen engagement with both government agencies and private operators who depend on NiMet’s products and services.

He explained that the forum not only provides an avenue for the agency to showcase its achievements but also gives stakeholders an opportunity to share feedback that would help NiMet tailor its services to meet sector-specific needs more effectively.

Concluding his remarks, the NiMet DG expressed his profound gratitude to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, and other strategic partners who have continued to support the agency in fulfilling its mandate.

He expressed optimism that the deliberations at the 2025 forum would provide actionable outcomes that would strengthen early warning systems, enhance climate resilience, and further boost Nigeria’s capacity to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events.