LAGOS – The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has called for closure of early warning gap as the globe celebrates the 2025 World Meteorological Day.

Prof. Charles Anosike, the Director-General, NiMet, stated this on Monday in a statement.

The 2025 celebration themed: ‘Closing the Early Warning Gap Together, reflecting a global commitment to strengthening early warning capabilities was celebrated globally on Sunday and was also used to mark the 75th anniversary of the organisation.

At a special ceremony to mark the day at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday Anosike said that it was pertinent to recognise that closing the early warning gap required all – including strong collaboration, coordination and cooperation between national and international partners, policymakers, the private sector, and local communities especially the youth.

He insisted that government alone could not do it all without the collaboration of the others.

He expressed that Investing in early warning systems not only saves countless lives and livelihood, but also generates ten times return on investment and strengthens economies.

He added: “Today in Nigeria, we at NiMet have remained at the forefront of advancing early warning systems through science-based weather and climate services. Our Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), daily weather forecast and bulletins, Impact-Based forecast and other publications have proven instrumental in disaster risk reduction across all socio-economic sectors.

“However, unprecedented weather extremes in past few years are surfacing early warning gaps such as inadequate finance and access to latest technologies, uncoordinated dissemination efforts, insecurity and maintainability of early warning systems must be proactively addressed.”

Besides, Anosike lauded President Bola Tinubu; Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, for their leadership and support of the activities of the agency and the WMO for leading global effort towards ensuring that everyone was protected by early warnings especially through the Early Warning for All initiative (EW4All).

Anosike also paid tribute to Prof. Godwin Obasi, former Secretary General, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a pioneer in many aspects of meteorology and climate who was one of the earliest scientists to recognise the role of early warnings in disaster risk management.

Also, Bernard Gomez, the WMO representative in Nigeria, shared a message from Celeste Saulo, the WMO Secretary-General, reminding that governments must lead the way, and that collaboration was key.

“Investing in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services is not just about forecasting—it’s about saving lives, strengthening economies, and securing our future. The time to act is now,” he said.

Gomez said that the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services must remain the source of authoritative warnings, while the private sector can help drive innovation, strengthen dissemination, and enhance risk knowledge.

https://independent.ng/nimet-harps-on-closure-of-early-warning-gap-as-world-celebrates-met-day/