Nigeria Meteorological Agency, NiMET says, its capital-inteEquipmentnsive and safety equipment are under threat, and securing them is challenging.
The Director-General, Professor Mansur Matazu In an interview with reporters in Lagos, said some of these equipment were the doppler radars, the Low-Level Wind Shear Alert Systems, and Radar Installations at some airport locations in the northeast.
According to him, the Doppler weather radar globally is a huge capital-intensive project and its initial installation in Maiduguri and Yola was delayed due to insecurity at that time.
He emphasized that securing these equipment were key to flight safety in the nation and an early warning system against hazardous weather which are volatile and could change at any time.
“We provide update of our forecast as it affects the industry especially aviation. Whenever there is a significant weather change like the beginning of the rainy season that is associated with thunderstorms and other stormy weather, we pass that along. We provide a forecast for wind-shear which is the highest risk factor with regards to aircraft operation so we have a low lever wind-shear alert system around the airports in other to inform the pilot through ATCs.”
On revenue generation, the NiMET boss explained that efforts were on to increase the revenue of the agency with the expansion of its services to cover more areas in the country and beyond the borders of Nigeria.
Prof. Professor Mansur Matazu also said that Government funding had been encouraging even during the COVID-19, the Agency got 100 percent of its fund and the Aviation Ministry was also of great assistance through some intervention under the Aviation Security funding and BASA.
RN