The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, in its bid to ensure adequate meteorological stations that would translate to a more precise and accurate forecast, has entered into a partnership with Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State.
The Director-General/CEO of NiMet, Professor Sani Abubakar Mashi, re-echoed the need to partner with universities across the nation to establish meteorological stations during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding held at the corporate headquarters of the Agency in Abuja.
The DG/CEO said the Agency adopted this approach with the sole aim of serving Nigerians with undiluted, accurate and timely weather predictions, to enable them take informed weather decisions as well as plan their daily activities.
“This is one in a series of Memoranda of Understanding signed by NiMet with Nigerian universities to build or upgrade their existing weather infrastructure. This infrastructure, which would be added to the list of the nation’s meteorological stations, would enhance the quality and accuracy of NiMet predictions in line with international best practices’’, Prof. Mashi declared.
Prof. Mashi also added that after a critical scrutiny, Fountain University, Osogbo met the agency’s requirements to become a beneficiary in the second phase of the Agency’s drive to ensure that it meets the prescribed standard of the World Meteorological Agency, WMO, as regards the number of Meteorological Weather stations for the country.
The Vice Chancellor of Fountain University, Professor Amidu Sanni, thanked NiMet for the goodwill towards the private university, adding that, apart from the impact the establishment of the weather station would have on the Fountain University academic community, it will also aid the farmers in Osun State to know what to plant and when to plant it.
Professor Amidu Sanni added that the project will increase the research potentials of the university in the field of meteorology.
This synergy would bring to bear collaborative researches in the field of meteorology between the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and Fountain University.
