The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), began a two-week training on the Early Warning System on Monday for 17 participants from 16 African countries.

The countries are Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, Gabon, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Central Africa Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

The training, held at NiMet regional headquarters in Oshodi, Lagos, is expected to run until December 22 and has the theme “Early Warnings for All.”

While declaring the workshop open, Mansur Matazu, NiMet’s acting director-general, said the event targeted meteorologists and climate scientists across the subregion.

He said the training would ensure collaboration for measuring, reporting, predicting, and monitoring impending extreme weather conditions.

Mr Matazu, also the permanent representative of Nigeria with the WMO, said nations need to collaborate proactively to combat climate change’s negative impacts by providing actionable services.

He said the workshop would help participants develop the capacity to predict and respond to weather-related hazards and empower them to implement early warning systems.

He said it was an opportunity given to Nigeria to empower the other African countries through the training and help them do better.

Mr Matazu, represented by the director of Weather Forecasting Services, Daniel Okafor, said extreme weather and climate events globally often resulted in incidents leading to huge destruction of property and loss of lives.

He said the United Nations (UN) recognised WMO’s contributions and was spearheading early warning systems by 2027, hence the Early Warning for All (EW4ALL) initiative.

The WMO is the recognised regional institution for capacity building, particularly in the West African sub-region.

He said the two-week event would allow participants to engage with experts in various aspects of the weather and climate value chain, share best practices, and explore innovative methods.

Mr Matazu said the collaboration was to foster a culture of preparedness and resilience that transcends borders and strengthens global communities.

Speaking with journalists, the D=director of Weather Forecasting Services, Daniel Okafor, said NiMet usually collaborates with its sister agencies to disseminate meteorological information beyond the elite to the grassroots in understandable language.

He added that NiMet collaborated with agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency, emphasising their role in acting upon the provided information.

(NAN)