The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has successfully secured the recertification of the International Standard Organisation (ISO) 9001:2015 and ISO 29990:2010 for its aeronautical meteorological services and capacity-building programmes at both its regional training centre (RTC) in Lagos and the Muhammadu Buhari Meteorological Institute of Science and Technology (MBMIST) in Katsina.
The director-general of NiMet, Prof. Mansur Matazu announced this achievement today from his office. He stated, “We embraced this challenge back in 2013 and have continuously maintained this three-year certificate. We have now obtained recertification of ISO 9001:2015 for aeronautical meteorological services at the six major international airports in the country. Our aim is to expand this certification to an additional 10 airports across the nation”.
Regarding the recertification for training capacity, Matazu commented, “We’ve also secured recertification for ISO 29990:2010 for training purposes. NiMet operates two training institutes similar to polytechnics—one being the WMO-accredited regional training centre (RTC) in Lagos, and the other is the Muhammadu Buhari Meteorological Institute of Science and Technology (MBMIST) in Katsina, accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and offering diplomas. Our ISO 29990:2010 certification covers all aspects of meteorology, including applied meteorology and climate change”.
NiMet is the pioneer meteorological service in Africa to attain this certification. Additionally, the agency is currently acting as an auditor for several African countries, including Malawi and Gambia.
It’s noteworthy that NiMet has been approached by key entities such as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to provide guidance and assistance in acquiring this certification.
Matazu explained that the significance of this recertification is akin to an international stamp of standardisation for service delivery. It provides an assurance of precision and efficiency in NiMet’s products and services. He further revealed that the agency is implementing quality management systems and transitioning to Safety Management Systems (SMS) across all its operations in the country. Matazu assured that NiMet is committed to further progress and is willing to support other government MDAs through this process.
