To commemorate World Meteorological Day and the 75th Anniversary of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the director-general of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike has emphasised that closing the early warning gap together saves lives, builds climate resilience and protects the planet.
Anosike made this statement at the WMD 2025 event held in Abuja, themed “Closing Early Warning Gaps Together.” He highlighted that the event provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the role of meteorology in building a climate-resilient society and safeguarding lives and livelihoods.
According to him, this year’s theme reflects a global commitment to strengthening early warning capabilities. Investing in early warning systems not only saves countless lives and livelihoods but also generates a tenfold return on investment and strengthens economies. He acknowledged the progress made in expanding early warning systems worldwide despite the increasing climate variability and extreme weather events.
To support this global endeavour, Anosike explained that NiMet has been working to strengthen forecasting and dissemination capabilities, ensuring communities and individuals are prepared for extreme weather events. He emphasised the importance of modernised hydrometeorological infrastructure in enhancing early warning systems and reducing gaps.
He also paid tribute to Prof. Godwin Obasi, a pioneer in meteorology and climate science, who recognised the role of early warnings in disaster risk management. Obasi’s work highlighted the importance of research, observation, forecasting and collaboration in enhancing warning systems.
NiMet, he said, has remained at the forefront of advancing early warning systems through science-based weather and climate services. Its Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), daily weather forecasts and bulletins, impact-based forecasts and other publications have proven instrumental in disaster risk reduction across all socio-economic sectors.
However, unprecedented weather extremes in recent years have exposed early warning gaps, such as inadequate financing and access to the latest technologies, uncoordinated dissemination efforts, insecurity and challenges in maintaining early warning systems. These issues must be proactively addressed. He emphasised that closing the early warning gap requires collaboration, coordination, and cooperation among national and international partners, policymakers, the private sector and local communities, especially the youth. Government alone, he stated, cannot achieve this.
Anosike called on all stakeholders to work together to ensure that no one is left behind in accessing life-saving weather and climate information. He encouraged young students to take an active interest in understanding weather and climate dynamics, as their contributions will be vital in addressing future challenges.
The secretary-general of WMO, Prof. Celeste Saulo reaffirmed that closing the early warning gap together saves lives, serves society and protects the planet. He noted that over the past 75 years, the WMO community has provided scientific evidence, information, and services that have shaped decision-making to safeguard public well-being and make the world safer, more secure and prosperous.
Without WMO coordination and its unified network, each country would face the impossible task of collecting global data on its own. Every minute of every day, data flows from monitoring stations worldwide to weather prediction centres. The free and unrestricted exchange of weather-related data, products, and services is critical to national security and to climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, aviation, marine, energy, health, water and disaster management.
These efforts have added value to the global economy in billions of dollars, and even more has been saved by avoiding economic losses from weather, climate, and water-related hazards. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved due to these coordinated efforts.
Saulo highlighted that the world is facing increasing climate-related challenges, with 2024 being the hottest year on record. Nigeria has experienced more frequent and intense heatwaves, windstorms, floods, and dry spells. The year 2024 was also confirmed as the hottest year ever recorded and is likely to be the first calendar year to temporarily exceed 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era.
International collaboration, he said, is crucial for strengthening dissemination and enhancing risk knowledge through National Meteorological and Hydrological Services. Investing in early warning systems makes economic sense, as every $1 invested is estimated to generate about $9 in net economic benefits globally.
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services must remain the authoritative source of warnings, while the private sector can help drive innovation, strengthen dissemination and enhance risk knowledge. Collaboration with bilateral and multilateral donors, climate funds and development banks is increasing support for early warning efforts. The Early Warnings for All initiative is not just a human and moral imperative – it makes financial sense. On a global scale, every $1 invested in early warnings results in approximately $9 in net economic benefits. This impact is even greater at the national level.
Saulo outlined the importance of multi-hazard early warning systems in Nigeria. To ensure that everyone in Nigeria is covered by these systems, the country must innovate inclusively to scale up relevant technologies for producing and disseminating early warnings, cooperate with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to foster coordination among various sectors and invest together as stakeholders to mobilize and deploy resources for an effective multi-hazard early warning system.
He stressed that the time to act is now. By taking action today, Nigeria can achieve the promise of Early Warnings for All.
Similarly, assistant director for disaster risk reduction at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Simon Katu emphasised the importance of closing the early warning gap together. This theme highlights the critical challenge of ensuring that timely and accurate early warning systems reach all communities, particularly those most vulnerable to climate-related hazards.
He added that NEMA recognises that effective disaster preparedness begins with reliable meteorological data and early warning systems. Its partnership with NiMet has been instrumental in providing crucial tools, such as Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), to shape NEMA’s disaster preparedness and response strategies.
While progress has been made, he noted that gaps still exist, particularly in ensuring that early warnings are accessible, understandable, and actionable at the community level. To close these gaps, continued collaboration among government agencies, meteorologists, emergency responders, development partners and local communities is essential. Strengthening early warning dissemination, investing in technology and building local capacities for risk reduction are key to addressing these challenges.
