The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has commenced collection of inputs from experts for inputs to the 2012 seasonal rainfall prediction (SRP).
Speaking at a one-day stakeholders meeting on evaluation of 2011 SRP recently in Abuja, the Director – General (DG), NIMET, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, said that the outcome of the interaction would be one of the inputs to the 2012 SRP, which was already under preparation.
Nigeria witnessed an epic rainfall and subsequent flooding in parts of the nation which was in line with the February16,2011 prediction by the agency with a major highlight of water surplus and consequential increase in stream- flows which were expected to cause flooding, affect municipal water supply, power generation and irrigation.
In his remarks, the DG expressed the agency’s desire to sustain the momentum already created and also improve on the quality of its forecast.
He said:“Without pre-empting the outcome of the evaluation exercise, let me re-state that the SRP is a long-time prediction which is probabilistic and therefore should be discussed with that premise in mind. Its accuracy reduces with time. We have noted those challenging areas and will continuously work to improve the accuracy of the predictions.”
Earlier in her address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry Of Aviation, Ms. Anne Ene – Ita, stated that the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Odua, was quite pleased with the performance of NIMET’s 2011 SRP and the accompanied advisories issued by the agency.
According to her: “From the feedback we received, the 2011 SRP saved Nigerian’s millions of naira in terms of goods and services and above all, many lives that would have been lost to extreme weather events.”