Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the India Meteorology Department have commenced discussions on how the two government agencies will collaborate on meteorological services.
The partnership, when concluded, is expected to foster a relationship through technical cooperation between both countries.
According to NiMET, its Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Prof Sani Mashi, and his Indian counterpart, Dr Kandurai Ramesh, met at the MET’s headquarters in New Delhi during the week to discuss the modalities of the cooperation.
Mashi, who is also Nigeria’s permanent representative on World Meteorological Organisation Council and was elected into the executive council of the WMO at the last annual session in Geneva, Switzerland in June, was quoted to have said that he met with the management of the Indian Meteorological Department and had useful discussions on South-South interagency cooperation.
He said, “NiMet has so much to benefit from the Indians, especially in the areas of numerical weather prediction, sensor design, satellite meteorology and research.
“In order to keep the relationship going and bear the desired fruits, the India MET has asked Nigeria to formally put forward a request and draft a Memorandum of Understanding. They requested us to submit a formal request with a drafted MoU on the cooperation.”
Mashi stated that he also paid a visit to the Nigeria High Commission in New Delhi to brief the officials on his mission to the India MET.
“I paid a visit to Nigeria High Commission in New Delhi to discuss with the officials on the proposed technical cooperation between NiMet and the India Meteorological Department,” he said.
He explained that his visit to the high commission was important as the commission had a key role to play in ensuring that diplomatic protocols and conventions were strictly complied with in designing and implementing the technical cooperation.
He added that he was given some very useful suggestions on what NiMet needed to incorporate in the draft MoU to be submitted to the Indian Meteorological Department for the partnership.
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