Onyebuchi Ezigbo And Chioma Umunna
29 October 2008
Abuja — The Federal Government yesterday said it would complete the deployment of the sophisticated Doppler Weather Radar equipment in six locations before the end of December, 2009.
The $13.5m equipment which is a specialised instrument for tracking storms and other adverse weather conditions approved by the Federal Executive Council at its last week's sitting is to be sited in Abuja, Ikeja, Maiduguri, Yola Kano and Port Harcourt.
Addressing aviation correspondents in Abuja,Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Dr. Anthony Anuforom, said the federal government has given "approval for the immediate purchase and deployment of the six Doppler weather radar equipment, a key weather monitoring and forecasting tool."
Anuforom who spoke at the media briefing on the assessment of 2008 rainfall performance across the country and the outlook for the in-coming dry season, said the significance of the acquisition and deployment of the radar equipment can be seen in its useful impact in monitoring environmental pollution and ozone layer concentration.
Speaking further on the significance of the radar facility to the overall economic well-being of the country, he said, " the equipment enhances safety in the air, on land and at sea via close tracking of storms and other adverse weather events, including the provision of early warning information system for locusts, pests and disease outbreaks as well as the occurrence of dust haze."
The D-G while commenting on the implementation of the radar project said the Doppler weather surveillance radar will be installed in phases with the first installations covering Abuja, Ikeja, Maiduguri, Yola, Kano and Port Harcourt.
On the expectations of the forthcoming dry season, the D-G explained that there are clear prospects of early cessation of rainfall in most parts of the northern fringes while several parts of the southern and central states will be adversely affected.
He said the NIMET had predicted that the rainy season would be shorter than normal this year during its yearly weather forecasting reports, adding that the rate of accuracy on the late rain forecast was 79.5 percent while the early cessation of rains was put at 85.0 percent.
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