Abuja – The Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said on Tuesday the Federal Government was committed to reducing climate change impact on Nigerians through accurate and timely meteorological data.
Sirika said this during the 2016 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).in Abuja.
He said that the government was committed to implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change through continued support for NiMet.
According to him, in this age of frequent and intense weather extremes, occasioned by global warming and climate change, NiMet’s weather and climate predictions provide useful information for reducing losses.
“It will also help in taking advantage of favourable weather conditions to achieve more efficient and effective implementation of government’s programmes and projects.
“In the agriculture sector, empirical evidence shows that the proper application of agro-meteorological information to farming could increase crop yield by up to 35 per cent.
“Our past experiences in Nigeria, show that we are highly vulnerable to extreme weather condition.”
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Sirika said the theme of the 2016 SRP which is “Impact of Weather Variability and Climate Change on Transportation Infrastructure and Agriculture in Nigeria” was apt and timely.
He added that it was in consideration of the pivotal role of transportation and agriculture in the implementation of government’s economic reform programme and the impact of rainfall variability on achieving the goals.
According to him, global warming and climate change are real; their manifestations in form of unusual, violent weather phenomena are evident and constitute threats to sustainable development.
On his part, Mr Audu Ogbe, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the ministry would work with NiMet on the use of weather and climate information for agricultural production.
Ogbe added that the ministry was in partnership with the Ministry of Water Resources to act on the information provided by NiMet to address the challenges of food shortage occasioned by unfavourable weather.
He stressed that the effects of weather on agricultural production could not be over-emphasised, adding that food production and even grass for grazing cattle relied on rainfall.
Ogbe added that the government was making plans to import drought-resistant and improved grazing grass variety into the country to mitigate the effects of shortage of grazing grass in Nigeria.
He said that such actions would be taken on the information provided by NiMet, in order to mitigate losses, adding that the government was determined to return agriculture to its rightful place in Nigeria.
“If we don’t produce, we will perish and if we must not perish, we must apply scientific knowledge such as this and commitment so that we remain strong and well fed with good diet.
“This has to do with climate, water management, climate control and management. Then, if we do this, we shall get to where we want to go but if we don’t, we will have serious trouble,’’ he said. (NAN)