A welcome address by Professor Mansur Bako Matazu, director general, CEO, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the permanent representative of nigeria with WMO, on the opening ceremony of the workshop on Hydro-meteorological status and outlook system (HydroSOS).
I am delighted and honoured to welcome you all on this occasion of the Hydro Meteorological Status and Outlook System (HydroSOS) workshop in Nigeria.
This workshop is hosted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) in collaboration with the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), with the total support of the United Kingdom Centre 7 for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
It is no longer news to anyone here that water-related hazards and threats has become a global challenge in the face of a changing climate coupled with population growth and increasing socio-economic activities. Every year water-related hazard affects millions of : people globally, and cause damages to properties worth billions of Dollars. It is expected that water-associated risks are going to intensify in the coming years as the full weight of climate change begin to bear on our earth. In Africa, water-related hazards such as flood, drought etc has become a major cause of food insecurity, strains on livelihoods, health risks and conflicts in many parts of the continent.
3. Water-related challenges facing governments at all levels include securing water supplies, designing appropriate water governance schematic, sustaining the management of transboundary basins, managing flood and/or drought as well as ensuring the protection and conservation of our ecosystem. It has been observed that one of the major factors to effectively manage water resources and address some of the above challenges is the availability of hydrometeorological information and products targeted to serve the needs of the : different sectors.
4. With that in mind, it gladdens my heart that the WMO has taken up the task of designing hydrological information products targeted to serve the needs of different sectors, through the HydroSOS project anchored by the UKCEH, with the support of its member nations.
Therefore, I wish to congratulate NiMet and NIHSA for taken the initiative to host the 2022 HydroSOS in Nigeria.
We also appreciate the support from UKCEH in making this event a reality.
5. To all the participants, I wish you all a happy and fruitful deliberations. It is our hope that by the end of this workshop, we will be closer to adequately meeting the Hydro-meteorological information and products demands aimed at serving the social-economical needs of different water-related sectors.
