The proverbial saying “a golden fish has no hiding place” has found expression at the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
The transformative and impactful leadership Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, the Director General/CEO, of NiMet has brought to the agency has gained loud traction and the world has noticed.
A hitherto passive agency, NiMet has become a dynamic; a cynosure of all eyes attracting accolades across the country, hitherto not experienced before.
Indeed, NiMet and its DG have become ‘goldfishes’ literary as they are spotted miles off from the pack based on the robust achievements at NiMet under the watch of Prof. Matazu whose tenure is still under three years.
Indeed Prof. Matazu has engineered the work culture at NiMet to become process-oriented oriented, well-organized with seamless functionality. The productive workforce is performance-driven and highly autonomous and the staff is self-motivated.
The staff empowerment culture at NiMet has encouraged employees to reach beyond their normal day-to-day responsibilities and stretch their capabilities to deliver compelling results that are today being celebrated.
The level of ethical compliance, transparency, and accountability at NiMet is superb and it’s nurturing NiMet to a corrupt-free organisation. NiMet holds its values and ethics as extremely important to ensure that there is a sense of trustworthiness.
At NiMet, challenges are seen as opportunities to make a difference. They are not seen as limitations but as new frontiers to conquer, sometimes leveraging external capabilities. Thus, NiMet collaboration with other partners has also brought more value and capacity to the agency with visible results.
THE RECENT ACCOLADES
*Top on ICPCs Ethics & Integrity Compliance Index
The Nigerian governance system is generally believed to be infested by corruption, yet NiMet sat atop ICPC Ethics & Integrity Compliance Index for 2023. The anti-corruption agency has checked NiMet’s internal processes comprehensively and found a high-integrity culture.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) scored the NiMet 9th position out of 404 MDAs in its Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS).
In an advertorial published recently, the anti-corruption body listed NiMet as having attained 9th position in the overall ranking out of four hundred four (404) Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) investigated in 2023 with NiMet scoring 78 percent and 2nd position in the Presidency and Extra Ministerial category. This is a no mean fit to be so rated on the transparency scorecard.
This also means that for the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, of which NiMet is one, NiMet is the most transparent and ethical organisation. This is in spite of the fact that NiMet has one of the lowest budgets and revenue profiles in the ministry.
NiMet achieved the milestones because of the deliberate implementation of far-reaching policies that have introduced greater transparency in its activities, especially procurements, financial dealings, and a fair staff reward system.
The attainment of this new ranking not only places NiMet in good stead of best practice but also as an Agency that executes government policies.
The Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) is published by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) periodically to show the transparency culture in MDAs as a tool to prevent economic crimes. The scorecard was developed in collaboration with Justice for All (J4A)/ DFID in 2015.
The ECS deployment is particularly to track ethical, integrity, and compliance deficiencies in the MDAs, and proffer remedial actions for the management of the MDAs and the government as appropriate. For Ministries, Departments, and Agencies’ effectiveness and responsiveness, the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the scorecard as configured are to identify some ethics and integrity standards that MDAs must comply with within the areas of Management, Performance, Service, and Professional Conduct.
According to ICPC, the objective of administering the EICS is particularly to track ethical, integrity, and compliance deficiencies in the MDAs, and proffer remedial actions for the management of the MDAs and the government as appropriate.
For Ministries, Departments, and Agencies’ effectiveness and responsiveness, the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the scorecard as configured are to identify some ethics and integrity standards that MDAs must comply with within the areas of Management, Performance, Service, and Professional Conduct.
The primary goal of deploying the EICS, which started in 2016 with 20 MDAs, is to ensure MDAs understand the quality of their statutes and government policies and take into account their level of compliance with ethical and accountability standards for efficiency and service delivery.
The Commission however stressed that the deployment of EICS is vital to building good ethical structures in organisations and enjoined MDAs to integrate the compliance practices into their systems to reduce corruption in public offices.
* NiMet is the Presidency’s Best Federal MDA in Data Management and Analytics
NiMet is leading its industry peers in data aggregation, management, and analysis. Of course, NiMet generates real-time climate data that is used for weather forecasts, climate predictions (short, medium, and long term), and socio-economic planning.
In an outstanding performance, NiMet outclassed over 900 federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to emerge as the Best Federal MDA in Data Management and Analytics at the prestigious Nigeria GovTech Award.
The award was by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) an agency under the Presidency.
The letter of award dated 19th September 2023 and signed by the Director General of BPSR, Mr. Arabi Ibrahim Dasuki, said “We are pleased to inform you that your organization will be honoured with the prestigious Nigeria GovTech Award in the category of Best Federal MDA In Data Management And Analytics.”
The award, which was conducted through a nationwide nomination and online voting initiated on radio, television, and newspaper publications, was presented at an Award dinner in honour of the recipients on the 12th -13th of October, 2023 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
In achieving this award, NiMet implemented a series of reforms in its data aggregation and management. It also invested hugely in critical infrastructure in data gathering and management. This is besides the huge investments in staff adept in data gathering, management, and analysis across its weather observation stations across the country.
To demonstrate the data management capability at NiMet, it recovered and digitalized 130-year-old weather observation data. This data is now useful in predicting climate patterns in a world of global warming and other weather-related events.
In addition, NiMet has improved the capacity for meteorological observation, analysis, and reporting through ground-based instruments, upper air instruments, satellite-based observations, modeling, forecasting, and now-casting activities.
NiMet also invested in hundreds of meteorological stations (conventional and automatic) across the country.
The agency has intensified efforts at creating additional data sources by investing in over 120 tertiary and secondary educational institutions through the setting up of meteorological stations in the schools. There are several other investments in technologies at NiMet aimed at generating accurate data for use by consumers in Nigeria.
NiMet Weather App has become a useful platform to access downscaled weather reports in real time across the country. Farmers, transporters, healthcare providers, and other weather users have particularly found the NiMet weather very useful.
NiMet’s flagship product, the annual Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) usually has data that is useful for all segments of the economy. It has been translated into serval languages and downscaled to specific agencies, states, or local government areas to enable weather users to make use of the report for long-term planning. This product has been very well received by the general public.
*NiMet Presidency Honours NiMet DG
The Director General / CEO of NiMet, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu was also honoured by the Presidency as the Distinguished GovTech Trailblazer for his exemplary leadership in advancing GovTech initiatives and digital governance within NiMet in line with the Federal Government digital transformation in the public sector.
NiMet under Prof. Matazu has transformed the technological landscape of Nigeria. He supervised all of the key transformations at NiMet that have attracted global attention.
Upon assumption of office, Prof, Matazu prioritized the modernization of equipment at NiMet, the procurement of new equipment, and the retooling of staff skills and competencies. The bulk of NiMet activities now is modern technology driven with data analysis happening in real-time online. In addition, almost all the administrative processes at NiMet happen via digital platforms.
Some of the trainings recently done at NiMet include; training Meteorologists on Air Quality Monitoring, Development of Forecasts Advisories, Scientific Evaluation, and Update of the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) Mid-Season; NiMet Training for Forty (40) Meteorological Observers and forecasters during the Meteorological Institute of Science and Technology, Katsina and Training Programme On Information Security Management (ISMS) ISO/27001 and ISO/IEC 20000 Lead Auditor Training, among others.
The innovations at NiMet championed by the DG saw NiMet get recertification of ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 29990: 2010. The ISO 9001: 2015 recertification is for the provision of Aerometeorological Services while the ISO 29990: 2010 is for Capacity Building at our Regional Training Centre (RTC) in Lagos and Muhammadu Buhari Meteorological Institute of Science and Technology (MBMIST) Katsina respectively. NiMet also acquired recertification in ISO 29990:2010 for capacity building. This is amidst several other landmark events at NiMet.
Comments
The National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Architect Kabir Ibrahim recently confirmed his members have embraced the new and improved innovations like the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) Climate change applications for better agricultural production and productivity towards food security and more economic prosperity.
The AFAN president also commended NiMet for its resilience in ensuring a prompt weather forecast to prevent economic havoc against agricultural activities and other sub-sectors of the economy including transport, building, and road construction.
An Economist David Akwu said the impact of NiMet cannot be overemphasized especially with the new impacts NiMet is making.
He said economic agents who leverage NiMet data are avoiding losses and making economic gains.
He tasked NiMet to invest in delivering weather forecasts to all parts of the country, especially the locals.
