From Esther Akaa, Lafia
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), has trained 50 climate change monitoring officers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on information dissemination in Nasarawa State.
The Executive Secretary of YMCA Mada Hills, Mr Ango Adamu disclosed this on Wednesday at a two-day mid-year information update workshop on weather and climate change, organised for 50 climate change monitor officers in Lafia.
According to him, the review of weather forecast and climate change information was necessary to enable officers compare the reality on ground with the scientific predictions to ascertain whether there was any deviation.
“What we are doing here today is bringing together project tracking officers, climate change volunteers at communities, media and other civil society organisations working on climate change issues to a review of climate change information.
“They need to know the right information they need to display on communities boards, that’s why we invited resource persons from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT) and the Nasarawa state Emergency Management Agency to validate the review,” Adamu said.
Adamu said the review would afford them to see what had been predicted over the years and what had changed, as well as drawing lesson for improvement towards better planning for next year.
“We want the participants to tell us what is happening in their communities so that we can compare it with the scientific data, we want to see local mitigated solutions people can proffer based on the information they have,” he said.
Also speaking, National President, Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria, Mr Joshua Jonathan, said the essence of the meeting was to review seasonal weather prediction for 2022 and to see effect of climate change on crops in Nasarawa state.
He explained that the programme was organised by the YMCA in collaboration with Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria, and with support from Oxfam in Nigeria.
“Going by the perceptions we are getting, already you can see that NiMet predictions for 2022 has unfolded itself even though many people didn’t believe. Climate change is real, so we’re reviewing to ensure that we take precaution,” he said.
In his presentation, the Director General of Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Zachary Allumaga, charged NiMet to collaborate with relevant agencies on early dissemination of information of weather forecast and climate change predictions.
On his part, Chief Meteorologist, Agriculture, Mr James Adamu, advised communities and farmers not to take information on weather forecast and climate change predictions for granted, noting that NiMet would improve synergy among government agencies on information sharing.
The Voice reports that the participants were drilled on 2022 weather forecasts and climate change information.
