Aviation Blues: NiMet unions suspend strike after government’s intervention

*Union workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency suspend their ongoing strike after a meeting with Festus Keyamo, Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, in Abuja

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Union workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) Thursday, April 24, 2025, suspended their ongoing strike after the Federal Government’s intervention.

ConsumerConnect reports the affected union members and workers had protested over poor working conditions, grounding flights across the country.

After a meeting with Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, Honourable Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Thursday, in Abuja, FCT, the striking workers, however, called off their industrial action, report said.

Earlier, the workers had protested over poor working conditions, grounding flights across the country.

Air Peace, an indigenous airline, and a number of other international airlines subsequently, announced the suspension of flights nationwide with immediate effect.

The NiMeT staff’s industrial action, which disrupted flight operations across Nigeria Wednesday, April 23 also left several air passengers stranded at some airports.

Concerned aviation unions stated that they declared “an indefinite strike” in the agency over conditions of service.

Several flights were diverted over the failure of the agency to provide destination weather, according to report.

Three industry unions, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) and Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), declared the strike.

Following the strike, NiMet has not been providing Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF), meteorological trend forecast, meteorological and climate information data collected across 56 synoptic stations, according to report.

Likewise, meteorological information is not disseminated according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard and recommended practices, among others.

It was learnt that as of Wednesday, no weather briefing is being given to flights, with the development threatening safe flight operations.

Several air travellers have got stranded since Thursday at some airports in the country, according to reports.