President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday cancelled his scheduled visit to Zamfara State, citing poor weather conditions.
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle said Thursday that President Buhari, who was scheduled to take off from Sokoto aboard helicopter, had to postpone the visit due to poor visibility.
“Mr President has spoken to me and asked me to convey his apologies to the good people of the state. Mr President said he would reschedule the visit to the state next week and the fixed date would be communicated to us in due course.
“Some of the security chiefs are currently in Katsina but can’t fly to Zamfara for the same reason. Based on this, we are extending our apology to the good people of the State over the postponement for reason beyond our control. We thank Mr President for his love for the State.”
Earlier, Buhari had commissioned a three million metric tonnes cement plant of BUA in Sokoto.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has forecasted more dust plumes around the North West and North East States which are capable of dropping visibility below 1000 meters. This, NiMet said, will result in flight cancellations and delays.
According to NiMet weather forecast for Thursday, “thick dust haze with horizontal visibility values of less than 1000m are expected over Maiduguri, Nguru, Potiskum, Dutse, Gombe, Yola, Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, Zaria, Kano and Sokoto.
The forecast further indicated that “flight operations may be disrupted and airline operators are advised to pick up their flight folders and adhere to regulations, especially at aerodromes in the Northern parts of the country.”
NiMet also advised road users to exert caution while driving along areas with poor visibility during this period, advising people with respiratory problems to take caution.
NiMet explained that “dust plume has been raised over Niger Republic and Western Chad and has been transported into Nigeria and currently reducing horizontal visibility. This situation is expected to persist from the time of issuance of this forecast to the next 24hrs. It will further deteriorate already poor horizontal visibility over the North.”
This is a seasonal challenge as the onset of harmattan usually carry on its way dust plumes, making visibility to drop from time to time, especially in the North. The impact has been negative on flights to the North and health impacts have been felt across the country.
