astronomy

Godwin Obasi

Godwin Obasi is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Godwin Obasi rather than just read about it. In short: Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi (24 December 1933 – 3 March 2007) was a Nigerian meteorologist and the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) from 1984 to 2003. He was the first African to serve as the head of a UN agency.

Key takeaways

Godwin Obasi belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Godwin Obasi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Godwin Obasi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi (24 December 1933 – 3 March 2007) was a Nigerian meteorologist and the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) from 1984 to 2003. He was the first African to serve as the head of a UN agency. Obasi studied at McGill University and MIT, before returning to Nigeria, and hold key roles in the Nigerian Meteorological Department. He also served as a professor and dean at the University of Nairobi, where he advanced meteorological education. Obasi joined the WMO in 1978 and was pivotal in promoting global climate agreements. He was honoured with numerous awards, including Nigeria Centenary Award. He is remembered as "Africa's gift to the world of climate science".

Life and career

Early life and education Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi was born on 24 December 1933, to Albert B. Patrick Obasi and Rhoda A. Akande, in Ogori, Kwara, Nigeria. He attended St. Peter School in Ogori, and St. Andrew School in Okene, Kogi State, for his early education. He then attended middle school in Okene, at today's Abdul Aziz Atta Memorial College. He afterwards transferred to the Barewa College in Zaria, where he was a classmate of Yakubu Gowon, a former head of state of Nigeria. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics with honours from McGill University, in 1959, and a Master of Science in Meteorology with distinction from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1960. He went on to obtain a Doctor of Science in Meteorology from MIT in 1963. He received the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Award for his thesis.

Career Obasi returned to Nigeria to become a senior meteorologist in charge of research and training at the Nigerian Meteorological Department from 1963 to 1967, and he was also a senior meteorologist in charge of technical administration at the department's headquarters in Lagos from 1966 to 1967. Additionally, he served as the senior meteorologist in charge of meteorological services at Lagos Airport from 1964 to 1965, and as chairman of the working group on tropical meteorology for the World Meteorological Organization from 1965 to 1967. From 1967 to 1974, Obasi was a World Meteorological Organization/United Nations Development Programme expert and a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. At the university, he served as acting head of the Department of Meteorology from 1972 to 1973, as professor and chairman of the department from 1974 to 1976, and as dean of the Faculty of Science from 1967 to 1976. Obasi also worked as an adviser in meteorology and assistant director for the Nigerian government from 1976 to 1978. In 1973, he served as a visiting research fellow at Florida State University. In 1978, he was appointed as a vice president and a member of the advisory group of the Commission for Atmospheric Science at the WMO. Additionally, he served on the board of advisors for The Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science at the Franklin Institute. He was the vice president of the Third World Academy of Sciences (now The World Academy of Sciences). Obasi joined the WMO Secretariat in 1978 as the director of education and training. He also organised the convening of the Second World Climate Conference in Geneva in 1990, following which the United Nations General Assembly created the Framework Convention on Climate Change. He also contributed to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification's formation. Obasi served as the secretary-general of the WMO from 1984 to 2003. He was the first secretariat employee to be named secretary-general and the first African to serve as the head of a UN agency. According to a New York Times article by Judith Miller on 9 February 2005, there were allegations of theft and mismanagement at the WMO. It reported that the agency was accused of using money intended for hurricane relief to pay for office furnishings and travel expenses. Other sources indicated that Muhammad Hassan, WMO's head of training and Obasi's closest ally, was accused of the embezzlement of CHF 4.3 million. An internal WMO audit, quoted by Neue Zürcher Zeitung, revealed that Muhammad Hassan informed Obasi of some of his wrongdoings. The Le Temps reported that the embezzled money would have been partly used to exert "political influence on the representatives of certain countries". Additionally, the New York Times article noted allegations of fraud and nepotism within the agency, as well as complaints about the organisation's overall management.

Personal life, death, and legacy Obasi married Winifred O. Akande on 1 October 1976, and they had six children. He died on 3 March 2007, in Abuja, Nigeria. Obasi has been recognised for his significant contributions to climate science and is seen as "Africa's gift to the world of climate science". He was the subject of a memorial lecture at the Seventh Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2018, and another memorial lecture was held in his name in September 2021 at the Ninth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa in Cabo Verde.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Godwin Obasi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Godwin Obasi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Godwin Obasi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Godwin Obasi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Godwin Obasi

In research: Godwin Obasi appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Godwin Obasi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Godwin Obasi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1933 births, 2007 deaths, Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal recipients, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Godwin Obasi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Godwin Obasi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Godwin Obasi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Godwin Obasi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Godwin Obasi in simple terms?

Why does Godwin Obasi matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Godwin Obasi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Godwin Obasi.