Viepoint IN BRIEF: Home grown solution to postal challenges By Abiodun Komolafe Dilapidated buildings! Rickety vehicles! Out of date, out-of-tune equipment! Unmotivated staff! Disproportionate salary structures! The past in the life of NIPOST was replete with woes! But perhaps the greatest challenge to an organization that renders such immense, sensitive and very essential postal services here as in the rest of Africa as to the developed world is that it still operates under The Stamp Duties Act Cap S8 LFN 2004 of 1939. Determined to disentangle NIPOST from the conflictal contradictions of development and the accoutrements of democracy, President Muhammadu Buhari opted for a better future for the once “transmission-of-letters-and-postal- materials-only”. A new management, under the headship of Bisi Adegbuyi, was saddled with the onerous responsibility of repositioning the outfit with a view to making it compete favourably in the comity of world’s postal systems. For a fact, the lawyer-turned-Post-Master General’s immense contributions to the development of the organization’s universality as well as the creation of an efficient, effective and a technology-driven, market-led government agency have surpassed expectations. As one of the largest postal industries in Africa with over-1000 major Post Offices and close to 4,000 Postal Agencies, spread across Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja, the Adegbuyi-led management has within a short period of 2 years transformed the state-owned government monopoly into an awards-winning outfit. For instance, while equally-challenged outfits elsewhere were lamenting their predicament, NIPOST simply chose to think out of the box. Its ‘NIPOST Vision 2002’ strategic roadmap, especially, the creation of a lean headquarters and empowered Business Units and Zones led to an unprecedented N700 million increase in revenue and a 40% reduction in expenditure in 2017. In other to meet the yearning demands of a globalized world where competitive advantage is now the order of the day, NIPOST rolled out 12 new, game-changing products and services. They are: IPS Track and Trace, E-Stamp; Address Verification System (AVS); Whats3Words; E-Money Order; and NIPOST/ Bank of Agriculture Agency Banking. Others include E-Commerce; E-Insurance; International Money Order (now an appetizer for global players like Jumia, Konga, DHL and FEDEX in the discharge of their duties); and Card Services. Last but not the least is the NIPOST Youth Engagement Scheme (N-YES), designed to discover and productively engage the ingenuity of the Nigerian youth. I am also aware of plans to unbundle NIPOST into five companies: Banking and Insurance; Property and Development; Transport; E-Commerce; and E-Government. Incontestably, this will go a long way in improving the quality of its products and services, in addition to increase in its revenue base. But one other area of innovative opportunities which Nigerians explore is partnering with professional bodies and examination boards like the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and National Examinations Commission (NECO) in the area of provision of security documents for professional examinations. While the roles of NIPOST in creating an inclusive society and making greater contributions to the nation’s socio-economic development cannot be underestimated, the shared vision and determination to make a difference which has created a vision for every member of staff towards seeing that the organization moves with the time cannot be overemphasized either. Apart from the recruitment of new hands, christened ‘The Innovation Team’, to shore up its operations,NIPOST deserves a pat on the back for the Postal Proceeds Bill which was recently passed into law by the National Assembly! Give it to the organization that the Act is coming at a time Nigeria is looking for alternative means of generating funds outside of oil which is no longer sustainable as a means of keeping the nation’s economy afloat. With many countries stepping up efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the postal sector in Nigeria remains an enabler of inclusive development and an essential component of the global economy. A simple example is the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NIPOST and BoA for the distribution of the Bank’s farm produce and implements to farmers through the Post Offices. At a time the Buhari administration is doing all it can to revamp Nigeria’s ailing economy and place it on a path to sustainable growth, trusting NIPOST as a highly qualified and competitive communications brand couldn’t have come at a more auspicious time. But, in a country where programme rigmarole and policy somersault have established a prima facie case against developmental strides in this part of the globe, how far it can go in taking advantages of modern science and global markets to provide home- grown solutions to Nigeria’s multifaceted postal challenges will be a matter of interest to Nigerians. •Komolafe is resident at 020, Okenisa Street, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk) https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/06/new-nipost-possible/

Fantastic, a neglected giant on the rise again, 16 years of neglect! what a waste we will surely get to the heights we are supposed to reach as a nation insha Allah

Is snow falling in Nigeria possible
Only God can decide