The Minister of Communications, Barr Adebayo Shittu has said Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the Ministry would work harmoniously towards the unbundling of NIPOST in achieving a common goal for the betterment of the organization and Nigeria at large.
Shittu who stated this when the Director General of BPE Mr. Alex Okoh visited in his Office, added that the vogue of Global System Mobile (GSM) had made posting of letters to become difficult for people because of time lag; the redundancy of manpower, equipment and vehicles have necessitated Federal Government to find an alternative to making NIPOST efficient and effective.
The Minister said that banks cannot be found in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria and majority of Nigerians live in rural areas hence, they are entirely cut-off.
He noted that NIPOST Bank like the one operational in China should be established in Nigeria so that the staff and vehicles would be maximally utilised, adding that the financial sector cannot do it because; it would not be beneficial to them. NIPOST facilities, like lands should be made good use of by establishing malls for rental, to generate fund for Federal Government.
The Minister disclosed that NIPOST would be unbundled and establish the followings; Properties and Development Companies, NIPOST Services and Logistic to carry goods and services, e-government in rural areas for collection of International passports, and e-government companies to assist private companies to generate revenue.
He agreed that BPE is a statutory agency responsible to carry out the unbundling of Government Agencies, and such there is the need to partner with them to realize once more the viability of NIPOST, for him “we are passionate about NIPOST moving forward”.
The Director General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh said that they are delighted to meet the Minister to discuss mutual issues of benefit, commending him for the achievement so far on the transformation of the communication sector and NIPOST.
He disclosed that BPE is the agency mandated by law to carry out circular reform, privatization and commercialization of Public Enterprise which NIPOST is listed amongst.
With the inauguration of National Council on Privatisation, the frame work has begun for the design of modernized NIPOST. “This is the part where BPE comes in to manage it for the Federal Government”.
Okoh proposed for a joint approach that would set up a policy to drive the reform, and also constitute a Project Recovery Team because NIPOST is overdue for reform and commercialisation.
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