“It is important to state also that as a responsive corporate entity that is sensitive to happenings in its operational milieu, NIPOST Ibadan Zone is gravely concerned about the declined culture of letter writing in our post-primary schools and has taken up challenge by working in concert with Oyo State Ministry of Education to ensure its revival.”
These were the words of the Zonal Manager of the Nigerian Postal Service, Adoyi Onyeke Simon on Wednesday while speaking at a programme in commemoration of the World Post Day.
He stated that arrangements are underway to kickstart a statewide letter-writing competition among secondary schools in Oyo State, adding that the importance of the post office in the socio-economic growth and development of the nation cannot be overemphasized.
“This realisation has been the basis for the number of memoranda of understanding and partnerships that NIPOST has entered into with both the public and private enterprises with a view to assisting in delivering dividends of democracy to the people of note is the issue of financial exclusion of a greater percentage of Nigerians that has remained a major concern for the Government.
“To ensure effective financial inclusiveness for all the underbanked and unbanked through the vast network of post office outlets, NIPOST in collaboration with Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending [NIRSAL] has commenced operation of a national Micro Finance Bank at some General Post offices in the country with more coming up in the nearest future,” he said.
While highlighting the achievements of NIPOST in the zone, Adoyi said with 224 post offices spread across the six states in the south-west that make up the Ibadan zone, the organisation has been able to bridge the gap by bringing Postal facilities and services to the doorsteps of the majority of the rural population across Nigeria.
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Debunking misconceptions that the advent of ICT poses a threat to postal operations, the Zonal Manager said ICT is a blessing and a launchpad for NIPOST. “Let me allay people’s misgivings about the challenges posed by ICT to postal operations. Many postal observers and bookmakers are made to believe that the advent of ICT heralded the extinction of the Post, especially in Nigeria.
To the contrary, however, ICT became a veritable launchpad for NIPOST enhancing her operations through automation of mail processing, tracking and tracing of postal items within and outside the NIPOST postal corridor. The organisation has also leveraged on Technology to introduce some digital products such as the Address Verification System (AVS) and Digital Addressing System (DAS) and Electronic money transfer called ‘Postranfer,” he added.
He stated that about three years ago, the Nigerian Postal Service unbundled into Zonal operational structure that gave birth to Ibadan and six other Zones across the country to disencumber both the administrative and operational mechanisms of the organization as well as make postal services easily accessible to the citizenry irrespective of their geographical locations.
“It is also gratifying to state that in major towns and cities across this zone where digital communications is entrenched, our outlets remain crucial for the distribution of goods bought on Internet stores while we concentrate on information dissemination and circulation of goods in communities with relatively lower access to digital inclusion,” he concluded.
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