Dr. Simon Emeje, head of the Courier Regulatory Department of NIPOST has described the courier industry as a critical area in Nigeria saying that there is no country in the world that can talk about development without communication.
He stated this at the second edition of Afritecc 2008 Congress, a definitive two-day event for Telecoms, internet, computer and the courier organized by Mosrose Communications Limited, the publishers of ITworld magazine which ended lThursday at the Golden Gate Restaurants, Ikoyi, Lagos
Emeje, who represented Alhaji Mori Ibrahim Baba, the Postmaster General of the federation at the courier session of the event said that courier which handles the door-to–door delivery of time sensitive service, part of communication is a segment of the post that has existed as old as the world.
Delivering a lecture on "Courier Service in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects, Emeje traced the evolution of the courier industry and said that the practice has diversified from Aristocratic service to conventional postal formation which has occupied a critical position in the economy. He said that courier services all the sectors of the economy offering jobs to over 300,000 people and last year alone made N12billion as profit even as he further noted that courier has presence in 2,500 towns and villages in Nigeria.
Emeje said the telecoms sub-sector which has enjoyed all the attention and support of the government in recent times cannot survive alone without the support of the courier and described the scenario as the two sides of a coin. However, he said that unlike the telecoms sector, the courier has not enjoyed relative attention from the government in spite of the fact that the postal industry has been as old as the world.
He explained Universal Postal Service as the obligation of the government to reach every body in all locations with postal services which are affordable and cost effective to the citizenry and said it is difficult for government to relinquish this role to the private sector considering the effect it will have on pricing for such services. Instead, he said that if government wants the telecom services to reach all the nooks and crannies of the country that it should work with the postal sector.
Emeje intimated that the sector still faces some challenges irrespective of the prospects it has made so far. He mentioned the activities of the illegal courier operators, pilfering, dumping and loss of items as part of the challenges. Emeje said that since the department was established that 70 offices that were not licensed by his department had been closed down. According to him, the sector is also undermined by low level knowledge of some courier operators who he said are not well versed with operations of the business. He informed that the department developed a training curriculum to address the knowledge bankruptcy on courier enterprise which started in 2003. Another area of challenge which he mentioned is the dual role which the NIPOST performs as both an operator and the regulator. Many stakeholders have criticized such a development and called for review of the status quo.
The process started since 2004 at the Courier Summit where courier operators agitated for an independent body that will regulate the sector like the telecoms where NCC is the umpire. It is believed the independent body will face the challenges in the sector squarely. The document as at now is passing through the necessary administrative processes but government should do well to hasten action on this all important legislation that will change the face of the postal business for good.
