Even with the explosion in information and communications technology, the postal and courier sector has remained undaunted to the argument and submission that the development will erode a larger chunk of the business sector.
Instead of bulge to the pressure exerted by the information age, the sector more than ever before has shown great hope and determination to be a goldmine.
There is no doubt that ICT has taken away some of the services rendered by the sector, for instance instead of writing letters these days and sending them through the post or by courier, people now prefer to send SMS and email to their loved ones. But one thing is amazing, instead of this development impacting negatively on the sector, more investors are jumping the queue to obtain licenses from the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) to tap into the lucrative courier business.
The license fee even when it was jerked up to N1 million for new entrants while yearly renewed is pegged at N250 could not also serve as a deterrent to intending mail messengers. CommunicationsWeek investigation also revealed that the number of courier firms is going up by the day to the effect that at the last count, about two hundred companies are already in the business. It is also possible that this figure may have increased.
Courier operators have argued that instead of ICT undercutting their businesses that it has actually increased and enhanced their operations.
Williams Opeoluwa, chief executive officer of Rowsy International Cargo And Courier Limited is emphatic that information and communications technology has brought a lot of advantages to the sector.
With ICT, he said they can now locate their shipments and monitor their movements. With the website, individuals and companies can also download information about a particular company even as he said that ICT makes tracking of goods and services possible.
Nipost, federal government parastatal led by the postmaster general of the federation ,Mallam ibrahim Moni Baba has also considered the need to digitalize the operations of the organization to make Nipost become a one-stop-shop for all e-service solutions including e-logistics. It also included the drive to re-engineer the Nipost work force to adapt to the changing postal market to meet new demands and enhance competition.
The body therefore embraced the Universal Postal Union’s [UPU] directive that all postal administrations across the globe should carry on with the e-post project considering the relevance of ICT tools to modern day’s business.
This development saw the birth of Cash4Africa which is a brand name in funds transfer electronically across the continent and the local post cash e-money transfer that is restricted within the country.
The truth is that ICT has reinvigorated the postal sector and no wonder during last year’s pan African post day held in Abuja Mallam Moni Baba made the disclosure that his men in collaboration with other agencies intercepted letters and parcels containing various international currencies and passports, digital cameras and high grade GSM handsets.
The consignments that were destined for Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada,
Russia and the U.S.A containing large sums of foreign currencies were said to be intercepted through the track, trace and scan exercise carried out by NIPOST and other international postal services around the world.
ICT challenge in the NIPOST has been a rewarding one as the government body is involved in a lot of e-solutions which impact positively on their operations.
Similarly, Kayode Ogunsalu, executive director, Fenway Courier Limited did not mince words when he said that the advent of fax , internet, GSM and others only succecded in taking away some chunk of their business but that there are some important documents one cannot send through e-mail or fax especially original documents.
He believes courier companies have integrated and started using ict tools to improve their services. The arrival of ICT in his view is more of blessing than being a curse as the development has brought so many opportunities.
Joe Nwosu, managing Director of Global Express Courier, also stated that without the courier and ICT industry that the economy will be bellicose as he said the two variables are interwoven.
He want further to say that cheques, government and corporate documents, parcels, IT gadgets and a host of materials can only set to their various destinations via courier services.
Dr. Simon Emeje, senior assistant postmaster general and Courier Regulatory Department boss in an interview also described information and communications technology as a welcomed development in the postal and courier sector.
He was of the view that with ICT his department can have a list of all the registered courier companies in Nigeria and be made available on their website for everybody to see and make contact with those companies.
A lot of other stakeholders in the courier business also hold similar view that the development of ICT has brought more gains than pain in the sector.
Effort should therefore be made by government to provide the necessary infrastructure like steady power supply to leverage the immense opportunities provided by ICT not only to the postal and courier sector but to all segments of our national life for without steady power supply no meaningful progress will be achieved.
