IT Boost to Postal Service – Baba

Mallam Ibrahim Baba, post-master general of Nigeria, has stated that the advancement of information communication technology (ICT) was not a setback to the operation of postal services, but rather an enhancer.

The PMG stated that contrary to uninformed opinions being expressed in some quarters that the rapid deployment of ICT applications in business transactions and other electronic mail delivery portals should be seen as boosting postal operation.

Baba  told News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that postal services remain relevant in spite of the ICT.

“It’s not a threat. IT should be seen as something that would enhance your activities not only as an organisation but as a person,” said the PMG.

“You can go there and look at issues of medicine, issues of other area of human endeavour. So, IT is rather enhancing our mail delivery rather than a threat.”

Baba also said his organistion, the Nigerian Postal Service (Nipost) was not playing catch-up with IT firms. He noted that the new face of Nipost operates in a difference level from what it used to be known for because the application of relevant technologies.

“This is certainly because of the advent of the IT. So, as far as we are concerned, we are not actually on the back seat, because we are providing different types of communication services.

“We are more of person to person, rather than those that you will just pick your phone and speak to a person and so on, ours is beyond that.

“We want to believe that we will always continue to be relevant as far as communication in this century is concerned,” said Baba.

He maintained that the postal service was still relevant and providing  reliable and efficient service.

“The intra-city takes 24 hours; Inter-city takes 48 hours while nationwide takes about 72 hours for mails delivery to their destination.”

He said that NIPOST had eliminated the incidence of mail theft, pilfering, tampering and all forms of fraudulent activities as a way of boosting customers’ confidence.

‘’We are embarking on research and development of new services and products aimed at increasing our market share and create new markets for sustainable growth.’’

He restated the commitment of NIPOST to continue to provide universal and qualitative postal service that would be efficient, effective, reliable and affordable with a committed workforce that guarantees customer satisfaction.