Postcode digitalization: NIPOST, NPC sign MoU

The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and National Population Commission (NPC) have Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure a seamless roll-out of a digitised Postcode for Nigeria.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the Postmaster General/CEO NIPOST, Dr. Ismail Adebayo Adewusi, said digitalization Postcode will enhance mail collection, processing, distribution and delivery.

He also said the system would lead to better response to emergencies by security agencies, thereby reducing crimes like banditry, kidnapping and Internet scams.

According him the present effort is aimed at transitioning the system to a digital platform to create more efficiency and functionality.

“Of a certainty, such advanced addressing system will promote the proper functioning of not just the Postal sector. It is a critical infrastructure for meeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty reduction, disease control and provision of basic services such as water and electricity.

“It remains a critical national infrastructure, especially in a developing country like ours where lack of street names and property numbering hinder the ability to meet public and business expectations. We are not unaware of the difficulties which service providers in Nigeria face, due to lack of efficient addressing system in the country.

“The relentless drive to use new technologies and latest digital solutions, to manage operations more efficiently, at less cost, increased productivity, and better quality of service, is a major challenge for managers, especially in a large and complex networked industry that delivers a wide range of products and services,” he said.

Listing some of the benefits of a digitized system, Adewusi said it will better sorting, delivery of mail and postal services, effective healthcare delivery system, seamless delivery of goods ordered through the Internet (e-commerce), among others.

In his remark, the chairman of NPC, Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra, said a digitised Postcode will make it possible for the country to have a proper addressing system.

According to him, a digital address system which aids economic, political and physical development.

He lamented that Nigeria like many other African countries lacks a proper addressing system and the country loses out on its economic, social and many other salient advantages considering its population.