NIPOST set to maximise ICT to promote postal services

Mr Abdulkareem Baba, the Director Strategy and Business Development, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) says the agency is set to maximize Information Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance postal services in the country.

Baba said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

Accordingly to him, NIPOST will use ICT in its operations to promote socio-economic diversification of the nation and more revenue generation.

“It is true that the introduction of the internet has its effect but even at that, NIPOST’s facilities and grounded infrastructure still makes it an important contributor to national revenue generation.

“Look at how e-commerce is booming, and what is e-commerce, it is value chain, buying online, paying on line and how do you move the goods physically?

“In fact most of all the items that had been bought in shops online are delivered by NIPOST.

“NIPOST has gone into partnership with most of these online shops because they recognise that we have the infrastructure and the outreach to do that.

“In fact in reality even the strongest postal service in the world has a whole value chain of postal activities.

“You can buy online from their websites, you can pay from their payment systems and they will move the goods also with their own logistics to the last mile and deliver.

“This is the kind of revolution we are bringing to bear on the Nigerian post with all the new products we have introduced like the electronic stamps and online money order.

“All aimed at trending with times and generating more funds into government coffers.’’

According to him, it is a wrong notion that NIPOST is dying or has problems because of internet rather it is helping it survive the times.

“In fact the platform for the post is also a platform for social development and poverty alleviation,” the NIPOST official said.

Baba said the outreach for the post all over the world and all over the country could be used to create financial inclusion and empower as many people as were exposed to it.