The Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Population Commission (NPC) to digitalise postcodes for Nigeria.
The Director-General, NIPOST, Dr Ismail Adewusi, at the signing of the MoU in Abuja, said that the effort is aimed at transitioning the system to a digital platform to create more efficiency and functionality.
Adewusi said that NPC played critical role in ensuring a seamless roll-out of digitilised postcodes for Nigeria to enhance service delivery .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that postal code also known as postcode refers to a group of numbers or letters which are added to a postal address to assist the purpose of sorting mail.
Adewusi said that NPC introduced a postcode system in 1986 but recently changed the system to a digital platform to create more efficiency and functionality.
`NIPOST introduced a postcode system in 1986 to enhance mail collection, processing, distribution and delivery but 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,” he said.
Adewusi said that the new postcode remains a critical national infrastructure, especially in a developing country such as Nigeria, 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 the lack of an efficient addressing system in the country.
“ It is a critical infrastructure for meeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals of poverty reduction, disease control and provision of basic services such as water and electricity,” he said.
The NPC Chairman, Hon. Nasir Kwarra, said that the digital postcodes would provide a relentless drive with digital solutions to manage operations more efficiently at reduced cost.
Kwarra said that poor technology was a major challenge for managers, especially in a large and complex networked industry that delivered wide range of products and services.
“ With the cooperation and support of the National Population Commission, we embark on the process of enhancing the postcode, leveraging technology.
“In collaboration with NIPOST, we drew up entities in a manner that ensure every part of the country is effectively captured, using a systematic framework,” he said.
NAN reports that the new Nigerian Postal Codes are alphanumeric. They are web based and can be used on Geographic Information Systems.
The code of each region in Nigeria is captured in the code, while the second and third digits when combined with the first, make up the dispatch district for out sorting. (NAN)
