The Post Master General of the Nigeria Postal Service, Dr. Ismail Adewusi has said that the NIPOST Digital Addressing System, DAS, which will be unveiled soon will solve the challenge of insecurity and many other needs of the country.
The PMG stated this on Thursday at a press briefing on the Postcode Digitalization and its importance to Nipost operations held in Abuja.
The event was in collaboration with the National Population Commission; given the critical role the Commission is playing in its support for NIPOST, with the vital capabilities to ensure a seamless roll-out of a digitised Postcode for Nigeria and to the benefit of her citizens.
Adewusi said the new postcode when unveiled will usher in better response to emergencies by security agencies, thereby reducing crimes like banditry, kidnapping and Internet scams and also solve most of the “National Addressing” needs of the country. According to him, the event was organized to create awareness of some of Nipost’s initiatives, to further ensure that postal services meet the demands of the digital and knowledge economy.
Whereas NIPOST introduced a Postcode system in 1986 as part of efforts to enhance mail collection, processing, distribution and delivery, the NIPOST boss explained that the present effort, is aimed at transitioning the system to a digital platform to create more efficiency and functionality.
‘‘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.”
‘‘With the cooperation and support of the National Population Commission, we embarked on the process of enhancing the Postcode, leveraging technology. We drew up entities in a manner that ensures every part of the country is effectively captured, using a systematic framework of alpha-numeric characters from the State, Local Government Areas, Postcode Districts, Postcode Areas and Postcode Units.’’
