By Adedapo Adesanya
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed to digitalise Nigerian postcodes has been sealed between the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) and the National Population Commission (NPC).
The Director-General of NIPOST, Mr Ismail Adewusi, while sealing the deal in Abuja on Thursday, explained that the reason for this is to transition the system to a digital platform from analogue to create more efficiency and functionality.
Mr Adewusi said that NPC played a critical role in ensuring a seamless roll-out of digitalised postcodes for Nigeria to enhance service delivery.
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.
Mr Adewusi said his agency 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.
The NIPOST DG said that the new postcode remains a critical national infrastructure, especially in a developing country such as Nigeria, where the lack of street names and property numbering hinders 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.
On his part, the NPC Chairman, Mr Nasir Kwarra, said that the digital postcodes would provide a relentless drive with digital solutions to manage operations more efficiently at a reduced cost.
Mr Kwarra said that poor technology was a major challenge for managers, especially in a large and complex networked industry that delivered a 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.
The new Nigerian postal codes are alphanumeric as well as web-based and can be used on Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
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.
