The Postmaster-General (PMG) of the Federation, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Dr. Ismail Adewusi, has sought the support of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to boost postal services operations across the nation.
Speaking during a working visit to the NCS Comptroller-General, Col. Hammed Ali (Rtd), at the command headquarters in Abuja, Adewusi highlighted the challenges faced by the postal service and how it could be supported by the customs’ service.
He emphasised that the NIPOST will continue to reinvent its activities to stay afloat.
“This is not only in Nigeria; it is a global phenomenon. The Nigerian Postal Service is the designated public postal operator representing Nigeria among the comity of 192 nations who are members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
“So, anytime anything is coming to Nigeria, it first arrives at our International Mail Processing Centre (IMPC) in Lagos. That means we play a very critical role as the gateway to all mails and the rest of them coming from outside Nigeria. We have taken that role very seriously.”
Adewusi said over the years the NIPOST has seized many weapons and drugs in the past which some people attempted to smuggle into the country using the post.
“Each time this happens, we pass all of these to the security agencies – the Customs, NDLEA etc – that are also resident within our premises.
“We continue to reinvent ourselves, despite all the challenges before us today. Also, we believe that coming here is also to reinforce that collaborative relationship between these sister organisations,” he added.
The NIPOST boss said there once was a long-standing committee of NIPOST and Customs. He urged the customs’ boss to resuscitate the committee.
The PMG also discussed the issuance of a seizure notice whenever the customs’ officials seize items or goods from people and deploy the address verification application, a technology-based solution for tracking addresses of people.
In his response, Ali said there has always existed a symbiotic relationship between the NCS and NIPOST towards adequate service delivery.
He said there was no reason for both organisations not to support each other, just as he pledged his organisation’s support for the NIPOST.
Ali attended to every request made by the NIPOST boss and directed his officials to ensure implementation, urging them to take advantage of the Address Verification Application by NIPOST to support their operations which, according to him, “would help customs to track its clients”.
