It is no news that the Minister of Communication seems to be speaking a lot about the Federal Government's plans for the Communications industry. Structural re-organisation will be taking place this year and it might further include new appointments. The Communications Minister while in Lagos said that the ministry is introducing new business ideas and getting people to run NIPOST like a business.
Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, said that the Government’s strategic goal would be to create an all-inclusive sector which will explore key underutilised and potentially game-changing assets through the NIPOST’s facilities in over 550 local government areas, and provide untapped possibilities as a vehicle for socio-economic inclusion and digital access.
The federal government is set to appoint an expatriate as the new Postmaster General of the Federation in charge of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to reposition the nation’s postal regulator to provide postal, financial, and internet services.
“We got approval from President Buhari and have placed adverts for the post of the Postmaster General, and we are going to get whoever that will occupy that position to grow the company. We are looking at having many call centres, increased banking and internet services, in addition to postal services. We will invite companies to come forward and we are using the private public partnership (PPP) arrangement to work with the NIPOST. In another two to three months, we want the NIPOST offices to become business centres that offer different banking, financial, and postal services to Nigerians, Shittu added.
“We will, in keeping with the liberalisation policy and international best practices, offer partnerships with the private sector in order to significantly enhance its prospects of delivering services to Nigerians and revenue to the government,” he said, adding that Nigerians should expect a revitalised Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.
