Govt plans to upgrade NIPOST to a mega conglomerate

.Mulls privatisation of NIGCOMSAT

The Federal Government has unfolded plans to turn the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) into a mega conglomerate, offering services in e-commerce, e-learning/library services and issuance of the Nigerian passport and drivers license among other security documents.

The Minister of Communications, Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu disclosed this while receiving the Acting Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Vincent Onome Akpotaire, who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja recently, according to a statement by the BPE Head of Public Communications, Alex Okoh yesterday in Abuja.

The Minister, according to the statement, said that to achieve the objective, the government would constitute a technical committee to proffer solutions to the issues militating against the Nigerian postal sector and present a policy direction to harness the economic potentials of the organisation.

While acknowledging the significance of reforms for the communication sector and the key role of BPE in sector reforms, Shittu said the bureau would be included on the committee, expressing optimism that an all inclusive participation of all stakeholders would steer NIPOST towards the desired direction, to harness its commercial potentials.

On the Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), the Minister asked the bureau to carry out a research and come out with the best option, either commercialise or privatise the company as findings have revealed that it was under-patronised because it has only one signal.

Akpotaire acknowledged the yet untapped potentials of NIPOST, saying that the agency, though in a state of comatose, has sufficient assets to generate economic and commercial services.

He said that in view of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s national financial inclusion strategy, NIPOST could kick off skeletal services within the scope of the resources set aside by the apex bank and through its vast postal network, it is equipped to deliver financial services to remote areas currently excluded by financial institutions.

To facilitate the process, Akpotaire said that the bureau would present a comprehensive proposal that would serve as a platform to drive the required sector reforms to the Minister within a week.