Business

Why NIPOST flexes to join ICPC fight corruption

Published

9 years ago

May 20, 2017

Since the major agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari is to fight corruption to the finish, every agency of his government has been strutting to make a statement, including one many think the internet has made moribund.

The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and the ICPC have unveiled postal stamps carrying short anti-corruption messages to sustain the campaign against corruption.

The innovation, according to the commission, was brought about by the fact that drumming such messages to the sub-consciousness of a large number of people will go a long way in helping the ICPC cause.

“We are of the firm belief that the stamps will be effective as an instrument for creative mental symbolism and a means to further mobilize popular consciousness in support of the anti-corruption war,” NIPOST’s Post Master-General Bisi Adegbuyi explained said at the launch in Kano during the week.

Many believe that mail service has been submerged in the gigs of information transmitted through the internet. NIPOST, however, still enjoys use of its stamps on a daily basis cuts across all strata of society.

The agency, through its 782, 785 P.O. boxes, 22,704 private mail bags, and 95889 business boxes, largely concentrated in Lagos, Anambra, Oyo, and Abuja, in that order, raked in N8.84 billion in 2016. Its stamp duty brought in 50 percent of the revenue, according to data by NIPOST.

It dispatched a total of 33,683,640 mails domestically and internationally then, and 21,057,137 mails, about 63 percent of the total, were handled locally. No fewer than 4,937,410 mails, which represent about 15 percent of the total mails, were received sent from other countries, and delivered in Nigeria.

The collaboration will not only marinate the conscience of Nigerians in the subtle moral messages—it will also help burnish the nation’s image abroad.

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No fewer than 7,689,093 mails, 23 percent of last year’s total, were dispatched abroad last year—from Nigeria. Millions of stamps now gilded with anti-corruption buzzes broadcast overseas will make a great PR stunt.

Kano Gov. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje believes in the cross-border advantage the NIPOST-ICPC collaboration offers.

“Because of the on-going fight against corruption embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s image abroad has tremendously improved.” said the governor.

ICPC’s Chairman Ekpo Nta also believes that the stamps will help the Commission in educating the people on and against corruption, and in mobilising their support for the fight against corruption.