We’ll make NIPOST a community centre - PMG

updated: Wednesday 11-06-2008

Mallam Ibrahim Mori BabaMallam Ibrahim Mori Baba, Postmaster General (PMG) of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST), in this interview with Sulaimon Olanrewaju, speaks on the ongoing reforms in the organization, how the reforms will impact on its processes and what Nigerians are to expect from the reformed NIPOST. Excerpts.

Despite the much touted 48 and 72-hour delivery claim by NIPOST, there are still some people who do not believe that you are meeting those targets. What do you have to say to that?
There is no doubt that NIPOST delivers mails within 72 hours. We have even improved on that by trying to deliver mail items within 48 hours. But you know that it is impossible to have 100 per cent efficiency. So, if we have 99.9 per cent result, the 0.1 per cent that remains will go to the media to claim that NIPOST does not deliver mail within the stipulated time.

But those whose mails are delivered within 72 hours will not go anywhere to announce that they got their mails in 72 hours. And let me be honest with you, we do not expect them to do so because that is our job. What I can only say is that we are determined to improve and we shall. We are not leaving anything to chances. We shall continue to improve and our aim is to satisfy the yearnings of our customers.

A section of the public is also complaining about your money transfer product. What is the problem with that product?
Really, there is no problem with our money transfer service. Everyone knows that the local money transfer has been extremely successful. The service surpasses the expectations of our customers and we continue to improve on it daily. So, there is no problem with that product.

However, when we first started the international money transfer, there was a slight hitch. The hitch was that we did not anticipate the kind of patronage we had. I suspect that all the people that had heard about the success of the local money transfer wanted to be part of the international one. So, daily our offices were besieged by people who wanted money transfer services and we were not prepared for that huge number, so there was a hitch.

Getting money was not as fast as it used to be. But as a dynamic organisation, we quickly responded to that challenge and increased our number of computer systems and personnel dedicated to that service. Since then, the product has been as good as, if not better than, that offered by competition.

It is a known fact that the Federal Government is trying to reform NIPOST. What exactly is happening?
We are working with some consultants to make the service a better one. What we are actually doing is that we want to improve on our processes. We want to computerise our processes so that we can compare favourably with similar services in the world. For instance, once the process of the registration of our boxes and mail bags is computerised, maybe there are five people on that duty currently, but by the time we finish with the computerization, we are likely going to have just one person.

In the expenditure office where we process vouchers and so on, when that is also computerised, we will only have one person to process vouchers and the vouchers will go electronically to the cash office. The audit department will see it and if it has a query, it will send the query. So, what maybe five people are doing will just be collapsed to one person’s activity.

Does that mean you will downsize or right size?
Certainly, we are going to right size. That means that some persons will have to give way but we also need to recruit some other people for other expert areas that are not currently covered.

In the reformed NIPOST, what will be the role of the government?
Government will still be the owner of the Nigerian Postal Service. Whatever name the government decides to give it; either Nigerian Post or Nigerian Post Limited, Nigerian government will still be the owner 100 per cent. The only thing is that the status will have changed from a parastatal to a corporation or a commercial outfit.

That means the government will still be responsible for funding NIPOST?
When that is done, we expect that there will be what is called a take off grant. Once we get the commercial status, we will no longer feature in the government treasury. What it means is that the government will give us a take off grant. Once that is given to us, it is expected that we will no longer take money from the government but rather make returns to the government.

Does that mean you will have to review your charges?
We will review the charges but government will still have to make an input. For the minimum postal rate, we still have to go to the Salaries and Wages Commission, which regulates some of these things. Or in the new dispensation it may be the independent postal regulator that will have to determine our postal rates. In that case, the regulatory body will take care of government interest.

In the new dispensation, will there be room for other players in mail handling?
Certainly, there will be new players and those on the ground will continue. I want you to know that the courier companies run both domestic and international operations. So, they are involved in postal activities. The only thing is that there is going to be what is called reserved area. They will not be expected to carry any mail that is less than 500gm. Anything that is above 500gm, which we are involved in, they will also be involved in.

Will your courier arm still be part of NIPOST or will it be an independent organisation?
It will still be part of NIPOST because it is an added value service. It is expected to be there because we have to be serving different strata of the society. So, the normal postal service will be serving those of us who do not have other options. Those who want value added services will be served by our courier arm. Even within our courier arm, we have introduced what we call 6-hour service delivery. It is not everybody that will want the 6-hour service delivery. It is also not every time that those who want the 6-hour delivery will require that service. So, it depends on circumstances. That is why we have to maintain the courier arm.

What steps are you taking now to ensure that when the postal reform exercise is complete you will be able to compete with other players, bearing in mind the fact that you will no longer enjoy as much support from the government as you currently do?
We actually do not need a direct government support. But the mere fact that we are still owned by the government, there is that confidence that there is somebody we can always run to.

We are now in the third phase of the reform. After the restructuring, NIPOST is going to be strengthened. Strengthening means restructuring the processes. What we are looking at is that maybe the whole NIPOST is going to be collapsed into about four functional areas; Operations, EMS, which is our courier arm, Mail Service and Counter Service.

Everybody is going to be given activity and responsibility – so that they don’t have to wait for the PMG before taking actions. Now, we have five divisions; 32 area offices and so on. But our thinking is that maybe the area offices will be collapsed into five, six or maximum seven. The 106 districts that we have now will be collapsed into may be 50 or 60 for efficiency. Those manning the offices will be vested with authority to carry out their functions.

What will be the role of the PMG in the new restructured NIPOST?
The PMG is only supposed to be a coordinator. The PMG is not supposed to get involved in the day to day activities. The PMG is supposed to face policy issues. He is supposed to be the number one marketer for the organisation, meeting people at the top level marketing the postal service. While the people that are supposed to do the job will continue doing their job.

How soon will the reform exercise be over?
I think the consultants have been given up to July to submit their final report. It is expected that before then the postal policy, which has already been put in place, will have been discussed at the Federal Executive Council. The postal bill, which is to separate the regulator from the operator, will have also been sent to the National Assembly. So, what will remain is the restructuring of NIPOST business components. Once that bill is accepted at the National Assembly, NIPOST will have a commercial status. By 2009, it will start operating as a commercial entity.

What should be the expectations of Nigerians a year after the change of status of NIPOST?
My expectations when I took over NIPOST have not been met. When I came in, my plan was to see what could be done for the rural dwellers who do not have options. Other people have options when we talk about EMS etc. But the rural people do not have those options. Today, the whole world is becoming a global village. So, if you don’t provide services that will bring in the rural people into the global village, it means they are going to be left behind. I have always been thinking that at least in the rural areas, the post offices should serve as a community centre.

People should go to the post office and be able to do quite a number of things. People should be able to transact business in the post office without having to travel any distance. Registering companies, getting information to government, getting information from government, even making small purchases should be possible in the post office. My thinking was that by now all of these things would be possible. But hope is not lost. Government has made concerted effort, they have given directives that 1,500 post offices should be connected to the satellite so that we will be able to provide these services.

Another good news is that while we were planning for these things, we were concerned about how we would be able to provide the alternative source of power to be able to sustain the operations. Fortunately, Galaxy and NigcomSat that we are partnering with are also coming with alternative power source. This will enable us to provide these services. My plan is to make the post office a one-stop-shop.

How much do you think will be required to bring this dream to reality?
It is a big investment. That is why I thank God that government is using Galaxy and NigComSat to provide those services. Actually, NIPOST will not be able to provide such money. What we are planning is to make the service pay for itself. We will arrange with Galaxy and NigComSat that a percentage of our earnings will be used to pay for the services they provide us.