The Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, has decried the declined state of letter writing culture among children, stating that it is time to re-ignite the act as a habit in the Nigerian child.
Its Ibadan Zonal Manager, Adoyi Simon said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Wednesday against the backdrop of the 2019 World Post Day.
The NIPOST’s theme is “Celebrating 145 years of delivering development and 50 years of the union’s existence”.
Mr Adoyi said that contrary to popular belief, letter writing was not an archaic way of communication and should be encouraged within and outside the confines of a school.
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“It is important to state also that as a responsive corporate entity that is sensitive to happenings in its operational milieu, NIPOST Ibadan Zone is gravely concerned about the declined culture of letter writing in our post-primary schools.
“Arrangements are underway to kick-start a state-wide letter writing competition among secondary schools in Oyo State, an exercise that we hope to replicate in the other states in the zone,” he said.
While debunking misconceptions that the advent of ICT poses a threat to postal operations, the zonal manager described ICT as a blessing and a launch pad for NIPOST.
“Let me allay people’s misgivings about the challenges posed by ICT to postal operations. Many postal observers and book makers are made to believe that the advent of ICT heralded the extinction of the post, especially in Nigeria.
“To the contrary however, ICT became a veritable launch pad for NIPOST, enhancing her operations through automation of mail processing, tracking and tracing of postal items within and outside the NIPOST postal corridor,” Mr Adoyi said.
According to him, there are 224 post offices spread across the six states in the Southwest that make up the Ibadan zone.
“NIPOST has been able to bridge the gap by bringing postal facilities and services to the doorsteps of the majority of rural population across Nigeria.
“The organisation has also leveraged on technology to introduce some digital products such as the Address Verification System, AVS, Digital Addressing System, DAS, and Electronic Money Transfer called ‘PosTransfer’, ’’ he said.
NAN
