By Emma Okonji
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has received the approval of the federal government to begin a nationwide Digital Addressing System (DAS) and Address Verification System (AVS).
Based on this, the agency has commenced the DAS and AVS systems nationwide and has digitally uploaded the addresses of individuals and organisations on its online portal, which is now accessible to all, including government.
The Digital Addressing System and the Address Verification System, were part of NIPOST’s new products showcased at the Lagos International Trade Fair, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which ended yesterday.
Speaking on some of the new products and services that were on display at the NIPOST stand all through the trade fair, the Lagos Zonal Manager at NIPOST, Mrs. Adebola Ayeni, disclosed that the DAS was one of the new products recently approved by the federal government, “which sets NIPOST on a digital path, in compliance with the directive of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).”
“Following the directive of UPU on the implementation of digital addressing system across nations, the global rate of postage has changed to meet the needs of customers.
“Before now, the addressing system in Nigeria was a huge challenge for NIPOST, which made mails delivery difficult and the volume of undelivered mails and parcels at NIPOST increased.
“To address the issue, NIPOST seek the approval of digital addressing system for Nigeria and we recently got the federal government nod on it and we have commenced the process in Nigeria,” Ayeni said.
According to her, going forward Nigerians would have the opportunity to access their digital addresses from the agency’s online portal, using smartphones.
“We told all participants that visited our stand at the trade fair that NIPOST now has digital addressing system, which they can access online.
“With digital addressing system, NIPOST is able to put all addresses of individuals and organisations in a digital format and made them accessible to all through our portal. “With it, we will be able to deliver mails and parcels to all locations in the country, and individuals and organisations can also use it to validate and authenticate the registration of their businesses and houses.”
The Deputy General Manager, Commercial Business Unit (CBU), Mails, Dr. Michael Umo, who also spoke on the Address Verification System (AVS), said, the new system has helped NIPOST and the general public to access addresses from the portal.
“It has helped NIPOST to solve the challenges of postal deliveries and it has helped the government and the populace to have proper address verification of individuals and organisations. It is also an avenue for revenue generation for government and job creation for the citizens,” Umo said.
“We also showcased our financial services in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce financial inclusion gap in Nigeria.
“NIPOST is a super-agent in the financial inclusion drive of CBN and we are partnering Keystone Bank and Wema Bank in the project, where we use our over 1,500 post office branches nationwide for financial services transactions, from where customers could send and receive money, Ayeni added.
