Sometime in February 2022, I paid a visit to the Nigerian Postal Service’s Festac Town office located along 22 Road in order to post some important mails to Benin City, Edo State. These mails were addressed to important officials of the University of Benin precisely. They were important to me because they would help me get some audience with some important staff at the university in order to resolve some serious issues for which I could not be present in person to deal with, at the time.
While preparing these mails, I was somewhat skeptical about its eventually getting to their intended recipients, not to talk of in good condition and in good time as well, especially since I was sending them through the Nigerian Postal Service’s (NIPOST’s) ordinary mail service.
A few days after I had successfully bought stamps at the post office, attached them to the envelopes, and dropped them off at the post office mailing boxes/towers, I heard that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on a strike, which would eventually last for eight whole months! This development made me even more skeptical as to whether those important mails, which I had so meticulously put together, would eventually get to their intended destinations, especially since the university staff who would have attended to my mails would be on strike at the time my mails arrived.
I thank God, however, that sometime later, in September 2022, after the university strike had been called off temporarily, I received a phone call from the office of one of those important officials of the university, to which I had addressed one of my mails, notifying me that they received my mail which I had sent through the post office in February.
I was deeply elated, to say the least! I felt so happy and relieved from the initial skepticism I had about my mails being received by their intended recipients. In fact, I felt so happy and grateful that those important mails of mine which I had so meticulously prepared, and included important supporting documents, had not gone to waste, along with my efforts in preparing and posting them.
These mails would eventually help me to resolve successfully some important, pressing issues at the university which would have a great impact on my life, and which I would otherwise have found very difficult to handle, had there been no alternative means to my being present in person, in order to have an audience with those important university officials.
So, I would like to use this medium to express my deep, heartfelt appreciation to the Nigerian Postal Service, along with all its hardworking officials, who have by their diligent effort and dedication to their duties helped me greatly, to deal with a very important issue having significant impact on my life, and that I would otherwise have found costly and time-consuming to deal with, if I had to travel down from Lagos to Benin. Also, considering the very high cost of transportation currently, I am indeed grateful from the bottom of my heart and the depth of my soul, for the very fine work and commendable efforts of The Nigerian Postal Service in carrying out its obligations. Your fine work and efforts are highly appreciated indeed, and I commend you greatly for your work.
I have now been able to travel to the University of Benin, met with the important officials whom I had posted mails to, and received favourable assistance from them regarding the serious issues I needed to resolve at the university.
Daniel Ighakpe, FESTAC Town, Lagos
