By now, the belief of many NIPOST staff, and stakeholders in the Postal industry, that an outsider cannot provide effective and efficient leadership, appears to have crumbled as the new PMG is diligently providing the required leadership in NIPOST to the admiration of all. The bitter succession crises that rocked the establishment before the appointment of Barrister Adegbuyi, that left the staff divided along their preferred candidates for PMG seat has become a thing of the past. The new PMG has successfully reconciled the warring factions, and the arising problem of “we and they” solved. The result is a motivated and focused work force.
To underscore the seriousness of Asiwaju Bisi Adegbuyi’s leadership determination at repositioning NIPOT, this is what he has to say— “there had been under achievement and under performance in the operations of NIPOST because the morale of staff has gone so low following the neglect of staff welfare for too long, but the time has come for us to change and develop business orientation that will drive competition. I am a due process person and I will run a transparent government, so I need your support to succeed—. My mandate is to turn NIPOST to huge revenue making organization and the way to do it is to provide the tools that will make us competitive. The world is changing with technology, Nigeria is also changing, NIPOST must therefore change with technology advancement and the changes starts with all staff members, including management staff and my very self, —. I am aware morale is very low because of poor condition of service, but I assure you that I will handle staff welfare in such a way that it will boost the morale of staff again”
The above comment from the PMG was the tonic that apparently galvanized the morale of the staff of NIPOST. It was not surprise that NIPOST earned a total sum of N8.84biillon as revenue in 2016. According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics titled, annual postal services data 2016, Stamp Duty generated the highest amount of N 4.09billon, the report stated further that EMS/Speed Post and Parcel clearance/delivery fees follows closely with N1.36billion and N726.85million revenues generated, representing 15.38persent and 8.23percent of the total revenue generated respectively, it added that International Mail Income also accounted for N715.73million, representing 8.10 percent of revenue generated in the year under review. From the figures released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it shows clearly that NIPOST staff is now fully motivated to take the establishment to the next level under Asiwaju Bisi Adegbuyi’s leadership.
To emphasize the commitment of Adegbuyi’s leadership in repositioning of NIPOST, a new bill for the amendment of Stamp Duty Act 2004 has been submitted to the National Assembly. The bill is aimed at modifying certain ambiguities in the act and legalizing all collections through Commercial Banks from January 2017. This amendment follows the ruling of a Lagos Appeal Court nullifying Stamp Duty on electronics transfers. I will be recalled that commercial banks had commenced the deduction of N50 on electronics transfers following a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive issued in January 2016. The reform Stamp Duty bill will ensure that leakages on Stamp Duty receipts will not occur as NIPOST will keep track of transactions on Commercial Banks in the country. In the long run, this will eventually boost the revenue base of NIPOST.
There is no doubt that Asiwaju Bisi Adegbuyi’s headship in NIPOST is on sound footing, what is left now apart from trying to make the establishment one of the financial hub of Federal Government, is to make the outfit a veritable platform for employment of Nigerian youths. As we have seen in other advanced climes, Postal Establishments are, apart from generating money for their respective Governments, they are platforms through which these Countries provide employment for their citizens. For instance, the US Postal Service employs more than 600,000 citizens of USA, why La postee, the Postal Service of France, employ about 260,000 of French citizens; Postal Italiana has in its employment list about 130,000 citizens of Italy, while Royal Mail Postal Service Company in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland employs about 160,000 British citizens. Dutch Post on the other hand, has in its employment, about 425,000 workers of German Origin. In Japan, its Postal establishment employs about 257,000 Japanese; Canada Post on the other hand, employs about 64,000 Canadians.
From the preceding paragraph, one can clearly see that Postal establishments all over the world are veritable platforms for employment generation, ours cannot be an exemption. In the light of this, the leadership of NIPOST should vigorously pursue the agenda of using the Post to generate employment for the teeming unemployed youths in Nigeria.
