As part of efforts to explore the opportunities in the entertainment industry in expanding its business fortunes and get the youth more interested in its activities, the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) will soon announce the appointment of some Nigerian Artistes as its Brand Ambassadors.
This was disclosed by the Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Mr. Bisi Adegbuyi, while delivering a lecture at the opening of the 2017 Press Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State council in Ibadan on Monday.
Entitled ‘NIPOST: The game changer for Nigeria’s economy’, the paper was delivered on behalf of the Postmaster General by the Deputy Postmaster General (Administration) of NIPOST, Mr. Aliyu Mahmud.
Adebiyi highlighted the many innovations the management of NIPOST is injecting into the business of postal services to ensure that the organisation maintains its relevance even as advent of the information technology is widely considered a potent threat.
Besides, he explained that NIPOST was looking at being a major income generator for Nigeria as the country makes attempt to explore other sources than oil to shore up its annual income base.
“Our aim is not to pass up this opportunity provided by the NUJ Oyo to tell Nigerians that in NIPOST we are posed to be the game changer economically, as we complement earnings from oil,” he said.
In order to achieve this, he added that the organisation is partnering the private sector for funding as it adopts a multi-activity business model in which it will delve into the banking, insurance, real estate and e-commerce, among other sectors of the economy.
“This model has worked elsewhere, top among this year’s global top three in the postal industry are Switzerland, France, and Japan.
“Regional countries that have adopted this model include, but not limited to, Poland, Singapore, and UAE. African countries that have adopted this model are Morocco and Tunisia,” he noted.
He hinted that the service equally targets substantial revenue from the proposed National Addressing System in which it will handle the authentication, verification and identification of addresses across the country.
Adebiyi further explained on the quest to get the youth involved in NIPOST activities, arguing that the essence was to woo them back to the POST through a project tagged Youth Engagement Strategy (NIPOSTYES).
While welcoming the representatives of the Postmaster General, the Oyo NUJ chairman, Adewumi Faniran, informed that apart from gathering members, their family as well as friends of the journalism profession together for merry making, the main essence of the annual NUJ week was to further enable the union contribute its quota to the development of the nation through quality debates and intellectual engagements on topical national issues.