The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) revenue has been on a continuous decline since 2019, reaching its lowest point of N3 billion in 2022, the latest data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows.
According to the statistics agency, the revenue represents a 17 percent decline from the N3.6 billion that NIPOST reported in 2022, underscoring a steady decline since 2019 when it reported a 5-year high of N5.37 billion. The 2022 report marks a 44 percent revenue drop in five years.
The revenue decline was drawn from poor performances in several areas of NIPOST services.
The agency reported that Nigeria had 2,794 post offices and postal agencies in 2021. However, by 2022, the number decreased by 19 percent to 2,251.
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Despite the decline in the number of post offices, the bureau said the number of mail received from abroad and delivered in Nigeria increased by 107 percent, from 9.4 million in 2019 to 19.5 million in 2022.
Further analysis shows that revenue from Postcash, an electronic money order service that sends and receives money nationwide and worldwide, increased by 3,424 percent from N458,546 in 2019 to N16.16 million in 2022.
NIPOST has embarked on a series of reforms, geared towards optimal services and increased revenue, for several years now. A major move to reform the agency came during the past administration led by Muhammadu Buhari.
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The reform initiated by former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Isa Pantami, aimed to unbundle NIPOST by creating three new subsidiaries out of it. The proposed subsidiaries were; NIPOST Transport and Logistics, NIPOST Properties and Development, and NIPOST Microfinance Bank.
In January 2022, Pantami unveiled the NIPOST debit card and agency banking platform, with the goal of integrating NIPOST into the realm of e-governance and fostering a sustainable digital economy.
However, these reform initiatives have failed to lift the veil off NIPOST – a development that has been largely attributed to massive corruption.
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