By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: The Postmaster General/CEO Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Dr. Ismail Adewusi, on Tuesday revealed that the performance of the Service, which he said, is at its lowest ebb, has led to loss of revenue and low patronage.
This is just as he noted, that perceived lapses such as; late delivery, failure to meet set target, loss of items, pilfering, substitution of items and other associated sharp practices being perpetrated by some staff, is costing NIPOST in terms of expected remuneration and revenue.
Dr. Adewusi made these known at the opening ceremony of a two-day meeting with District Managers in Abuja, with focus on; Performance Review; Review of Operational Procedures; Operational Procedures; and Exchange/ Cross Fertilization of Ideas.
He remarked that, although there is a Committee presently reviewing the condition of Service of NIPOST, the condition can only be improved when there is enough revenue to implement the Committee’s recommendations, urging the staff to brace up and work assiduously to generate more revenue.
Speaking on the issue of Stamp Duty collection purported to be the responsibility of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), he stressed that the NIPOST management is working to ensure that their rights are not unlawfully taken away.
According to him, “The recent visit of Senate Committee on Communications has given us hope; as the Chairman of the Committee promised that the Senate will look into the Finance Bill and make necessary amendments.
“I am quite aware of the enormous challenges facing us as an Organisation, the Management under my watch will try to provide the required operational tools and working materials gradually to improve our operational efficiency”, he said.
He urged every employee of NIPOST to be engaged in the transformation of the Organisation.
“The problem of NIPOST is like that of Nigeria, we have a NIPOST with the best, the good, bad and ugly. I want to promote an Organisation with more of the best people than the ugly, join hands with me to achieve this success”, he appealed.
For her part, the Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Nwakanma Loretto, expressed concerns that the staff are not meeting up with the NIPOST mandate of delivering an efficient and effective quality of service to the customers.
“The standard and target on the major products are falling, and with the new UPU concept of quality of service linked to revenue, it becomes worrisome as revenue (Terminal Dues, Inward Land Rates and EMS Imbalance) continue to dwindle due to our inability to meet the set target”, she said.
The COO who stressed on the need to continuously improve upon the mail handling process, urged staff to double their efforts by reaching out to existing subscribers of the PMBs and PO Boxes, to encourage them to renew their subscriptions regularly.
The meeting of the Postmaster General with District Managers, is the first with the new PMG and had in attendance District Managers from all over the Federation.
