The Nigeria Postal Service has said that it was set to commence the training of 70 million youths across the country in farming, woodwork, tailoring and other skills.
The training, according to NIPOST, is part of a process to revamp its fortunes, while awaiting a legislative framework for proper restructuring.
The Postmaster-General and Chief Executive Officer, NIPOST, Mr. Bisi Adegbuyi, stated this at the NIPOST Workshop Services Customers’ Forum held in Lagos.
He said, “We are working with Nigerian youths, about 70 million of them. Most of them are farmers, tailors and carpenters in the rural areas. We are going to teach them new methods of planting, sewing, carpentry and new methods of doing things.
“For those of them who are traders, we will look at where they can export their goods to. We (NIPOST) belong to the Universal Postal Union, which has 192 member-countries. That is an international gateway for people to know where you are, and for people to know where the people that will need your goods are.
“With the training, the multiplier effect on employment will be monumental, not to talk of the impact on financial inclusion and financial services.”
Adegbuyi added, “We will be training them in how to sell our stamps. We are not talking about stamp duties; we are talking about selling our stamps; affixing them, how to address them, how to denote them manually; and then, having the capacity to deploy e-stamps.
“After the training, you will never imagine the number of young men and women that will become agents selling our stamps when we begin the enforcement of Section 89 of the Stamp Duties Act. We are working underground.”
“Wait for a new NIPOST; a NIPOST that will be alive to its responsibility; a NIPOST that will be market-friendly; a NIPOST that will be customer-friendly; a NIPOST that will not rely on just brick and mortal mail movement and all of that, but a NIPOST that will go into other areas.”
He stated that the 70 million people that would be trained did not know whether NIPOST existed or not, neither did they patronise it at all, adding, “So, the strategy we are going to deploy is to see how we can drive these 70 million people to the post and offer them services.”
Adegbuyi added, “There are entrepreneurs out there who are into various things. The first thing a businessman/woman should do is to consider your cost. If you take the cost out of it, that will grow yourself and grow your company and profit.
“Now, tell me the national institution that has the reach, the network and the coverage like NIPOST? These are some of the things that we are going to do.”
