Management looked at the organization's core business area of mail movement and sought to solve the problem of delays in mail conveyance. This is an innovation of the management of NIPOST, the project was designed to collaborate with private sector to provide the vehicles needed to facilitate delivery or mail.
The NMRN was launched on June 1, 2000 by the former President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Olusegun Obasanjo, Lagos and Abuja were chosen as the main hubs for national mail distribution. A total of seven major national routes with each having a minimum of three vehicles are established so that one vehicle operates daily from each end of the route with the third one serving as a back-up in case of maintenance or breakdown.
The vehicle from each end of the route picks and drops mail bags throughout the major towns along the routes. So far, the effect has been tremendous. It has enabled NIPOST to achieve the following delivery targets of:
24 hours-intracity
48 hours-intercity
72 hours nationwide
The success of the program has been acknowledged both nationally and internationally.
MAP OF NATIONAL MAIL ROUTE NETWORK IN PICTURES
PHOTOGRAPHS OF NATIONAL MAIL ROUTE NETWORK LAUNCHING
MAIL SECURITY
Our mail security situation has also improved tremendously. Hitherto, international mail was processed in an underground basement within the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. This arrangement did not give NIPOST effective control of its mail as other users of the airport facilities had access to the place, thus giving advantage to unscrupulous elements to break in and pilfer mail.
As a panacea to the menace, NIPOST constructed an international Mail-Processing Center of its own. In addition, identified corrupt officers involved in the fraudulent practice, mail tampering were retired, while suspects whose cases could not be proven were re-deployed to less sensitive areas where such practices would be difficult to perpetrate.
HUB FOR WEST AFRICAN MAIL
In recognition of efforts at sanitizing the postal system,by the Nigerian Postal Service,Nigeria was recently made the Hub for the West African Sub-region. By this status, all international mail from UPU member countries for the region are routed through Nigeria. The handling charges, therefore, would translate into additional revenue to NIPOST in foreign exchange.