Throwback Thursday: The History of Nigerian Postal Service

  When the topic of the Nigerian Postal Service comes up, it reminds people of one of the several issues plaguing the country. NIPOST, like most of the federal government establishments, has been around far longer than Nigerian independence itself. The first post office was established in 1852 by the British colonial rule as part of the British postal system. The initial route of mail delivery was from Lagos to Calabar, Burutu and Lokoja, before it expanded  to much of the western parts of Nigeria including Lagos, Epe, Abeokuta and Ibadan. Lokoja was the location for the first post office in the northern part of Nigeria. For most of the 19th century, the postal service operated regionally through land delivery system, and by independence, the regional network had expanded beyond the west and north, to boast of almost 200 post offices and several postal agencies across the country. After independence, the postal service was merged with the telecommunications service, to form a single government agency. By 1985, two government departments emerged from the merger to become the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST). NIPOST Presently It is common knowledge that both NITEL and NIPOST have had their share of breakdowns and inefficiencies. A lot of Nigerians do not believe that the postal system now works better than it used to, but it does. Both local and international deliveries and postal services are now at an almost guaranteed high efficiency level. There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of post offices, postal agencies,  as well as better information dissemination. You can track your parcels and possibly receive an sms when your parcels arrive at the nearest post office. I have personally sent and received local and international mails hitch-free, easily, and with my parcels intact. Online information about service delivery is also at an all time high. You do not have to casually write 234 (which is wrong) anytime a form asks for your postcode. Simply check www.nigeriapostcodes.com for your area’s postcode. 234 is Nigeria’s dialling code, not postcode, and a postcode is unique to a particular area. About the author: Amina Salau is a writer and editor running The Illuminated Pen. You can find her online at www.theilluminatedpen.com and on Twitter (@_Aminah)