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UPU and Postal Development
Universal Postal Union with membership of 191 countries is a specialized agency of the United Nations which fulfils an advisory, mediating and liaison role and renders assistance where necessary. The body sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to stimulate growth in mail volumes and to improve the quality of services for customers. The UPU’s objective is to develop special, cultural and commercial communication between people through the efficient operation of the postal service.
The UPU in order to discharge its duties very well is divided into bodies that are assigned with specific functions. The congress is the highest body of the union and it brings together all countries to a meeting every five years. The major achievement of the congress is allowing member countries to develop and integrate new products and services from the international postal network.
There is also the council of administration consisting of a chairman and forty member countries and it ensures the continuity of UPU activities between the congresses, even as it also interfaces in regulatory, legislative and legal issues making sure that things are working in order.
The postal operations council of the UPU is the technical and operational body that deals with operational and commercial aspects of international postal service while the international bureau is another organ of the UPU that serves as a liaison, information and consultation for postal administration.
The Universal Postal Union established in 1874 has helped so many member countries including Nigeria to develop their postal systems. It would be recalled that the world postal body gave a grant to Nipost which was used to purchase additional fleet of vehicles to boost Nipost’s operations. UPU has helped in the advancement of postal economies in the less developed and developing countries looking at practices in the developed countries as benchmark. New trends in technology and administration are shared by the body to member countries. Through its conferences, postal heads of various countries are gathered to brainstorm and learn new developments in the industry and other issues that affect the free flow, growth and development of international mail, trade and commerce are resolved.
With its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland and as a non political organization, UPU does not interfere in issues that are within the purview of national postal services. Its primary focus is for cooperation among postal sector players and it helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services. During high –level debates in conventions, UPU has helped in shaping issues in the postal industry. With its Quality of Service Fund (QSF), projects aimed at improving postal service quality in developing countries are financed by the body and the results have been tremendous.
Even as UPU has been making efforts to develop postal services all around the world, it is still curious that postal awareness in Africa is still very low. In a report carried by the UPU, it was reported that the industrialized countries had 98 percent of the population benefit from home mail deliveries while only 2 percent have mails delivered through post office boxes while in Africa only 22 percent benefited from home deliveries with 60 percent only having mails delivered through post offices. 14 per cent out of this number had no access at all.
Looking at the figures, one would only but wonder what the challenges to increasing the volume of mails handled by postal countries in Africa really are. Taking Nigeria as an example, some people don’t send or receive even just a letter all the year round. Our reading culture is poor and we hardly have any room for relaxation in this part of the world as every effort is channeled to making money. Apart from the business angle to writing of letters, letter writing is a hobby whose reward is emotional satisfaction. The development of Information and Communications Technology has also affected people’s attitude towards going to the post to send letters. Postal organizations in Africa have also to sit up and be effective in mail deliveries. People are often disenchanted n writing letters when letters posted often take weeks to get to destinations or in some cases are not received at all.
Nigerian Postal Service in order to promote letter writing in the country can come up with a programme that will reward those that write and post letters.

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Broadcasting
FG to Gift Nigerians over 100 Free TV Channels from May 15

National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is set to launch so-called FreeTV, with over 100 channels for news, sports, education, entertainment and children’s programming in multiple Nigerian languages.

The launch is scheduled for May 15.
Charles Ebuebu, director-general, NBC, who disclosed this, said the new platform will offer free-to-air access with no carriage fees, leveraging hybrid satellite and internet delivery via NigComSat-1R.
The new plan is not an upgrade, the NBC stressed. This is a rebuild, according to Ebuebu .
FreeTV will be true free-to-air – no encryption, no set-top box barrier.
Any DVB-T2/S2 television will work. A mobile app will extend reach to phones and tablets.
The platform will launch with over 100 national, regional and state channels across sports, news, children’s programming, education, entertainment and cultural content in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Tiv, Ijaw, Edo, Fulfulde, Ibibio, Efik and Nupe – all in HD.
Crucially, the NBC has partnered with a Bulgarian firm, GARB (operating since 2006 and recognised by the European Broadcast Union), to deliver a 94 per cent-accurate audience measurement system using return-path data, app analytics, demographic panels, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
To qualify broadcasters, must commit their channels, produce a minimum of 60 per cent local content, and promote FreeTV until January 2029.
After that, a regulated tiered rate card takes effect.
According to NBC, the strategic rationale is simple: build viewers first, monetise later.
The document further revealed that six regional production hubs in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Benin would function as local content factories, expected to generate 500 to 1,000 jobs per zone within two years.
General News
FG New Approves Biometric Passenger Verification System for Airports Security

Federal government has signed a concession agreement for the deployment of a contactless biometric passenger verification system across Nigeria’s domestic airports.

The initiative, known as VPASS, is designed to strengthen aviation security, improve data integrity and boost revenue generation.
Festus Keyamo, minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, said the agreement followed the concurrence of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Attorney-General of the Federation and approval by the Federal Executive Council.
Keyamo said the system will eliminate discrepancies in passenger records, curb unauthorized boarding and ensure all domestic air travellers are properly identified, closing existing gaps in standard identification procedures.
General News
STBMAN, NBC Bicker over Alleged Due Process Breaches

Association of Licensed Set-Top Box Manufacturers of Nigeria (STBMAN) has waxed worriedly over the National Broadcasting Commission’s (NBC) repeated violations of due process in managing the country’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) project.

In a statement released in Abuja, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, chairman, STBMAN, stated that the NBC’s actions are slowing down Nigeria’s transition from analogue to digital broadcasting and discouraging local investors who have committed resources to the project.
Ohuabunwa noted that Nigeria began serious discussions on DSO in 2008, yet 17 years later, the country has made little progress, while nations that once sought Nigeria’s assistance have completed their own transitions.
“STBMAN has repeatedly called for the protection of local manufacturers, strict compliance with the federal government’s White Paper on DSO, and full respect for the rule of law, but these calls have been ignored,” Ohuabunwa said.
The NBC’s alleged plan to import hybrid set-top boxes from China has been criticized by STBMAN, which says this move disregards the heavy investments already made by licensed Nigerian manufacturers and contradicts the President’s directive to prioritize locally made products.
“The manufacturers have invested in equipment, technology upgrades, and workforce training, expecting government support and policy stability,”he added.
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