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The Journey to Establishment of a Postal Service Commission

Published

17 years ago

June 1, 2009

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As the postal industry is expecting the agencies of government that have one thing or the other to do with the postal bill to quicken action for the National Assembly to ratify the bill that will give legal backing to the Postal Service Commission, there has been agitation for the independent postal regulatory body by the courier companies in Nigeria and action taken so far by the government towards realizing this noble objective.
In May 2004, during the 2nd Nigerian Courier summit initiated and organized by the Courier Regulatory Department of Nipost under the leadership of Dr. Simon Emeje, the agitation for an independent regulatory body came to a limelight. The summit was well attended by the Honourable Minister of Communications, representatives of the National Assembly, courier operators, relevant federal government agencies and other stakeholders. This agitation was brought by courier operators based on the present postal situation in the country which entrusts the regulatory responsibility to be handled by a department Courier Regulatory Department via Decree 41 of 1992. It is argued that this legislation is highly limited in powers and has not allowed the department to regulate adequately though it has done tremendously well within the limited powers and resources at its disposal towards sanitizing the industry.
By entrusting Nipost with the regulatory role, an agency that is playing the dual role of a regulator and operator the same time. This has been condemned roundly by private courier operators and even by Nipost management as being a hindrance to effective control of the post. Stakeholders also argue that the practice is no longer fashionable in other parts of the world and that Nigeria should not be an exception. The practice is said to be working against the regulations and conventions of the Universal Postal Union, an agency of the United Nations in charge of postal matters
As a result of the dual role Nipost is saddled with, it has not been able to operate and realize enough revenue for self-sustenance in spite of the efforts of Nipost management to up tick the organization to a profitable venture. In addition the present arrangement has hampered the definition and adequate provision of universal service. The rural sector is not adequately covered in the Universal Service Provision which Nipost owe as its exclusive duty to provide being the national carrier.
In the face of the complaints and advantages the sector stands to benefit by carving out an independent body to regulate the postal and courier sector, it is therefore imperative that action be facilitated for this all important legislation. It has been argued that following the liberalization policy of the federal government which subsequently opened up the postal market to private entrepreneurs, establishing the commission is the only way the government can exercise control over the postal industry as practiced worldwide. Apart from the commission being the agency that will create a level playing business environment for postal operators on behalf of the federal government, it will facilitate, promote and ensure the implementation of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) of the government as recommended by the Universal Postal Union. The Universal service obligation is the effort of the government to make postal service available to all citizens at all locations in Nigeria.
The commission will sanitize the postal industry by licensing and monitoring the postal operators including Nipost. Before now, the postal industry had been noted for pilfering, dumping and loss of mails with a lot of unlicensed operators occupying some space in the industry. The Courier Regulatory Department within its resources and strength has tried to sanitize the sub-sector but there is need for greater empowerment for the Department to be able to take far-reaching measures in regulating the industry.
Stakeholders have advanced the argument that establishing the commission will give a better definition of responsibility to Nipost especially as a designated public postal operator that will provide the universal service and that in then circumstance it enable Nipost to make more revenue and become self-sustaining as more revenue will be realized from the reserved area which is the traditional jurisdiction of Nipost.
Operators have also said that to keep pace with international best practice, establishing the commission is a necessity arguing that Nigeria is one of the few countries in Africa and in fact the rest of the world that has no independent postal regulatory body. Such countries liker Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Togo, India Britain,USA among others , they argued are all enjoying established independent postal regulatory commissions
Since the commission will concentrate in regulating the sector, it will ensure more monitoring and enforcement of its laws. This will bring more life and fervor into the sector and its activities will contribute to the economic wellbeing and development of Nigeria considering the fact that the post is a major segment of the communication industry and communication being a vital instrument for economic development.
It would be recalled that consequent upon the agitation to establish an independent postal commission necessitated by the present postal situation, a ministerial committee was inaugurated by Chief Cornelius Adebayo, then Minister for Communications in 2005 to draft the National Postal Policy and the Nigerian Postal Service bill which were to be eventually submitted to the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly respectively. The process was truncated by the deployment of Cornelius Adebayo from the communications ministry coupled with the tragic end in a plane crash of the enabler of the New Nipost order, Abubarka Argungu in October 2005. The stakeholders’ forum, which was slated to hold the same month, was therefore postponed sine die as a result of the developments.
When the new Minister of Communications, Chief Anibaba took over from Adebayo, time left for him to tidy up the documents for submission to the Federal Executive Council was too short as the Obasanjo-led administration was running out of time.
However in April 2008, the stakeholders’ forum was held. The Nethpost consultants from The Netherlands who signed a contract on postal reform with the federal government through the Bureau of Public Enterprises fine-tuned the documents and finally submitted to BPE for onward transmission to John Ogar Odey, then Minister of Information and Communications.
Around the middle of the year 2008, these documents, National Postal Policy and Postal Bill were presented to the Senate Committee on Communications under the chairmanship of Sylvester Anyanwu in a meeting of the Senate Committee with Nipost, BPE and the executives of the Senior Staff Association (Postal branch).Then it was agreed that BPE should put finishing touches to the documents before the final submission to the honorable minister of Information and Communications who will then submit to the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly .
Towards the last quarter of 2008 Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that these documents were submitted to the National Council on Privatization (NCP) headed by the vice president. It was gathered also that NCP approved the documents in the NCP meeting that then Minister of Information and Communications, John Odey was in attendance. Based on this approval, the next line of action would have been for the documents to be submitted to the Federal Executive Council through the minister of Information and Communications who until he left office said the documents were not submitted to him by the BPE. Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations from Chigbo Anichebe, Head Public Affairs, confirmed BPE was in custody of the documents but revealed that private courier operators were being awaited as at three months ago to make the final input into the documents which BPE said was causing the delay but Toyin Olufade, president, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (Anco) said some of his members had vetted the documents and sent back to BPE for it to commence further action.

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Telecom

Dimension Data to Channel Funds to Support Nigerian Fibre Expansion

Published

15 hours ago

August 5, 2026

Ebere Melum-Nwogbo

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Dimension Data has said that the proceeds from its Series 1 corporate bond, will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.

Dimension Data to Channel Funds to Support Nigerian Fibre Expansion

This followed the successful subscription of the corporate bond.

Recall that Dimension Data Limited said that it has completed the signing ceremony for the issuance of N4.05 billion (approximately US$2.9 million).

This sum marks the first tranche of a N20 billion (US$14.7 million) bond programme announced earlier this year.

The bond programme was raised under Dimension Data SPV Funding Plc, following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria.

The company says the proceeds will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.

Speaking at the ceremony, Olugbenga Olabiyi, managing director of Dimension Data Limited, said the investment reflects the company’s long-term commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy.

The planned investments will fund the continued expansion of Dimension Data’s fibre network, supporting increasing demand from financial institutions, fintechs, enterprise customers and other technology-driven sectors.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Johannesburg, the company has grown its footprint across the Middle East and Africa.

Today Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Ltd Group, one of the world’s leading technology companies.

As cloud adoption, digital financial services and data-intensive applications continue to grow, the company believes resilient fibre infrastructure will remain a critical enabler of Nigeria’s digital economy.

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Telecom

FG Commences 90,000km Fibre Optic Rollout within Weeks

Published

15 hours ago

August 5, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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The Federal Government has announced that work will commence within weeks on a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network expected to connect every state, local government area and ward in Nigeria, marking what officials describe as one of the country’s most ambitious digital infrastructure projects.

Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Tuesday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on the progress of three flagship digital transformation initiatives being implemented by his ministry.

According to the minister, all resource mobilisation and contractual processes for the nationwide fibre project have been completed, paving the way for physical deployment.

“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.

He explained that the project would deliver fibre optic infrastructure to every geopolitical zone, state, local government area and ward, significantly expanding broadband access and improving the quality of internet connectivity across the country.

“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he added.

Bosun Tijani attributed the progress in the digital economy to a series of reforms approved by President Tinubu, including the designation of digital infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation measures sought by industry operators.

“I think our sector has been extremely fortunate. Mr. President has given us quite a number of things that the sector has been demanding for a long time. Whether it’s the Critical National Infrastructure designation for all digital infrastructure, the slight adjustment in tariff, or the tax harmonisation, these are reforms the industry has long requested.

“I think it’s probably the sector that is most appreciative of this government because when we came in, the sector was contributing between 16 and 18 per cent to our GDP, but today it is tracking close to 21 per cent. That represents significant growth,” he said.

The minister noted that the reforms had also improved the financial performance of major operators in the telecommunications sector.

On efforts to bridge the digital divide, Tijani disclosed that the government would begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to provide network coverage for more than 20 million Nigerians currently living in underserved communities without access to telecom services.

He said the President had approved the project after months of capital mobilisation and planning.

“Today we’re at a point where, before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot to put this project together and raise the required capital, but we are now ready to begin deployment around October,” he said.

The minister also announced that Nigeria would officially launch an alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, a move he said would place the country among a select group of nations operating an advanced digital addressing system.

“Nigeria will be amongst maybe 10 or 15 countries in the world with an alphanumeric postcode. It’s the latest design in postcode systems, where we can identify every property in this country. We’re hoping to launch that on the 1st of October,” he said.

Tijani explained that the new system would assign a unique address to every property nationwide, enhancing logistics, accelerating e-commerce, improving emergency response and strengthening public service delivery.

“Inability to locate places comes at a cost. You can imagine what this will do for e-commerce. It means goods can now be delivered in record time,” he said.

He added that integrating the postcode system with existing government identity databases would improve security and make public services more efficient.

“Our alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to assign a unique address to every property. In many countries, such as the UK, postcodes cover clusters of buildings. What we are introducing will uniquely identify every building, and that will be a game changer for Nigeria in terms of security, commerce and public service delivery,” the minister stated.

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E-Business

Kaspersky Reveals a New Malicious Framework Targeting Cryptocurrency Users with the Use of OkoSpyware

Published

15 hours ago

August 5, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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At its recent annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) shared insights about the new OkoBot campaign targeting cryptocurrency users.

The new sophisticated framework employs TookPS to exfiltrate seed phrases and uses a new OkoSpyware module to monitor Chromium-based browsers and deploy various malware strains, including the Rilide stealer.

It has already targeted hundreds of victims across over 25 countries, with the highest number of affected end users recorded in Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and Turkiye. According to Kaspersky experts, the threat remains active and primarily poses a risk to cryptocurrency users.

In January 2026, experts from the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) identified multiple attacks involving a previously unknown malware capable of capturing the contents of cryptocurrency wallet windows. Dubbed Okobot, the new sophisticated malware framework comprises more than 20 malicious payloads and implants designed to perform a wide range of functions, including collecting local files, executing remote commands, downloading arbitrary browser extensions, stealing cryptocurrency wallets, harvesting seed phrases and credentials, recording video and carrying out other malicious activities.

One of the new implants used in the campaign is a loader that modifies browser memory to load and hide malicious extensions. OkoBot also includes a new OkoSpyware module, which captures keystrokes and the video stream of a target application’s window.

Currently available information does not allow the campaign to be attributed to any known crimeware actor with high confidence. However, the techniques and infostealer involved are widely used by Russian-speaking threat actors, and technical analysis has also revealed code artifacts in Russian.

The initial infection typically occurs through two main vectors: ClickFix attacks, in which threat actors use social engineering to trick users into running malicious code, and malware distributed via GitHub under the guise of legitimate software. During the investigation, researchers identified one such case involving a fake installer for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), a widely used Microsoft database management tool.

The malicious framework includes SeedHunter, a malware component that monitors active system processes and injects an implant into Trezor Suite, Ledger Wallet, and Ledger Live, – official applications used to manage cryptocurrency assets. When it detects a connected Trezor or Ledger hardware wallet, it triggers the hooked functions to display a hard-coded phishing page aimed at stealing the user’s seed phrase, using a distinct layout for each wallet type.

“The OkoBot campaign has been active for more than a year and remained ongoing as of July 2026. The observed infection vectors strongly suggest that developers are among its primary targets. Of particular concern is the malware’s continued evolution, which indicates that the framework is being actively maintained. As distribution efforts persist, the campaign has the potential to reach more users and expand into additional countries in the near term,” says Dmitry Galov, Head of the Russia and CIS unit at Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team.

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