The Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST), has diversified and broadened its services to meet the challenges of the ICT age, Mr Olaniyi Taiye, the Public Relations Officer, has said.

Taiye told newsmen recently in Abuja that the organisation now had a number of hybrid postal products.

According to him, the products are a combination of electronics and hard copy deliveries.

Taiye said NIPOST had adopted new technologies in its operations “which makes it easier for us to provide e-based services, track and trace parcels and registered mail items’’.

“NIPOST has imbibed the aspect of financial services which is called the ‘post cash’, all in an attempt to meet up with the expectations and demands of the ICT age.

“We are also trying to improve our services by up-grading our state offices to meet up with the operational postal requirements.

“It has also increased the speed at which mails travel by collaborating with private organisations that assist in transporting mails faster.’’

He said the organisation had also introduced post codes, or zip codes, which helps to identify the origin and destination of a particular item.

Taiye said the country had been divided into nine post code zones with each zone comprising of three or more states, adding that the post code zones and numbers help in the easy identification of parcels.

He said that changing trends and effect of the social media had affected the fortunes of NIPOST in the sense that there has been a drop in the number of personal letters.

“But there is an increase in the number of business letters and parcels, especially from overseas.

“The drop in the number of mails today is because technological advancement has made letter writing outdated, but the advantage the post has over social media is the confidentiality and reliability of messages.