How Tola Odeyemi Is Repositioning NIPOST As Nigeria’s Logistics Backbone
"We have a project that is powered by Paystack, which is probably a pain point for a lot of Nigerians..."
When Tola Odeyemi was appointed Postmaster General of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), many probably saw it as a bureaucratic shuffle in a government agency struggling to stay relevant in a digital world.
But for Odeyemi, it was the beginning of a bold transformation journey.
One that aims to turn NIPOST into a national logistics powerhouse and a key pillar of Nigeria’s digital economy.
In a recent with Channels TV, she laid out the vision, the progress so far, and how NIPOST is evolving from a dusty relic of the past into a smart, digitized platform seeking to power everything from e-commerce to public services and national security.
Below is a breakdown of the work being done behind the scenes.
Digitization and Platforming
From the outset, Odeyemi has approached the NIPOST mandate with clarity and energy.
“It's been great and has been phenomenal… unpacking it and redelivering it to Nigerians is the task that I've been doing,” said the NIPOST CEO who doesn’t see the agency as an outdated relic.
To her, it’s a sleeping giant that predates even the formation of Nigeria itself, over 150 years old.
Internally, NIPOST is undertaking a massive data digitization effort. "We have decades of information that we are digitizing. We're archiving and sort of uploading the information that we have onto a digital platform with our EDMS," she explained.
In her words, the organisation is being reimagined through what she calls “platformerization.”
“What we’ve been doing is digitization and platforming NIPOST as a national logistics platform.”
Digital Postcodes
One of Odeyemi’s most exciting projects is the national addressing system and the development of digital postcodes.
Unlike the static codes Nigeria currently has, digital postcodes will offer dynamic location identifiers that can help streamline logistics, e-commerce, urban planning, and even emergency response.
“What we're trying to do is transition us from the static postcode… to what you would find in other climes like the UK postcode or the American zip code which is a dynamic digital postcode,” she said
“It helps with mail and logistics… urban planning, emergency responses, policing and security services. Because if we are able to say that this person or this entity is tied to this location, then policing is easier, crime prevention is easier, planning is easier…”
Smart Lockers, APIs, and Platformeriation for Last-Mile Logistics
Another part of the transformation involves bringing NIPOST’s vast physical presence into the digital age.
The postal service is looking to roll out smart lockers across the country to enable secure, contactless delivery and pickup.
According to her, the goal is not just about owning the infrastructure but integrating with the broader ecosystem.
NIPOST is also addressing common pain points for Nigerians.
Through APIs and partnerships with Paystack and Sendbox, NIPOST is creating an open logistics platform.
This digitization process will streamline the experience of individuals receiving international packages.
"We have a project that is powered by Paystack, which will address a pain point for a lot of Nigerians…the ability for Nigerians to pay their customs duties and handling charges," Odeyemi stated.
“We're doing an aggregated delivery solution through APIs… to do things like same-day delivery and expand our market… not just keeping to NIPOST assets.”
Complementing this, the rollout of "smart lockers" will offer contactless drop-off and pick-up options to provide convenience and flexibility for users.
Odeyemi elaborated, "You have a smart locker somewhere... you need something delivered to you, but you don't want them to deliver it here... So it can be delivered to your smart locker. Your smart locker sends you a QR code or something and you go to that location just by pressing your code or your QR code and it gives it to you."
E-commerce and Warehousing
NIPOST is also positioning itself as a major player in Nigeria’s booming e-commerce scene, not just in last-mile delivery but also in storage and reverse logistics.
According to Odeyemi, the postal service is tackling the challenge of ‘backward logistics’ (the return of unsatisfactory ordered items) through a project with the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
"Right now, we are working with the Universal Postal Union so that we are able to do that also," she confirmed.
This, if done, will solve the problem of product returns for Nigerian vendors shipping products abroad and those ordering from global e-commerce platforms.
“We're currently doing a project… where we're able to do backward logistics. That's when you deliver something and need it returned, particularly now when everybody's ordering from different global e-commerce websites and you're not satisfied with it. The biggest problem for Nigerian (brands) is how do you get it back? And it's a huge thing,” she noted.
Another UPU collaboration focuses on customs brokerage and warehousing to allow businesses to ship large quantities to Nigeria and have them delivered as individual orders from NIPOST’s facilities.
“For example, somebody needs to order 10,000 items but doesn't have the money to order those 10,000 items. With our project, you are able to ship it to Nigeria, but it's held in warehousing and as people order, it is delivered on their behalf,” she said.
This would hopefully facilitate trade and reduce initial capital outlay.
Financial Services and Remittances
Beyond logistics, NIPOST is tapping into Nigeria’s multi-billion-naira remittance economy.
After resolving fines that had crippled its International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) license for almost a decade, NIPOST is back in the financial game and targeting the regional corridor.
“Remittances… is probably one of the biggest businesses anywhere in the world… The Nigerian postal service has access to two lines… the normal financial system, then the Universal Postal Union.”
“Sending money from Cameroon to Nigeria is harder than sending money from the US to Nigeria… We’ve signed bilaterals with Togo, Benin…”
This could transform how communities across West Africa move money efficiently, affordably, and legally.
Powering Access to Government Services
The postal service is also enabling grassroots access to digital government services.
With a physical presence in every local government area, NIPOST is now being used as a channel for other government agencies: “We're working with SMEDAN and NIMC… people can do NIN registration at their local post office,” says Odeyemi.
N10 Billion Revenue
Under Odeyemi, NIPOST’s revenue has already crossed the N10 billion mark, thanks largely to digitization and plugging revenue leakages.
“We actually surpassed 10 billion last year… and for the Nigerian postal service 10 billion is a scratch on the surface,” she said.
She categorized NIPOST’s services into four key buckets: mail and logistics, digital addressing, financial services, and platform-based partnerships.
Each one is being modernized and monetized, she said.
“We now have AirPost Express… 24-hour delivery service for some countries and for some states… And we’re working with NACA for biospecimen transportation… and going into health logistics.”