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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has engaged technology developers and other stakeholders on the development of a National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System aimed at improving government planning and service delivery.
The initiative is designed to establish a national location layer through which homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, farms and public offices can be uniquely identified and referenced in digital systems.
Speaking at a session organised around the theme, “Beyond the Postcode: Building Smarter Government with Location Data,” the Postmaster-General of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi said reliable location data was critical to effective decision-making across government.
Odeyemi noted that several government activities, including service delivery, emergency response, infrastructure planning and the targeting of interventions, depend on accurate information about where people, services and assets are located.
According to the NIPOST boss, such information is often incomplete, inconsistent or unavailable, making it difficult for government to effectively plan and allocate resources.
She explained that while postcodes had traditionally been associated with mail delivery, location data had become increasingly important to e-commerce, financial services, emergency response, urban planning and other sectors.
Odeyemi said the digital postcode system would help answer critical questions around the location of beneficiaries of government programmes, communities served by health facilities and the precise location of emergencies.
She added that the system could also help identify gaps in roads, power and water infrastructure requiring government investment.
The Post Master-general said the engagement with developers and ICT professionals was intended to ensure that the national location infrastructure could be effectively integrated into digital platforms used by government agencies and citizens.
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She described the session as a co-creation exercise, urging developers to challenge existing assumptions, explore possible applications and provide input on how reliable national location data could improve government systems.
Odeyemi said some of the most valuable applications of the infrastructure could emerge from the collaboration with developers and technology professionals.
She said: “For most people, a postcode still means mail delivery. But location data now underpins e-commerce, financial services, emergency response, urban planning and much more. What we are building is a national location layer, a way for every home, business, school, hospital, farm and public office to be uniquely identified and referenced in digital systems.
“Once that layer exists, questions that are hard to answer today become much simpler. Where is the family receiving this benefit? Which community does this health centre serve? Where exactly is the emergency?
Where are the gaps in roads, power or water that need investment? Better answers to those questions mean better decisions and better services for citizens.
“This is why we wanted to be in a room full of developers and ICT professionals. You know how government systems work in practice, where they break and what it takes to fix them. You will be the ones integrating this
infrastructure into the platforms that citizens and agencies use every day, so your input matters.
“Today’s session is therefore not intended to be a one-way presentation. It is a co-creation exercise. We want you to challenge assumptions, explore possibilities, ask difficult questions and we want you to help us imagine how a reliable national location layer can improve the systems you build and support every day.
“Some of the most valuable uses of this infrastructure may well come out of the conversations in this room today.”
