Benjamin Babine, Abuja
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA) to help the research agency provide framework for skill, knowledge and response maximisation in order to develop the Nigerian Postcode Ecosystem and Infrastructure.
A comprehensive postcode was developed by NIPOST by relying on its internal geographers, who depend mainly on maps to arrive at it. The Postmaster General of the Federation, Dr Ismail Adewusi, expressed delight at the collaboration saying NASRDA is the custodian of high-resolution mapping in the country and second to none at analysing the Geographic Information System.
Adewusi stated that a standard Postcode would assist the country in enhancing efficient socio-economic planning, security intelligence gathering, and providing investors with information that will galvanise sustainable resource management.
The acting Director-General of the Agency, Dr Chizea Duben, in his response, said post coding the entire country will aid the National Addressing System and bring value to the economy. He stressed that it was vital to his signing the document as the first MOU since his assumption of office.
Duben hinted that as capital intensive as the project seems, the agency will champion the campaign to attract international donors whose funds will do great assistance to bring the project to fruition.
NIPOST can access up-to-date, satellite imagery of high dimension as NASRDA provides key facilitators and professional advice that will assist NIPOST in the development of Postcode and Addressing Dataset, Geospatial Datasets using Nigeria Sat-1, Nigeria Sat-2, Nigeria Sat-x imageries and customised software.
Other areas of collaboration include supporting NIPOST to build capacity through transfer of knowledge on IT-based application of remote sensory Geographic Information System GIS.