The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has revealed that Nigeria is currently working in partnership with some foreign agencies and Nigerian bank to launch two additional NIGcomsat, as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s reform in the sector.
Shittu made this known on Sunday, while addressing journalists at his Samonda residence, Ibadan. Oyo State.
The minister, said a delegation from the ministry will be travelling to China to negotiate a $500million partnership with a Chinese bank next week and lamented lack or non patronage of the country’s only satellite,NIGcomsat 1.
He also revealed that some banks in Nigeria have also showed their interest in financing the project.
“Nigerian companies prefer to patronise foreign satellite. So, I thought the best way to do it is to look for money to acquire new satellites.
We will be leading a delegate of the ministry to China to negotiate with China import/export bank, who has assured us that they would be willing to finance these new satellite.
“I am also aware that some banks in Nigeria have indicated that they too could finance it. What we want to do now is to patronise where we can get the best conditions.
We’ve asked the Nigerian banks to bring their proposal and also consider their terms to that of the Chinese bankers, whichever is soft enough for Nigeria, that will not cripple us as a nation, which will not create a situation that would look like the country had been be sold, that we will take.”
Meanwhile, the minister has also revealed that the Federal Government has also commenced a process of employing new postmaster- general for NIPOST.
According to Shittu, “before I became minister, I thought NIPOST is moribound but they are actually making profit despite the emergence of telecommunication companies. For instance, I visited their localtions in Lagos and I saw that a lot of companies are still posting letters, particulalrly, to shareholders, JAMB and these other organisations.
Again, on their foreign desk, you will see that a lot of letters are still coming to the country, So, I want to assure you that NIPOST is not moribound.
“Beyond that, When I came in, I saw NIPOST as sleeping giant as one industry which was a goldmine yet unexploited. What we’re now trying to do is to introduce a lot of reform to NIPOST.
“The starting of this reform is to change the position of NIPOST Postmaster General. Previously, one becomes Postmaster General on promotion. If one is retiring, the next to him in rank succeeds him whether he is competent or not, whether he has the visison to drive the organisation or not.
“When I came in, I decided to change the situation, from now on, it would not be business as usual.
To become a postmaster general, you go through a merit based selection process.And we also threw it open to the public, so to become a postmaster general, you don’t need to be a staffof NIPOST.
“We advertise for this position, 47 people applied, 21 people, one of them, an Igbo woman from the SouthEast, have been shortlisted for the interview process which is been supervised by a consultant firm, PWC, is to commence the interview by Wednesday and end on Friday this week. Seven candidates from the shortlisted 21 people will be interviewd on daily basis with representatives from the Ministry of Communication, EFCC, ICPC, DSS, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Federal Character.
“And I can assure you that we will be open and transparent as much as possible to get the best man for the job.
The new Postmaster General is not coming for the purpose of selling stamp and posting letters. We’re bringing in a robust arrangement where NIPOST will also now be in operation of sort of banking services.
Recalled that there are more rural areas than urban areas, that there are no banks in these communities. We want to use NIPOST as a vehicle for financial inclusiveness in all communities.
We are brining in a lot of business ideas. And in doing that, we are going to partner with the private sector,” Shittu revealed.
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