Business
‘Relax, None Of You Will Be Sacked From Service’
‘Relax, none of you will be sacked from service’. So says the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to workers of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST)
The latter had been anxious over the ongoing reform in the establishment.
The relax reassurance is coming from the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh, who has added that the reform would even create more jobs rather than losses/
Okoh gave the ‘relax’ assurance while receiving the leadership of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE), led by its President, Rev. (Dr) Nehemiah G. Buba which paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.
A release signed by Amina Tukur Othman, BPE head, Public Communications quotes theDirector General saying that NIPOST after the reform would still remain 100 percent entity of the Federal Government.
Okoh said the reform only aimed at commercialising its services and making it robust to deliver more efficient postal service.
He informed the labour leaders that already three commercial ventures-NIPOST Properties & Development Company; NIPOST Transport & Logistics Company and NIPOST Microfinance bank Limited had been carved out of NIPOST.
The bureau he added had also registered NIPOST Properties & Development Company and NIPOST Transport & Logistics Company at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The process for registration at CAC, for obtaining regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for NIPOST Microfinance bank had also commenced.
Further asking the workers to ‘relax;, the Director General reiterated that the benefits of the reform of the sector include, the Provision of efficient postal services and utilisation of vast assets of NIPOST across the country; reduction in funding from the treasury in terms of subventions to NIPOST and the operation and growth of ancillary services and business to enhance the overall efficiency of NIPOST to create more jobs.
He said in order to sensitize all the relevant stakeholders on the need for the reform, the Bureau in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Communication & Digital Economy and NIPOST held zonal workshops in five of the six geo-political zone of the country, except the North-Central Zone which was to be held in Abuja but for the outbreak the worldwide Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic.
The Director General announced that the reform of the postal sector will lead to the emergence of Nigerian Postal Commission (NPC) as a regulator of the sector to ensure efficiency, service delivery and check abuses.
He said during a tour of some of the countries that have effectively reformed their postal services and are reaping good dividends, it was discovered that in China for instance, its Postal Bank has over 80 million customers.
The reason given for this, was its rural penetration and given that most rural communities in Nigeria do not have access to banking facilities, the emergence of NIPOST Microfinance Bank would be beneficial to the communities, The BPE boss said.
On the request by the Union Leaders for the Bureau to intervene in the impasse between NIPOST and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on which of the organisations is statutorily required to collect stamp duties in the country, Okoh assured them that the Bureau was already interfacing in the matter and that soon, an amicable solution would be reached.
The President of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE), Rev. (Dr) Nehemiah G. Buba commended the Federal Government for initiating the reform which is now a reality. He expressed delight over the visit as some of the issues pertaining to the reform which were hitherto not known to the workers have been laid bare by the Bureau.
He promised to go back and educate the NIPOST workers on the imperative of the reform of the sector and appealed to the Bureau to always update the union members on the progress of the reform.
It would be recalled that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) at its meeting held on 31st October, 2017, approved the reform of the Postal Sector and the restructuring and modernisation of the Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST).
Further, Council also approved; the constitution of a Steering Committee to be chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, to drive the reform process.
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The committee is also to review the Postal Sector Policy; the constitution of a Project Delivery Team (PDT) to serve as the secretariat of the Steering Committee and to develop quick fix reform strategies to make NIPOST commercially viable; and the appointment of KPMG as Transaction Adviser
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August 28, 2020 at 11:18 am
:Okeke Mary Akaego
Course: Environmental reporting
Matric Number: HNMC/19/023
The effects of Noise Pollution in our Environment
By Okeke Mary
Noise generally defined as regular exposure to elevated sound levels that may lead to adverse effects in humans or other living organisms.
According to the World Health Organization, sound levels less than 70 dB are not damaging to living organisms, regardless of how long or consistent the exposure is.
Exposure for more than 8 hours to constant noise beyond 85 dB may be hazardous. If you work for 8 hours daily in close proximity to a busy road or highway, you are very likely exposed to traffic noise pollution around 85d
This type of pollution is so omnipresent in today’s society that we often fail to even notice it anymore:
• street traffic sounds from cars, buses, pedestrians, ambulances etc.
• construction sounds like drilling or other heavy machinery in operation
• airports, with constant elevated sounds from air traffic, i.e. planes taking off or landing
• workplace sounds, often common in open-space offices
• constant loud music in or near commercial venues
• industrial sounds like fans, generators, compressor, mills
• train stations traffic
• household sounds, from the television set to music playing on the stereo or computer, vacuum cleaners, fans and coolers, washing machines, dishwashers, lawnmowers etc.
• events involving fireworks, firecrackers, loudspeakers etc.
• conflicts generate noise pollution through explosions, gunfire etc. The dysfunctions, in this case, are likely caused by the conflict and insecurity and less by the noise pollution in itself, although that compounds stress levels too.
•
Human Diseases Caused by Noise Pollution
Whether we realize we are subjected to it or not, noise pollution can be hazardous to our health in various ways.
• Hypertension is, in this case, a direct result of noise pollution caused elevated blood levels for a longer period of time.
• Hearing loss can be directly caused by noise pollution, whether listening to loud music in your headphones or being exposed to loud drilling noises at work, heavy air or land traffic, or separate incidents in which noise levels reach dangerous intervals, such as around140 dB for adult or 120 dB for children.
• Sleep disturbances are usually caused by constant air or land traffic at night, and they are a serious condition in that they can affect everyday performance and lead to serious diseases.
• Child development. Children appear to be more sensitive to noise pollution, and a number of noise-pollution-related diseases and dysfunctions are known to affect children, from hearing impairment to psychological and physical effects. Also, children who regularly use music players at high volumes are at risk of developing hearing dysfunctions. In 2001, it was estimated that 12.5% of American children between the ages of 6 to 19 years had impaired hearing in one or both ears.
In Nigeria today,Noise pollution is becoming alarming, especially in Lagos State where every thing has been jam-packed.It should be the duty of our Government to set a Committee for the control of it.