At the Post Office

My first visit to the post office

What should one expect at the post office?

I was at the Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST) office located along Ahmadu Bello Way, Jos. I went to check a parcel addressed to me. The sender instructed me to check with the local postal services nearest to me. The notification of its departure from the sender was over a month old, at the time. Based on preconceived ideas about postal services in my city, I bothered not to visit earlier. The distance between the sender and I is due consideration for not being hasty. Well, post offices can be reliable institutions to learn patience from.

Photo source: NIPOST

I arrived the post office at about 9:00am. The sun was up already. I got a fair share of the radiated heat in a period such as this (it was first week of November, 2021).

'Good morning', the aged man answered with graceful cheer to my greeting from behind the counter. 'How can I help you?'

'Sir, I am here to check a parcel sent to me from elsewhere'.

There was a little back-and-forth. The kind you partake in at a supermarket when you have a long list of items to purchase.

'And NEPA have not brought light, yet. We have to check the computer to confirm if your parcel has arrived or not'.

A brief silence sets in; adulterated with some sounds suggesting disappointment, surprise, and amazement.

'And you can't tell when the "light" will be available. . . ’ I thought out loud. How unnecessary that was! His sarcastic response confirmed so. However, I needed to know how long I'd have to wait.

Another customer, probably a friend to the aged man by the counter, intercepted: 'The light shouldn't be delayed for too long, bearing in mind that this is a business area. NEPA knows that. Before [the next hour] there should be light'.

'I'll just sit here', I responded while pointing at a row of metal benches behind, arranged to my left. 'And wait for the next thirty minutes and see'.

That was ample time to breeze through the preliminaries of a book I downloaded yesterday. I was drowsy after reading. Thirty minutes wasn't exhausted already. Another case in view about how time can seem unlike the numbers connote at the time of usage.

Thirty minutes was up. I ambled to the counter. The aged man was far from the counter, reclined in an old furniture piece that was nearly equivalent in age to all the other pieces of furniture in the hall, judging by face value. Just as old as the building looks. From the outside view: the structure seemed a like a product of an ancient architecture, the era of which I cannot make a guess. The edges of the building are made of concrete and large stone pieces. To sum it all, the premises is unattractive and less lively. Shouldn't a post office be attractive enough to make you want to write a loved one by hand even in the age of electronic mails? That place was too quiet to be regarded a post office.

O, that was first visit to a post office. . . .

I started a conversation with another attendant by the counter to drown my disappointment (with Jos Electricity Distribution PLC or NIPOST, I can't say). From that conversation, I learnt that the postal services works like an errand running institution. I also learnt that they can send whatever needs to be delivered elsewhere. From letters to vehicles of any size. To any state in Nigeria and beyound.

There was a time when the excuse for not writing handwritten letters to each other (just for the excitement) between some friends and I was based on the assumption that postal services were non-functional. That assumption was put to test. Tentatively, I am wrong. My respondent stated explicitly that it takes faster than I presume for items to be delivered to any destination in the world; especially within my city of residence, Jos.

I may put the system to test so I can make conclusions based on experience.

(🤔: I should try writing a friend or an acquaintance soonest. A review of the experience may follow. Or should I write you first? Yes, you reading this piece.)

I left the premises to run an errand before returning. There was no electric power supply yet. Sadly, I was told the generator was powered off less than a minute before my arrival. Can I wait any longer? Electric power supply in this part of Nigeria can be as unpredictable as a day's weather condition in Jos. Automatically, I am to return on a subsequent date.

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✍️Do you also have some assumptions about postal services in Nigeria? What are they?

✍️Have you used the postal services before?

✍️Are you testing it out?

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