Tijani: Every Nigerian deserves to be found
By Emmanuel Enitan
The Federal Government has launched a National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System designed to address Nigeria’s longstanding location-identification challenges, improve deliveries and emergency response, and strengthen the infrastructure for e-commerce and digital services.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, who announced the launch on Independence Day, said poor addressing costs Nigeria an estimated ₦50 billion to ₦80 billion annually through missed and failed deliveries, with the impact extending to businesses, emergency services, financial institutions and government agencies.
Under the new system, operated by the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), every addressable building in Nigeria is assigned a unique 11-character alphanumeric postcode, linked to its geographical location through Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.
The code identifies a location through five levels — state, local government area, district, area and building — providing a standard digital reference that can be used alongside conventional street addresses.
Tijani said the new addressing infrastructure would help businesses reach customers beyond their immediate neighbourhoods, enable families to provide precise locations during emergencies and assist government agencies in delivering essential services to communities.
“Every Nigerian deserves to be found. Every business deserves the chance to reach its customers. And every community deserves to be within reach of opportunity,” he said.
The minister said the system was particularly important for building the infrastructure required to support President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of growing the Nigerian economy to $1 trillion.
He said accurate location data would allow more Nigerians and businesses to participate in commerce and access opportunities, while giving public institutions a reliable location layer for service delivery and planning.
“As we work towards President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition for a $1 trillion economy, we must build the foundations that allow more Nigerians to participate, trade and prosper,” Tijani said.
The system also represents a shift from Nigeria’s traditional postcode framework, which generally identifies broader geographic areas, to a building-level digital addressing system.
According to the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the new postcode is designed to provide a unique, precise and verifiable digital location identity for homes, businesses, farms, schools and offices across the country.
The Postmaster-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi, said the initiative would transform how Nigerians identify and access locations.
“Everyone in Nigeria has a location. Now every location has a postcode,” Odeyemi said, adding that the system would provide a digital reference for e-commerce, last-mile delivery, emergency response, banking and credit, and public-service planning.
For businesses, the system could improve customer verification, delivery logistics and the ability of firms to serve customers outside their immediate geographical areas. The official postcode platform also provides organisations with options to integrate the system into their digital platforms and business processes.
Emergency response is another major application, as more precise location information could reduce the time required to identify homes and other locations during medical, security and other emergencies.
The government also expects the system to support financial services and public administration by providing a common location reference that can be used across digital platforms.
The postcode belongs to a building rather than its occupant, meaning the code remains associated with the property even when residents, tenants or businesses occupying the building change.
The Federal Government has urged individuals, businesses and organisations to find and begin using their postcodes in everyday transactions. Nigerians can obtain their codes through the official Digital Postcode platform and share them with family members, customers, delivery companies and other service providers.
The rollout is part of broader efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure and provide reliable location intelligence for commerce, logistics, public services and economic planning.
With the system now operational nationwide, the immediate challenge will be widespread adoption by households, businesses, government agencies and technology platforms so that the digital addressing infrastructure translates into measurable improvements in service delivery and economic activity.
