Of Ajaero Workers' Struggle in the Artificial Intelligence Robotic Postal Service
By Taiye Olaniyi
Because Winston Churchill once opined, "Politics is too serious a business to be left solely in the hands of politicians" it behoves one to observe what should be the apolitical nature of the Ajaero labour struggles in the light of Artificial Intelligence and Robotic entanglements in the Postal Service of Nigeria.
There is no better description of the Post than what Voltaire once described it as " The Link connecting all affairs, all negotiations, by its means absence becomes presence."
This no doubt arrays the Post or postal service as an institution with systemic structure and interdisciplinary interconnectedness.
It is the institutional perspective of postal service, the geographic expanse of its space and oscillation in time perspective that make it labour intensive with arrays of humans with different idiosyncrasies.
The Post is therefore one institution, great one for that matter that must without any kind of prejudice serve humanity with great consistency, constructiveness in adaptation to myriad of technologies including other changing trends.
Made of humans in service of any government in power and inclination to whatever system of governance, the Post's staff ordinarily and if in sincerity of mind and purpose, must and should be "apolitical."
For if political, politics especially as it is in Nigeria is too full of personality clashes and with personality clashes so often and typical of average Nigerian politicians, ‘katakata’ that normally bursts usually affects policies.
As a senior citizen and a retired Postman with 35 cognate experience in the Nigerian Post from days of the Department of Post and Telecommunications, I know and can lay claim to the fact that the Postal Industry is one institution with best of policy guidelines and policy stimulation and inclination to changes of all sorts.
The human elements as government officials, the hierarchies of staff must transverse space and time facing the challenges of how best to serve customers, government, international bodies and other stakeholders with available resources and accompanying policy guidelines.
At both local and under the auspices of the postal portals, the Universal Postal Union and Pan African Postal Union the two main umbrella bodies including fringes in other areas, it must be obvious the implications and impacts of how the nation's Post is rated amongst the comity of nations.
The Post worldwide is a career-anchored, career-ventured and career-building institution, as such its training programmes are unique though equally blending with those of other institutional and business ventures.
It could be profit-making, especially in these modern day of global capitalism in postal and courier economic syndromes, the digital economy, yet worldwide still has accommodation for Universal Service Obligations.
It shouldn't run at a loss, make profit but yet render services to humans and institutions in urban and rural areas within ambits.
With the incursion of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotic technology in almost everything that is man-made such an intent for also the Nigerian Post may bring into fore of labour struggles by Joe Ajaero and his Labour Unions as to the workers plights in an era of AI and Robots as the future Post's staff.
As predicted in 2023 for 2024 and year 2030, the imminence of AI and Robots would have rendered a high percentage of Postal staff least relevant to Postal economy, commerce, counter services, mail logistics because of better precision of space and time management by the AI and Robots.
There maybe no more hope of ever reaching the peak of careers as the postmen or staff would now be under the excruciating pain of science and technology over and above the political mesmerism of labour and struggles for minimum and allied wage increases.
These jobs will disappear fastest by 2030 as AI rises, according to the World Economic Forum. According to a new report, cashiers, post office clerks, and bank tellers are among the most at risk, while frontline workers in delivery and construction will see their sectors grow.
Why the aforementioned development?
AI to experts, " is revolutionizing robotics by enabling robots to learn, adapt, and perform complex tasks autonomously, enhancing their capabilities, efficiency, and safety, leading to advancements in various industries".
The economic relevance of Postal Service as a national infrastructure even in the advanced country such as the United States of America and allied is under scrutiny for realignment.
Ayana Archie while reviewing the probable fate of the United States Postal Service reported that:
“The U.S. Postal Service could be at a critical tipping point in its history.”
Recently at the swearing-in ceremony for Howard Lutnick, the new secretary of commerce, President Trump said he's thinking of moving the Postal Service under the umbrella of the Commerce Department.
"We want to have a post office that works well and doesn't lose massive amounts of money," Trump was quoted .
Further to this, Trump asserts:
"We're thinking about doing that, and it'll be a form of a merger, but it'll remain the Postal Service, and I think it'll operate a lot better than it has been over the years. It's been just a tremendous loser for this country."
If the American government under President Donald Trump could view the Post in this perspective what then becomes of the Nigerian Postal Service and Ajaero on labour matters ?
Surprisingly this year 2025 shall see massive retirement of those that ever underwent one postal training at one time or the other.
The bulk of the remaining newly recruited staff during the dispensations of the politically appointed Postmaster Generals, the fourth in this dispensation between 2016 till date, the GenZ of this world may definitely never be committed to their duties because of meagre salaries and money at all costs syndrome of this era.
I therefore wish that Ajaero and the likes shall today see labour matters beyond what Sunny Ade in his music entitled as "Kitikiti, Kitikiti, kirakita, kirakita" empty struggles without vision.
The days of undue solidarity anchored on pay increase without associated scientific modern human capital development, the reflection of federal and religious minded characters may mar the introduction and application of modern devices into the ideal international best practice for the Post and allied agencies of government.
I am sure that Joe Ajaero on labour matters should now know that if labour struggles anchor only on songs and drums of ‘Solidarity Forever,’ work-to-rule or incessant strikes and not on the realization of the geopolitical economy, commerce and the changing trends world over these days of AI and Robotic technology, such labour struggles will simply amount to the idea encapsulated in the usual reality of: the aftermath of strike that is, "Every human being is a born agitator but give him a pot of soup and he forgets his agitation."
Therefore, will the introduction, dimensions and incursions of AI and Robots to Postal Service including NIPOST be angelic intervention for modern postmen or an intrusion to which an average Nigerian Christian will decree and declare as fallen angels that have come to deprive the postal staff of their wages and salaries with or without work?
Of course, time will tell as time will always tell.
Internal politics is now a norm and it will ever remain so.
The politicians and their acolytes usually take tolls on the career progression of staff while policies both local and international continue to denigrate, face denudation at the peril of customer service.
Nigeria's image amongst the comity of nations seems to be losing its steam and it's once upon a time respect in global postal arena.
In Nigeria of today, politics is a do -or- die affair and with politicians and their penchants to "rob everything they can find," postal policies at both domestic and international levels may continue to wane and wither if no serious attempt is made to correct the situation.
Internal politics is typical of any human institution, when it arises it is best doused from within. But, if inflamed from outside as it was from whatever quarters in 2016, the fallout is now obvious that, "When conscienceless power rules over powerless conscience, it is the former that first laughs but the latter laughs last and laughs best."
In this modern world of everything AI and Robots, my humble advice is that: "The foolish man learns from his own mistakes, but the wise man learns from other people's mistakes."
Be humble and learn.
God Bless Nigeria.
Taiye Olaniyi, a retired postman, lives in Lagos