The image portrays three children sending letters to a barracks in Lagos. A mailbox is a type of freestanding mailbox that was introduced in 1852. The illustration shows the cipher of King George VI. from the beginning of his reign.
The history of the postal service in Nigeria dates back to the 19th century. The first post office was founded in 1852 by the British colonial rulers. It was considered part of the British postal system.
It was a branch of the General Post Office in London and remained so until 1874 (1862), when the Post Office began its career as a separate department, the Royal Niger Company (RNC), and became actively involved in economic activities. The country established its postal system Akassa in 1887, Calabar in 1891, Burutu in 1897 and Lokoja in 1899. From these trading posts, mail was transported to and from Lagos by post on a weekly basis.
In 1898, the British Post Office opened post offices in Badagry, Epe, Ikorodu, Ljebu-Ode, Ibadan and Abeokuta. In 1892 the Royal Niger Company became a member of the Universal Postal Union.Until 1908, the exchange of postal orders and mail took place directly with the German colonies in West Africa and not, as was usual, via London. In 1899, the first post office in northern Nigeria was opened in Lokoja.
The Nigeria Department of Postal Services was established with the establishment of Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) on January 1, 1985.