Emeka Okafor founded NigerDelta Express in Port Harcourt in 2019. The company operates last-mile delivery across Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Delta states, handling packages for e-commerce sellers, pharmacies, spare parts dealers, and small-scale manufacturers. By 2025, NigerDelta Express was processing 300–400 deliveries per day.
The phone problem came with scale. At 300 deliveries a day, if just 30% of recipients call to check their delivery status — which is conservative — that is 90–120 inbound calls per day. Add failed delivery rescheduling, collection point queries, damaged package complaints, and sender tracking requests, and the number climbs past 200 on a busy day.
"We had three customer service staff answering phones all day and they were still not keeping up," Emeka said. "By 3pm, the hold queue would be 15 minutes long. Customers who called at 5pm often gave up and just showed up at our depot in Rumuola. That created congestion at the depot that slowed everything else down."
The query profile
Before designing the Maraba configuration, Emeka's team analysed one month of call logs. The breakdown:
- Delivery status queries ("where is my package?"): 48%
- ETA requests ("what time today?"): 21%
- Failed delivery rescheduling: 14%
- Collection point queries: 8%
- Damaged package complaints: 5%
- Sender tracking requests: 4%
The first three categories — 83% of all calls — are answerable with data already in the system. Delivery status is in the tracking database. ETAs are calculated by the route management software. Failed delivery rescheduling requires a new delivery window to be recorded. None of these need a human to process.
The Maraba configuration for logistics
- Webhook integration: Maraba connects to NigerDelta's internal tracking API. When a caller provides a tracking number, Maraba queries the API in real time and reads back the current status, location, and estimated delivery window
- Languages: English (primary), Igbo (secondary, enabled for Rivers and Imo-origin callers), and Pidgin (handled via English model with Pidgin vocabulary tolerance)
- Failed delivery flow: Caller confirms preferred redelivery date. Maraba writes the rescheduling request to the database via webhook. Dispatcher sees it on the morning board
- Escalation: Damaged package complaints, disputes, and callers who express high frustration escalate to the customer service team leader's desk extension
- Pro plan: 3 phone numbers (Port Harcourt depot, Warri collection point, Aba relay hub) — all routing through Maraba with location-aware greetings
A typical status call
Maraba: "Let me pull that up for you. Order ND-7743 — one package, sender: Konga Lagos. Current status: out for delivery in Port Harcourt. Your delivery driver is currently on Aba Road and your package is scheduled for delivery between 2:00pm and 4:00pm today. Will you be available at the delivery address?"
Caller: "I might not be. Can it come earlier?"
Maraba: "I cannot adjust the driver's route, but I can note that you prefer earlier delivery — the dispatcher will see this when they update the schedule. Alternatively, I can arrange collection from our Rumuola depot from 1:00pm today if that works better. Which would you prefer?"
Caller: "Depot collection is better."
Maraba: "Noted. Your package will be held at Rumuola depot for collection from 1:00pm today. Bring a valid ID and your order number ND-7743. Is there anything else?"
Scale and results after six months
- Average daily calls handled by Maraba: 287 (range: 190–340 depending on delivery volume)
- Calls escalated to human team: 12% (damaged goods, complex disputes, high-frustration callers)
- Average call handling time by Maraba: 1m 48s (vs. 4m 10s average with human agents previously)
- Customer service staff headcount: reduced from 3 to 1.5 FTE — one customer service agent now handles escalations, complaints, and quality checks. The other two staff were redeployed to depot operations
- Depot walk-ins from frustrated callers: reduced by 78%
- Customer satisfaction score (sampled via post-call SMS): 4.1/5, up from 3.4/5
The Igbo caller consideration
A meaningful portion of NigerDelta Express's customer base speaks Igbo — both in Port Harcourt itself and in Imo, Anambra, and Abia, where many of the company's e-commerce packages originate. Maraba's Igbo language model handles standard delivery status queries in Igbo without difficulty. The tracking number lookup is language-agnostic — the caller provides the number, Maraba reads back the status in whichever language the caller used to open the call.
For Igbo-speaking callers, the experience is meaningfully better than calling a standard English-only customer service line. "My packages come from Onitsha regularly," one caller told Emeka. "Being able to speak Igbo on the tracking line feels like the company respects where I am from."
Scaling to Enterprise
NigerDelta Express started on the Pro plan (₦65,000/month, 1,000 calls, 5 numbers). They hit the call limit in their third month and moved to Enterprise — unlimited calls, unlimited numbers, dedicated account management. Emeka estimates the annual cost of the Enterprise plan is less than one month's salary for a third customer service hire, with coverage that extends across all three depots, 24 hours a day.
Maraba integrates with your tracking system and handles status calls at scale — in English, Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. Pro plan from ₦65,000/month.
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