NLRC Boss Predicts Boom for Nigeria’s Lottery Sector

NLRC Boss Predicts Boom for Nigeria’s Lottery Sector

By Peter Uzoho

The Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, has projected that the country would soon witness a boom in lottery business with attendant boost to the nation’s revenue.

Gbajabiamila hinged the agency’s expectation on the transformation process of the industry that commenced in 2017, which he said has started yielding positive results.

The director general stated this while speaking to journalists in Abuja, saying the boom would lead to significant rise in the nation’s internally generated revenue and enhanced gains for all the stakeholders in the lottery industry and its value chains.

A statement by the Head, Public Affairs, NLRC, Mr. Magnus Ekechukwu, quoted the director general to have disclosed that the commission had been executing resourceful policies, measures and programmes in the last four years, aimed at improving lottery business in all aspects with great emphasis on the welfare of its workers, betterment of the stakeholders and higher revenues for the country.

He hinted that the policies and measures were already being steadily nurtured to fruition, following which the nation would witness the big boom in the gaming industry.

Gbajabiamila stated that on assumption of office, he commenced a transformation process that led to the restructuring of the commission from three directorates to five directorates and five statutory units, thereby creating more opportunities for career growth and progression for all staff.

Recognising the value of the welfare of workers, Gbajabiamila said he introduced new measures that ensured that workers were better taken care of and provided with necessary facilities and equipment for ease of performing their functions.

The DG equally disclosed that for greater motivation and enhanced performance, workers were now being promoted as at when due, against the past experience of irregular and delay in promotion which was the practice before he assumed office.

He added that in correcting some other administrative errors within the commission too, experts and core professionals were brought to head some critical sections in the commission, such as the Procurement Unit and the Legal Services Department.

The NLRC boss explained that the huge litigation bills of the commission have since been reduced drastically, unlike what obtained previously where the department appeared to be a cash cow for some external solicitors.

“Without sounding immodest, it is on record that no previous administration in the Commission had done better on matters of staff welfare than my regime. It is also on record that no previous administration had performed better than my administration on revenue generation for the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Our revenue profile has been on a steady increase, regardless of the challenges faced by the Commission while trying to perform our regulatory functions,” he said.

Gbajabiamila further stated that it was all the transformational measures that he introduced on assumption of office that led to the steady rise of the internally generated revenue of the commission that he met at less than 400 million to over a billion naira in less than three months of his leadership in the commission.

He also pointed out that the historic maiden National Gaming Conference organised by the commission last July was another courageous step taken by the commission to move the industry forward, noting that that had already been lauded by the stakeholders and the media.

He said with the recommendations of the conference being carefully implemented by the commission, Nigeria was well assured of a better, greater and more rewarding lottery business in all ramifications.

He added, “I am glad that the process for the acquisition of the much needed Central Monitoring System for our operations is on course, and the fact that the amendment of the National Lottery Act is in progress at the National Assembly, where the proposal has scaled first readings at the upper and lower chambers, makes me enthusiastic that the transformation of the industry would be complete in a short while and Nigeria would witness a boom in the lottery industry.

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