From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Director General of National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Lanre Gbajabiamila, has assured that the country would soon witness boom in lottery business.
He hinged the expected boom on the transformation process of the industry commenced in 2017, which has started yielding positive results.
Gbajabiamila, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, assured that 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.
The Director General disclosed that the commission had been executing resourceful policies, measures and programs in the last four years, all 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.
The Director General further hinted that the policies and measures are steadily nurtured to fruition, emphasizing that the nation would witness the big boom in the gaming industry.
Gbajabiamila also narrated that on assumption of office, he commenced a transformation process that led to the restructuring of the Commission from three to five directorates and five statutory Units, which created more opportunities for career growth and progression for all staff.
The DG said that he also introduced new measures that ensured workers are better taken care of and provided with necessary facilities and equipment for ease of performing their functions.
“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 noted.
Gbajabiamila further attributed the steady rise of the IGR of the commission he met at less than N400m to over one billion Naira in less three months of his leadership to all the transformational measures he introduced on assumption of office.
He also pointed out that the historic maiden National Gaming Conference organized by the commission last July was another courageous step which had already been lauded by the stakeholders and the media, taken by the commission to move the industry forward.
He said with the recommendations of the conference being carefully implemented by the commission, Nigeria is well assured of a better, greater and more rewarding lottery business in all ramifications.
“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,” he said.