Nigerian National Game is Great, but Gambling Sector Needs More

Following months of deliberation and planning, the National Lottery Regulatory Commission officially launched the Nigerian National Game in July, citing the need to increase the government’s gambling revenue as the major reason behind the project.

Nigeria hasn’t quite made the most of the huge potential in the industry, with a sizable amount of the funds generated in the market lost to foreign operators.

To make matters worse, quite a few of these operators are unregulated. Hence, money that would have been realized through taxation and licensing is lost without trace to other countries.

Of course, there are operators that follow the rules, some of which are shown on this list of best betting sites in Nigeria, but there are also some bad eggs in the industry.

As noted by the dignitaries present during the launch of the Nigerian National Game, the project will seek to address this problem, and seize back some of that money lost to foreign operators.

Apart from creating new revenue for the government, the National Game also creates employment opportunities for Nigerians, and helps the NLRC in generating more money for itself, which can then be used to fund other good causes around the country.

All of this sounds promising on paper; and it will be interesting to see how the NNG project develops in the next few months and years.

It is good that the NLRC has taken this initiative, but this is just one of the many steps needed to clean up the Nigerian gambling industry.

The proliferation of unlicensed sports betting companies remains a big issue for the commission. Sports betting is by far the most popular form of gambling in Nigeria, and therefore needs urgent intervention from the authorities. That is where most of Nigeria’s gambling money comes from.

It is estimated that about a third of Nigeria’s adult population are involved in sports betting, with a cumulative annual spend of 730 billion Naira.

It’s all well and good generating revenue from the Nigerian National Game, but the NLRC must also intensify its efforts to take down illegal betting operators, especially those operating freely online.

Our gambling laws are still rather outdated, and vague, especially when it comes to online betting. This creates a loophole for unregulated operators to dive in and render their services unchecked in the country.

The responsibility of sanitizing online betting in Nigeria obviously doesn’t just lie with the Regulatory Commission. The Nigerian legislature must also pay greater attention to our gambling laws, and come up with new regulations to tackle the inherent problems of the industry.

Not only are we losing money to illegal operators, we are also putting our citizens at risk by allowing such companies to operate in our country.

Because they are largely unchecked, there is always the chance of gambling malpractices like underage gambling and non-payment of winnings. These can easily spiral into health and financial problems for the affected customers.

Hence, the NLRC, along with the appropriate government bodies and personnel, needs to up its game and take a serious look at the sports betting industry in particular, and the gambling sector in general.