Lottery business lucrative in Nigeria

The National Union of the Lottery Agents
and Employees (NULAE) has disclosed that the lottery industry in Nigeria
has the potential to generate a whopping three hundred billion naira
annually for the government.

 

National President of the Union, Comrade
Mustapha Olusami made the disclosure in his address at the closing of a
two-day delegate conference of the Union held in Asaba, Delta State

 

He said that the lottery industry in
Nigeria has grown tremendously over the years, and urged the government
to tap into the financial potentials of the industry to boast the
national economy.

 

“I want to use this medium to appeal to
take this message to the people at the corridors of power that
government needs to support the lottery industry in Nigeria for the
purpose of creating jobs for the youths.

 

“Also, the need for government to venture into the industry is 
that lottery business has the potential of generating about N300 billion to the covers of government annually.

 

“But regrettably, the lackadaisical
attitude of the government has made the industry to make less than N700
billion in a year,” Olusami stated.

 

The union president said that as a union
of professional members, the lottery union is seeking inclusion into
various government boards in the industry in order to contribute their
own quota to national development.

 

He also disclosed that the union is at
the moment, proposing for the sponsorship a Lottery Industry Improvement
Programme (LIIP).

 

Olusami noted that if embraced, the
programme will help address the public perception of lottery as gambling
instead of gaming, bench marking of commissioner, legal operators,
underage stakers and police inteference.

 

He said the union was not set up to
castigate, criticize or frustrate any other agency, but rather to
promote the course of lottery and unity of its members and employees in
Nigeria.

 

In his address, Delta State Governor, Dr.
Ifeanyi Okowa lauded the lottery union for the peaceful organization of
their first delegate conference.

 

Okowa, who was represented by Mr. Mike
Okeme, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters, assured
the union that his administration would continue to streghten the unity
of labour movement in the state.

 

“Also, as a government, we will continue
to mainatain a harmonious relationship with the organized labour union
in the state as part of measures to boast the productivity of workers in
the state.

 

“It is also our believe that a united
labour is the pride of its members, so we will also continue to work in
collaboration with the labour union to strengthen its unity so as to
enable labour achieve its set objectives,” Okowa
said.

 

The governor said his administration
recently established a lottery agency, known as the Delta State Lottery
in order to provide employment and also maximize the benefits of the
lottery industry.