07 Jun GAMING CMS: BEYOND OIL AND GAS
GAMING CMS: BEYOND OIL AND GAS
By Ogechi Nosiri
A ray of hope beams through for the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and the nation as the Federal Government recently awarded Messrs Yuan Resources Limited the concession to develop a revenue assurance platform under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement in the lottery and gaming sector.
The approval was made at the Federal Executive Council Meeting (FEC) of 13th and 14th of May 2024 with a concession of 15 years to be done via Design, Finance, Build Operate, and Transfer (DFBOT) option. This decision followed an exhaustive deliberation on several policies and projects that will further boost the economy, facilitate investments, and promote the ease of doing business in Nigeria. It seems to have come at a strategic time, laying bare the government’s commitment to diversifying revenue sources.
This lifeline through FEC’s approval comes after years of persistent efforts by former Director Generals of the Commission and the current Director General, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila OON who has consistently highlighted the enormous benefits of acquiring a Central Monitoring System (CMS), stressing the need to strengthen the Commission’s operations and ensure all lottery proceeds due to the FG are fully collected.
In a flashback to the International Gaming Conference held in Lagos last November, the DG NLRC, Mr. Gbajabiamila OON, again hinted of an ongoing efforts to acquire the CMS for the industry to have “a reliable national database that provides invaluable insights into the actual gaming population across the nation while emphasising the urgency of addressing issues of money laundering, terrorism financing, and syndicate gaming, all of which are threats to undermine the potentials of the gaming industry in Africa.” This statement indicates foresight, industry savvy, as well as proactiveness in the Commission’s regulatory prowess under Gbajabiamila.
For the past Five(5) years, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila OON and his team have worked tirelessly to bring to foreground the CMS to checkmate illegal activities of online casinos and other forms of gaming. This development will not only increase revenue generation for the nation, but is also believed to improve the Commission’s staff welfare, demonstrating its holistic approach to industry regulation and employee well-being.
CMS is a regulatory tool designed to monitor electronic/online gaming machines and video lottery terminals. It also helps to check daily/monthly balances of gaming machines and locations. It is an application intended for authorities to supervise the organisation of games in betting shops, online casinos and lottery platforms; and set a new standard for regulatory practices in the gaming industry.
However, with every achievement comes some setbacks. Some stakeholders have called for the suspension of all actions related to the concession due to alleged illegalities while discrepancies have also been observed between the Federal and State regulators. The Commission has on the other hand consistently called for proper synergy between the two authorities for adequate regulation of the industry.
As the staff of NLRC look in anticipation to the implementation of the CMS which supposedly would guarantee an increase in their welfare packages, the Federal government also stands to benefit because as a matter of urgency, the system needs to look beyond oil and gas for revenue generation to sustain the Nigerian economy.
It is generally believed that the introduction of the CMS would entrench transparency and accountability in the lottery industry, thereby making things easier for all stakeholders. The CMS could become a cornerstone in the nation’s economic plan which positions the gaming industry among key contributors of revenue to the government’s coffers.