By Flowerbudnews
Stakeholders in the gaming and lottery industrial sub-sector have urged the Enugu State Government to facilitate regulation of the industry to boost confidence and check activities of quacks.
The stakeholders made the call at a one-day Gaming Stakeholders Engagement Forum in Enugu on Thursday.
They were unanimous that all stakeholders must enshrine best international practices to allow the multi-billion naira industry to flourish, boost the overall economy of the state and provide employment for teeming numbers of youths.
Mr Arinze Okeani, representative of BetKing Lotto, commended the state government for reinvigorating the Enugu State Gaming and Lottery Commission, adding that more should be done to regulate and ensure that shylocks do not take advantage of the industry.
Okeani called on the commission to fashion out unbeatable modalities to harmonise operation, identity and procedure of gaming to ensure that quack can easily be fished out and prosecuted to act as deterrent to others.
Another stakeholder, Mr Darlington Umezurike, a representative of Premier Lotto, urged the commission and lotto/gaming companies/agents to stand out in ensuring winning claims are redeemed on time to build lasting confidence in the industry.
Umezurike said, “The industry strives on trust and believability created over time.
“So, all stakeholders, whether lottery company, representative, agent or outlet staff here including the commission, should work together to see that denial or long wait for winning claims are eliminated from the industry to boost confidence.”
Mr Christopher Anya, representative of Betnajia Lotto, called for more engagements and workshops for operators in the industry to understand the fundamentals on which gaming and lottery strive such as confidence, prompt payment of claims and technology.
“I believe that every stakeholder here wants to work with and support the state government to build a prosperous industry that would create profit and years of sustainable goodwill and impact on the society,” Anya said.
In an address, which was titled: “Building a Sustainable Gaming Environment in Enugu State”, Mr Udukheli Izebuno, said that continued engagement of the commission with stakeholders would bring about inclusive and faster growth of the industry.
Izebuno, a chief executive of a gaming technology company, said that the embracing of technological innovation by the commission as well as gaming and lottery companies would aid the industry development and meet up best international practices.
“What we are doing is to ensure that there is a balance between the commission, gaming/lottery companies and the individual players by using technology as a connecting factor to make things seamless, fast and unified for all,” he said.
Responding, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prince Arinze Arum, said that the commission aimed at providing a sustainable environment for gainful gaming practices in safe regulated settings and with adequate operational enablement for all stakeholders in Enugu State.
Arum said that the commission had zero tolerance for illegal operators in Enugu State, adding that the commission was involving technology and processes to check illegal operators and “boost confidence in the system”.
“The state government is putting place cutting edge technology in its management, enforcement and monitoring of all activities within the gaming and lottery space in the state; thus, promoting transparency, quicken process and ensure recognizable uniformity,” he said.
He noted that the commission had identified lapses, met with stakeholders in various fora and presently involving technology and processes to streamline things, bridge regulatory gaps, data collection and sanitise the system all gaming/lottery activities, check quacks and promote transparency.
The executive secretary said that the stakeholders’ engagement would be on a continuous basis, adding that the commission wanted to entrench identity, transparency and uniformity while urging those agents operating on umbrellas to formalise and get identifiable shops/stalls.
