Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah, has declared a full-scale offensive against underage gambling, citing a combination of technology-driven regulation, education reforms, and inter-sectoral collaboration as the pillars of his administration’s unprecedented response, which was already eliminating the menace from the state.
Speaking at a stakeholders event organised by the Ministry of Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development at the Enugu International Conference Centre on Thursday on the theme, “Ending Underage Gambling in Enugu State,” the governor painted a vivid graphic of the social corrosion caused by the menace and the state’s strategic determination to address it and creating an engaging, meaningful and creative future of children.
Describing underage gambling as a “public crisis,” Mbah lamented its links to youth drug abuse, petty crime, academic failure, and growing urban violence.
“It is no longer a private vice. It corrodes society, fuels criminality, and destroys dreams before they are even formed,” he said.
The governor, who was represented by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Kingsley Udeh, disclosed that since November 2024, Enugu had adopted a zero-tolerance approach, empowering the state’s Gaming & Lottery Commission to dismantle unlicensed betting points and enforce permanent, regulated structures under real-time digital surveillance.
Mbah, however, made it clear that regulation alone would not solve the crisis, assuring that his administration was expanding its strategy beyond enforcement to include re-education, creativity, and compassion.
“School, family, and community must be louder than the gambling hall. We are embedding financial literacy and empathy in our Smart Green Schools by challenging students to build gamified learning tools,” he said.
He added that the 260 Smart Green Schools across Enugu would serve as launchpads for digital innovation aimed at reshaping young minds away from chance and toward purpose.
He announced that the state was partnering with the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Enugu, to introduce early intervention systems within schools and youth hubs where minors caught gambling would be met, not with criminal penalties, but with mental health evaluations, peer mentorship, and structured alternatives.
“This is not just enforcement. It’s rescue,” Mbah emphasized, highlighting the human-first approach of the state’s policy shift.
On the legislative front, Governor Mbah revealed upcoming moves to institutionalize advanced ID verification systems, including real-time Tax Identification Number (TIN) and National Identity Number (NIN) checks for all gaming participants, stressing that it was modeled after successful implementations in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“This is no longer about best practice; it must become legal mandate,” he declared.
Mbah concluded with a rousing call for collective action among all the stakeholders involved. “Our fight is not against games, but against the exploitation of our future. We are not just shutting doors—we are opening better ones,” he said.
The governor also hinted at plans to develop a regulated gaming tourism sector that would generate revenue while enforcing strict ethical and community-based standard, calling on parents, faith leaders, traditional institutions, and youth advocates to “crank up the conversation” and ensure that young people bet only on hard work, education, and digital innovation—not on gambling.
Describing underage gambling as troubling, the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Ngozi Enih, said the fight against the social vice must not be left to government alone as parents, guardians teachers, civil society as well as stakeholders in child protection had pivotal role to play to ending it.
She maintained that, if not collectively tackled, the menace would creep silently into homes, communities and schools with the potential impact of eroding values, disrupting learning and exposing children to moral, psychological and social harm.
Lending his voice to the growing calls to end underage exploitation in whatever form, the state’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Hon Lloyd Ekweremadu, said the state government was already committed to sanctioning operators who failed to adhere to the standards regulation in the state.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Gaming and Lottery Commission, Prince Arinze Arum, said the commission was not unmindful of the potential harms underage gambling could cause the society, adding that government had already set the machinery that was addressing the menace in motion.
He further explained that a bill designed to empower the Commission on oversight and regulatory functions over the operators of gambling and gaming houses was already in the House of Assembly undergoing legislative processes.
“Regarding what we are doing today, we have lots of policies. First as a matter of strict policy, no betting outlets is allowed within 100 to 200 meters close to any school. Second, on no account must an under-aged person be seen in a betting environment because such attracts outright sealing and closure,” he concluded.