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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
House of Representatives has resolved to enact and strengthen laws guiding the lottery sector.
This was disclosed by a lawmaker, Uchenna Okonkwo, representing Idemili North/Idemili South Federal constituency of Anambra State, at the unveiling of the betting platform yesterday in Abuja.
“I want to encourage you to follow all due process, compliant and friendly, as well as make sure that all the relative authorities and agencies that have to do with mobile betting and online gaming are very much in tune with their objectives.
“If there is anything that we can do to further help the industry in terms of its regulation, we are very much open to suggestions from companies like yours, and as well, we will do the needful to make sure that that success is attained all around.”
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of T2Bet, Theo Ubani, claimed that Nigeria generates about $2 billion from gambling yearly.
Ubani, who projected that gambling sector would hit $5 billion in the next three years, said the business of gambling had shifted from the conventional norm where people cluster in studio apartments to stake games, stating that people now bet online in the comfort of their homes. He estimated that gamblers play more than 4,000 games daily all over the world, aside football premiership.
He said: “For the first time, people are not just in football, premiership and the rest of them. You are going to be betting on a minimum of 4,000 games daily all over the world.
“Nigeria’s betting market is worth more than $2 billion. It is hoped that it will hit $3 billion to $5 billion in the next two to three years because people are now doing it online.
“It is sometimes like fun these days, unlike the traditional pattern where people queue up in gambling stations to bet.”
He disabused the minds of people who perceive gambling as a negative adventure, clarifying that gamblers have become rich through betting.
“T2Bet has just been birthed and we are very pleased and excited at the opportunities that our online gaming platform is going to offer.
The reason that I said earlier, the differentiating factor between us and other gaming platforms is the variety of offerings that we are making.
“For the first time, we are now presenting the betting business more like a game, more like something of form and more like something you can also now earn revenue for some people that understand how this is done.
“So, rather than deducting value, it’s actually adding value. By making available opportunities all over the world that people can join and people can play from any part of the world, we are also going to be attracting some revenue inward to the country by people playing from outside the country,” he added.
