The Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Bitrus Jisalo, has stressed the need for a comprehensive system to regulate Nigeria’s gaming industry to boost revenue generation.

Mr Jisalo also called for collaboration between operators and regulators in the industry.

The minister said this during the National Lottery Regulatory Commission stakeholders’ meeting and management retreat on Monday in Lagos.

Mr Jisalo said that to achieve this, a robust system was necessary, noting that Nigerians must adopt a more responsible approach to gaming. The minister said that we could promote a culture of respect, understanding, and collective growth by doing so.

Speaking about the stakeholders meeting, he said the focus was to collaborate and discuss ways to boost industry revenue generation.

In his welcome address, the director-general of NLRC, Lanre Gbajabiamila, said the meeting was designed to inspire and educate stakeholders.

Mr Gbajabiamila added that the meeting aimed to foster collaboration and understanding among various stakeholders in the industry.

Making a presentation on advertising, Olalekan Dolapo, the director-general of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, said the advertising industry was properly regulated globally.

Mr Dolapo stressed the need for Nigeria to take proactive steps in regulating online materials and gaming organisations. He explained penalties paid by some offenders in developed countries and the efforts of ARCON to meet current regulatory standards.

Mr Dolapo explained the importance of principles of practising advertising, regulating media, local content creation policy and digital media regulation for a better economy, among others.

He said advertising concepts and materials were usually vetted as part of ARCON’s oversight functions to prevent broadcasting content that could cause disharmony or disunity.

Tosin Adeyanju, NLRC’s CEO, urged operators to make appropriate payments to avoid getting sanctions from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Mr Adeyanju noted that the money remitted by the operators was channelled towards the betterment of the country.

The NLRC boss said the few bad ones in the gaming and lottery industry were the ones that allowed the EFCC to view the industry in a bad light. He noted that President Bola Tinubu had initiated a revenue assurance platform, and the implementation committee were working on it.

(NAN)