- Eja pointed out that the opportunities and potentials abound in the industry are yet to be fully tapped and harnessed
An estimated 60 million Nigerians engage in one form of gambling or the other every day, Michael Eja has said.
Eja is the the Director General of Cross Rivers State Lottery and Gaming Agency,
Eja spoke in Abuja on Friday at the launch of a new sports betting platform, Woskybet.
He said the gambling industry in Nigeria is thriving, adding that the industry is currently valued between N500 billion and N600 billion.
Eja, however, pointed out that the opportunities and potentials abound in the industry are yet to be fully tapped and harnessed.
“The betting industry is worth about $1 billion in Africa. Lagos state alone generated $243 million in revenue last year. So, gambling is coming up huge. And people are beginning to understand the essence of gambling,” he said.
“In Nigeria, presently, we are doing over N500 to N600bn in revenue. If I am not mistaken, we have over 150 million people in the country.
“And presently, from the statistics that we have got, we know that about 60 million Nigerians gamble daily. We’ve not captured 90 percent of that market.”
Speaking on the Federal Government’s complaint about gambling centers failing to remit to the treasury, he added, “The government is doing its best. They are upgrading their platforms and they are working very hard to ensure that all the operators are brought into the tax net of each of the states in Nigeria, and gradually we’re beginning to bring them in.
“So over time, you’re going to see the benefit of, you know, the revenue that the gaming industry can generate in Nigeria.”