Mr. Adolphus Ekpe, The Director General of NLRC
(National Lottery Regulatory Commission) has urged Nigerians to play the
lottery as a civil responsibility. He
also said that players should not only play for personal interests but also
consider adding value to the country.
The initiative behind
this urge is to raise more economic funds for the country’s development. News Agency of Nigeria recently held an
interview with Mr. Ekpe, he said “Lottery was a tool of employment generation,
an instrument of raising funds for government’s special projects and a way of
achieving wealth distribution and re-distribution”.
According to Mr. Ekpe,
if lottery is played as civil responsibility then a country could generate high
income for the country’s development. Twenty percent of lottery proceeds are distributed for the good causes
like infrastructure, sports, health etc.
He mentioned “Section
57 of the Lottery Act 2005 defines lottery as any game, scheme, arrangement,
system, plan, promotional competition or device for the distribution of prizes
by lot or chance. And because lottery
plays greater role in the development of a country’s economy, Nigerians should
play it as a civic responsibility. It
has every tendency of increasing the country’s purchasing power.’’
He said if players who
play lottery frequently and still could not win it, will eventually benefit from
the society at large as they are contributing to the economy.