National Lottery Nigeria commences operations to enrich millions - ITREALMS

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Millions of Nigerians would soon begin to win incredible life-changing prizes with the commencement of operations by the National Lottery of Nigeria (NLN), reports ITREALMS.

Apart from lifting Nigerians from the morass of poverty with its range of exciting games playable with as little as N100, the lottery will also help combat unemployment.

NCC, Lottery Commission renew MoU - ITREALMS

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The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Wednesday in Abuja, signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, with provisions to deter unapproved lottery and gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta noted that the MoU, which will impact the gaming industry, is in sync with the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) and is in a bid to promote fair practices in the industry for the protection of telecommunications consumers in relation to lottery and gaming activities.

Bingo9ja leverages technology to revolutionalise lottery - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Latest entrant into the gaming industry in Nigeria, Bingo9ja, is levering cutting-edge technology to make the games available to all gamers across board, reports ITREALMS.

Bingo9ja, ITREALMS gathered will specifically deploy blockchain technology to change how people play the lottery in Nigeria with ground operations starting this week in Lagos.

Ikorne Games, the parent company of ‘Bingo9ja’ ITREALMS also gathered is aimed at making it easy for all gaming enthusiasts to play different kinds of lottery and classified games from the comfort of their homes either by using their Blockchain backed Mobile App, Blockchain node integrated Terminals and the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) applications.

With the fast development and adoption of the Blockchain technology all over the world, Bingo9ja is looking at breaking popular conventions and stigma attached to playing lottery games, popular known as Lotto in Nigeria, thereby creating a “techy lifestyle” movement of gamers.

Speaking with the media on this development the CEO and Founder of Ikorne Games, Eni Eniola, a management consultant, business development and strategy expert, stated that the intention of the company is to use the ease and proliferation of mobile phones whilst also leveraging on cutting edge technology to make gaming more accessible to everyone.

Tele Oyegoke, co-founder and COO, said not only will Bingo9ja gamers be able to play the games using multiple channels, they will also be able to use their Bingo9ja loyalty Pass cards in participating stores, Petrol Stations, Restaurants and lifestyle outlets.

Bingo9ja’s game centre is looking to introduce seven different fun games with a bonus daily “spin and win” game. Other games include “Fast Cash”, “Scratch& Win”, “Bingo”, “Bingo Mega”, “Pick 3”, “Pick 4” and “Keno”. It must be noted that Bingo9ja’s lottery related games have the best winning odds in the country.

Eniola, also promised that in the coming months, there will be an addition of different types of fun games particularly interactive peer to peer games that not only allows gamers to play with friend’s home and abroad, but also gives gamers a chance to win numerous prizes and money.

“The goal is to gradually introduce different types of fun and engaging games and also with the possibility of winning millions of Naira,”he said. “The games will be drawn live on all social media platforms, after which winners using the mobile app can withdraw their winnings instantly while gamers who played via the agents terminals could pick up their winnings from the agents or get credited directed into their bank accounts, whichever is preferred.”

In coming up with this revolutionary gaming platform, Eniola disclosed that the Bingo9ja team is comprised of like minds who have worked diligently with various gaming agents and players to provide a platform that is easily accessible. "Bingo9ja’s strategic mission is not only to be the first ever blockchain backed gaming platform but also to dynamically leverage cutting edge technology in developing and delivering world class lottery related gaming platform, all across Africa,” he said. 

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Lottery Commission joins FOI Hall of Shame

ITREALMS:

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission has been inducted into the “Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame” by the Media RightsAgenda (MRA), reports ITRealms.

NLRC induction, ITRealms gathered, came due to its constant violation of the provisions of the FOI Act and operating in secrecy contrary to its own core values, which include transparency and accountability.

MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr. Idowu Adewale, in a press statement made available to ITRealms, noted that since the passage of the FOI Act into Law in 2011, the Commission has not only failed to carry out its duties and responsibilities under the Act, but has actually been conducting its business in secrecy, thereby undermining the objectives of the Act.

The Commission, he said, is an agency of the Federal Government established in 2005 to regulate the operations of lottery business in Nigeria, promote transparency and accountability in the lottery system and protect the interests of players, stockholders and the general public.

Mr. Adewale pointed out that contrary to Section 2 of the FOI Act which requires all public institutions, including the Commission, to proactively disclose certain types of information to the public and to update these categories of information whenever changes occur as well as to make such information readily available to the public through the various means listed in the Act, namely print, electronic, online methods and at the offices of the institution, the Commission has failed to publish the information that it is required to proactively disclose under this section.

According to him, although the Commission says in its mission statement that it is committed to sustainable and transparent lotteries driven by professionalism and leading technologies for social and economic development, and meeting the needs of stakeholders, the Commission’s  consistent failure to proactively disclose information relating to its receipt or expenditure of public or other funds and a range of other types of information, as required by section 2(3)(d)(v) of the Act, is contrary to its mission, in addition to violating the clear provisions of the Law.

MRA also accused the Commission of unrepentantly breaching Section 29 of the FOI Act, which places an obligation on all public institutions to submit annual reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation on their implementation of the Act, noting that since the Act was passed into Law nearly seven years ago, the Commission had not submitted any report to the Attorney-General of the Federation or issued any such report for any year.

“Such blatant disregard for a statutory obligation has no place in a system of government characterized by the rule of law. This type of conduct is offensive and is capable of bringing the Government to ridicule as it creates the impression that rules, laws and regulations are of no consequence because public institutions and the officials who superintend over them are at liberty to ignore such rules, laws and regulations. The Federal Government should respond with harsh sanctions to send a clear message to all public institutions that there will be no impunity for public institutions or officials that violate the Law,” he said.

He noted that “there is no indication whatsoever that the Commission has provided the requisite  training for its officials on the public’s right of access to information or records held by the Commission or that it has appropriately trained its officials to effectively implement the Act, as it is required to do by section 13 of the Act”.

Mr. Adewale accused the Commission of failing to comply with Section 2(3) (f) of the Act which requires all public institutions such as the Commission to designate an appropriate officer to whom applications for information under the Act should be sent and to proactively publish the title and address of such an officer.

On the issue of the Commission’s responsiveness to requests for information from members of the public, he observed that the failure of the Commission to submit its annual reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation has made it virtually impossible to determine the number of applications for access to information that it has received for each year since the Act was passed into Law and the number of such applications that it processed and granted for any particular year or overall.

Mr. Adewale said there was no justifiable excuse for the Commission’s failure or apparent deliberate refusal to fulfill its duties and obligations under the FOI Act and called on the relevant authorities of the Federal Government to take stern measures to address the situation.

Launched in July 2017, the FOI Hall of Shame shines the spotlight on public officials and institutions that are undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances and decisions.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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