Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas has expressed concerns at the involvement of Nigerians, especially the youths in high-risk games such as sports betting and gambling.
Abbas made the remarks on Wednesday at the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee Inter-Governmental Affairs on the dangerous effects of sports/gambling in Nigeria.
While declaring the event opened, the speaker said “In the ever-changing world advanced by digital innovations, people are on a daily basis engaging in highly risky games such as sports betting or gambling by staking their enormously treasured possessions such as money, gold and houses hoping to make accidental gains and chancing to get them back in multiple folds.
“This dangerous indulgence is becoming more and more prevalent in our country with many Nigerians particularly our youths becoming increasingly addicted to such acts.
“The ultimate consequences of the obsession to gamble and bet as you are all aware include; psychological and emotional instability, financial drain, workplace derangement leading to depression, stress, health issues and family crisis and utter ruins which pose huge crisis to our society and the socio-economic development of Nigeria”
He assured that “As a responsible parliament and People’s House, we cannot fold our hands and watch our citizens, especially our youths who indulge in such dangerous acts to continue to flounder and perish without taking adequate legislative steps to correct and moderate the worrisome situation for the benefits of the individuals and our nation. This understanding underscores the urgent need for this public hearing”.
Earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, Hon. Canice Nwachukwu stated that the investigative public hearing was to ensure that people doing betting and other gaming activities abide by the rules.
He also said that the House will recommend the introduction of a Central Monitoring System (CMS) for the betting and gaming industry adding that it will help to monitor what is happening in the critical economic sector.
He said: “We are all Nigerians. We are not going to go against people doing their business. What we want is for people to abide by the rules in doing their business”
The House Committee Chairman Hon. Nwachukwu in his concluding remarks said that the House will not go against the people doing their businesses genuinely.
He added that the interaction with the invited stakeholders is expected to advance ideas and make recommendations that will look into the varied interests of the people the legislators in the House are representing.
Some of the invited agencies notably the National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the National Lottery Trust Fund however said that there is a need to streamline the operations of the industry players as betting and gaming are huge sources of revenue for the federal, state and local government councils in Nigeria