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 https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/12485/nigeria-federal-government-to-repeal-lottery-and-gaming-acts (https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/12485/nigeria-federal-government-to-repeal-lottery-and-gaming-acts)
If you are from Nigeria, you need to be up-to-date with the following article. The government recognized a huge potential in the lottery which can change the whole system. So what the government is going to do :
1. Make sure revenues are in order
2. Monitor the lottery system
3. Spread it all across
4. Better management
The reason why the government is doing this is because they want to look for a revenue source which is not only sustainable but unexplored in Nigeria.
There still will be laws and risk factors which the businesses have to adhere to in the upcoming days. Therefore it's not only going to be a profitable business but at the same time it's also going to give government huge revenue from the same.
Let's monitor what happens in Nigeria and let us hope that the revenue, taxation, rules, regulations won't be that harsh.

This is very good news for Nigerians.
Just yesterday I was reading about a Sigma event (https://www.sigma.com.mt/en/sigma-roadshow/) that talked about gambling in this country that has grown exponentially in the last two years, mainly with the participation of younger people and predominantly in sports games.
While many countries still insist on banning gambling, others are looking for the best ways to legalize them so the country can collect good taxes from this niche to invest in the country's growth.

Can you give a short explanation on what changed from National Lottery Act and Gaming Act to the new system? I'm not familiar with how Nigerian politicians think but isn't this Central Monitoring System too late? I mean most countries where lottery is legal probably had this kind of set up from the very beginning.

Is this unexplored in Nigeria?

Upon searching for a couple of minutes, it seems that it's legal and illegal there. It's not that well-regulated, and some officials want something out of it hence, corruption. With the increasing gambling activity within them, upon reading the article linked in the reference section, they are getting more regulations that are not bad compared to doing nothing.

I hope with all the complex activities with this in their country, there would be no consequences towards the action of people if they had a rough day or something with all the gambling they had.

Not bad at all as it's a must to have a strict and proper regulations so that for every inch of revenue that will come from gambling, it will be used properly for its real purposes such as how tax should be.

Anyways, is that only applies to the lottery? If so, then like here in our country, maybe lottery there has lots of bettors since it's one of the gambling types that is easy to access, no need for some technical knowledge and the best part of it, tickets are cheap.

A "national" lottery can actually be an all-round good idea if it is properly set up and run for the benefit of the country. The UK did something rather good - until some silly politicians sold it off cheap for a short term gain to make themselves look good. However, it still continues to make good tax money and is legally required to spend a certain amount of it's profits on charitable good causes. It needs to have a lot of trust though and should be run in the most transparent way possible. It helps if it is a reasonable price so the average person can buy it and allows people to gamble in a small scale way that is unlikely to cause irrational addiction issues like some games, if run weekly.

If this has positive impact over the revenue generation, then it is really appreciable. Nigerian government is acting with a mentality to make big changes in revenue making out of the resources and its citizens. In reality this will also have negative impact and the government should have solution for it prior to the implications. It is one among the country in which money is got accumulated with limited number of rich people, and the government is found highly corrupt.

When it comes on minding about the ratio about benefit:or negative impact since we are talking about revenue or tax then this would be always good for the economy and we know on how it do really improve a countries
economic state but of course it would really still be depending or varying on the officials or government that would be managing or simply not to be corrupt.

Even in other countries which they do consider out gambling industry because when it comes to possible revenue then no business could really likely to be on the same level
specially if it becomes popular.

That's good for their country, while some countries have been enjoying the taxation and revenue that they get in the gambling industry. They're making it look like it's very new to them. But for sure they'll come along with a good plan how they'll cope up with the lotteries and that's going to benefit the government. There are also other things that they have to set just like the openness they have for their citizens about bitcoin and it's also connected to casinos and gambling like lottery if they give some good and lite signal towards it.

That's a good initiative of the government there. With good regulations, expect that it will also follow good taxation on which will result in good distribution.

The lottery is one of the most recognized gambling in any country and if people will see that the government is putting good regulations on it, they might catch more of people's interest.

Reading the article, I've just realized that aside from the national lottery, there are lots of lottery operators there. The reason maybe why the government wants to change or modify the state lottery system there.

Aside from good regulation, if they will manage the funds properly, they can help a lot of its citizens who badly need financial assistance. Usually, the lottery system of the government is dedicated also to help charity organizations and individuals who need financial assistance. If they can even lessen corrupt officials, the funds collected can be put into good use.

Nigeria is an OPEC country, some diversification away from purely commodity driven revenues is probably going to prove something of a positive for the economy overall as Oil barrel price is not always reliably high and so to government revenues at times must suffer from this deficit.
   I know there are some elements within the country who do not believe in democracy and are radical religious orientated also but since they are already murdering ordinary people across the country and a threat to society I dont suppose this is going to effect their reasoning especially.   When I hear lottery I mostly think of it as a form of low level taxation but at least its voluntary and can do some good in giving regular revenues.

Well it looks like existing lotteries would have to watch out and make sure they're following the new regulations to be set by the government. I'm just wondering whether they would remove all lotteries and make one national lottery, or would they just manage the current lotteries much more strictly and take more profits than they usually would since it, as they said, could help in generating more profit for the country. If they were just managing it properly, then it'd definitely bring in more profit for them in the long run.

A state owned lottery?? Isn't it dead already?? I mean lottery game is indeed a good source of revenue to the government, but it's drying out quickly as people prefer online lotteries where they can buy a ticket from the comfort of their home. Also they prefer a system where the winnings will be picked up live and transparently. I hope Nigerian government has planned those properly. Otherwise, considering how corrupt the Nigerian government is, people will start loosing trust in no time! Will they allow private players in this business?

It's good that they are going to make a reform in their lottery system, after all lottery is a poor man's tax. I never thought though that they have a bad lottery system because it's basically a money maker for the government tax free since they directly get the proceeds and use it for their funds.

Probably let the existing one perating but at bigger taxes while at the same time they are making their own state lottery although that will be problematic for them because infrastructure is going to be expensive for this one unless they plan to make it look like kiosks which are relatively cheap but less secured.

Recently there has been an increasing tendency to replenish the coffers of various states at the expense of ordinary citizens rather than by the competent use of resources and funds from the budget to create new jobs and modernize various industries. Personally, I see only negative things in such decisions.

Really huge news.

I remember when they first came out with this piece of legislation and I was just thinking about how absurd it was. They were literally passing up millions if not billions in taxation revenue through legal, regulated lotto/casinos to black market operators who will never pay them a dime.

Great move. Although I do wonder what prompted this (I wouldn't rule corruption out of the picture).

Well, the people voted for stupid leaders so they have to suffer the consequences for not voting the right people for the position. Plus the people are too divided to do anything that will change the state of their nation that's controlled by their corrupt government.

I think lottery isn't a substantial source of income and doesn't have the ripple effect. I think deregulation of offline/tourism based gambling (and promotion) will have more significant impact on the community because of the job creation and stuff. There's no point of sucking money from its own citizens since they will be poorer, so the effort should be to bring rich people to play in luxury casino resorts.

Didn't lotteries already have legal status in Nigeria? In that case, that is not that much of a change, basically, that's the government officially stating that lotteries are profitable and "we'll take care of it from now on". But that could be a good sign.

Indeed, governments can make huge profits from the lottery business. For instance, in the US in 2015 the overall net income generated from lotteries was as big as $21.4 billion. Hopefully, the new approach from the government will make things more regulated and help Nigeria to generate big income as well.

Since it seems that gambling activity has seen an important increase at Nigeria then it could be a good idea that they not only look at how to regulate the lotteries but also other gambling games, however if this is just an attempt to get more revenue and nothing else they could find resistance from the public so I hope that besides charging more taxes they also regulate the market so the people do not get scammed and offer some way to treat gambling addiction in the case a few of those gamblers develop this condition.

Getting additional revenue is best option to take by nigerian government if they used it on projects and other good plans towards making their country better but if they just do it for corruption well this is really bad since they will make those casinos as milking cow. Also if they see a huge increase of casinos popping up on their country maybe they should form a law or create a progra  which can help their citizen to avoid being addicted on the games which is available to their country right now.

It's not bad for gambling casinos because they are generating more income than their usual during pandemic without paying an increased tax.

That additional tax is just a piece of candy to them compare to their whole revenue. If implemented it shouldn't be a problem paying for an additional tax since they will continue to perform more and their clients will still play with them.

The country will be benefited from it.

Taxes in gambling activities is also high compare to other countries so this is a good move for Nigeria to raise more funds and to help its people. In my country, lottery is government owned, they made a lot of money from this department and this department also help people who are in need by giving financial assistance, so this is not an ordinary lottery agency but with a great purpose.

Gambling industry is one of the first industries to recover during this pandemic.
If people can afford to gamble, then charging higher taxes from these casinos is only fair.
I don't think the government will charge tax that will bankrupt the casino because they don't want that to happen.
As long as the government officials are diverting the funds into deserving organizations or individuals, that's more than enough to say they benefited from this gambling business.

For physical ones then its yes, its slowly recovering but for online ones then they are the ones who had been booming up on this pandemic situation since majority of people is spending their time
through online and it is just justifiable that they would really be asked out for some increase in terms of tax or even into those physical ones since revenue of these kind of business
is just big which paying up those taxes wont really be that much of a problem and its true that as long those government does know to handle out those taxes
then it would really be that worth on imposing those increase and for the sake of economic development then its just understandable.

It's a good thing that their government is doing something to monitor and regulate lottery in their  country. At least things will be organized and taxation would be handled appropriately. Sometimes the government's restrictions benefit the country's economy. If it would work well for Nigeria, I hope that more countries would do the same thing.

I think the government is trying to diversify from oil source of revenue or income to other non oil sector, the future prospect of earning from the export of crude oil is not guaranteed due to improvement in technology e.g manufacture of electric cars like TESLA in view of that the government is looking towards exploring and generating revenue inform of taxes from lottery and gambling related businesses, Nigeria has huge population thus proceeds generated from.lottery can be channel towards  the development of their infrastructures provided that those funds are stolen by their corrupt officials.

Here in our country, our government is the one running the lottery and it's one of their main revenue-generating projects, they get all the income and they are not taxing it, it's ok for Nigeria to impose additional taxes, especially in the pandemic where any government especially if the government is classified as a third world country the people of Nigerian are the one that will benefit from this, unless the government is corrupt.

The vision is already here. It is more or less complete as well. It is good. But I am thinking more on the how on all of this. Make sure revenues are in order? Monitor the lottery system? Spread it all across? Better management? How? How is that done? What are going to be the concrete policies and other steps that would ensure that this vision is going to materialize? And how much money is involved to make this happen? This must need a larger budget for the gambling regulators to be able to effectively implement the new policies.

Lastly, I hope corruption will also be minimized or else this might only feed the corrupt officials.  

In a way it is understandable that this is happening as the pandemic has caused governments to spend a lot of money they did not had and they are looking for more sources of revenue as many businesses went bankrupt, but they are going to have problems because as we know now that people can gamble online and are not afraid to do so as they were at the beginning stages of the Internet, now any casino owner can decide to just leave the country with high taxes, move to another with low taxes and still target the same gamblers and get more money on his pockets that way by paying less taxes.

No, it will be a big change. Hard regulations mean much more strict implementations.

I'm guessing tax will be modified to cover the government losses during the pandemic. I'm also expecting strict licensing and requirements for the new lottery business to prevent the operation of those who don't want to be regulated. Not complying will be tagged as illegal.

I like the government's ways of taking steps to take advantage of the growth of lotteries there. I just hope the result will be good.

The fact that the Nigerian government is prioritizing this, means they are really serious about a good change. Maybe there are lots of lotteries there that despite getting good revenues, are not committed to following the proper taxation, or maybe some are unlicensed and the government is not benefiting from it.

Right, let's see how this will goes. This is a good move but hopefully, it will be balanced and fair to all concerns.

Yes but AFAIK at least half of the country is of muslim religion, and Islam prohibits gambling games, that's why in muslim countries gambling activities are usually prohibited or very strictly regulated, and lotteries are forbidden, so there will be certainly some controversies and protests about that matter in the country.

I do hope that this unexplored territory becomes regulated tightly by the government since the revenue earned through gambling/lottery activities is substantial.

In the Philippines, our own government-controlled gambling activity called PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) brings the government the highest revenue yearly. The potential of Nigeria earning through their lottery system can bring significant changes and improvement to their financials and expenditure.

Do you have the figures as well as the sources of this information? Please check your facts. Otherwise, you might be relaying false information. The highest revenue in the Philippines is coming from taxes. Having said this, the largest revenue contribution is coming from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). The Bureau Of Customs (BOC) comes next. PAGCOR remits to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr). Definitely, BTr does not bring the highest revenue to the government, although PAGCOR's share of BTr's revenue is indeed significant.

it is each government prerogative but i believe that this is a fresh country for this kind of activities  so at least they will be at good place in the next days.
Exactly that is what i also seeing this in future, Nigeria will make it one of the best gaining in gambling once this become reality.

The lottery games can be additional income to that country but they need to consider that the pandemic is not over yet. If the level of the infection is not too high in their country and people are aware of their health, they can start to test the lottery game and see how much income they can get. It will need more regulations from their government with the current situation and conditions that happen in their country so the regulation can run without a problem.

"Unexplored" meaning the Nigerian government wants its huge population to gamble more ! I don't like the sound of it and afaik these are the kind of issues that bring conflict knowing that different religious groups have different opinions over gambling. Tbh It's no brainer if gambling is taxable the real winners here are the government and not the people.

And that is the main objective mate, for the government to Earn as gamblers will always Play gambling that is the reality so no matter what the government stands as long as they are not banning gambling still people will gamble.
so i think the government is only seeking for a Piece of cake because in what they are having now , only the operators of gambling is benefiting from this things that they surely wanted to take part.
and besides even in the most strict country against gambling there are still gamblers lets admit that fact, so just let the government earn and besides they will use the funds for the economy .(as long as they are not that corrupt country)

Government is always a winner, you know that saying "the house always wins", well, the government is the main house! The gambling industry, or any other, can make or lose money, but taxes will be paid anyway!

I guess all this is not only about people gambling more, but it's also about "provably fair"! How to know that lottery is not rigged? Government and some regulations can help with that part, it's they who need to can make a lottery fair and honest!

I am tired of seeing "religion/religious groups" in gambling section threads! I am getting a feeling that religious people think more about gambling than I do (and I gamble every day for years), of course in a negative way... and having something negative inside your heart is a bad thing.... :)

Actually that's what I think also since they can only get low revenue to gambling compare to the other things so maybe this thinking to make their citizen as milking cow by politicians somehow not quite accurate, Maybe there are some especially the government agencies who handle the gamble regulation but I think these is not so rampant on gambling scene in their country. There are so many things that they can select to corrupt  so maybe to earn huge on this they should really make those reach guys convince to gamble and earn with them but I don't think rich people on their  country will bother to gamble a huge part of their wealth just to have fun on lotteries  or any  other type of gambling.

they can propose it to unexplored areas but they should not force them if the people in that area wont agree because its against in their religion or something  .
to some unexplored areas they can agree and they are not forcing anybody to gamble .
 you will only gamble if you are willing and your money will go a long way because it can help in the improvement of your country.

You kind of taking it personal like you know the op in real life. I guess he is talking about opportunities to explore for those who are involved into it and like forcing others to . Gambling is becoming a new venture for people to make money especially the online type and now cryptocurrency being used also. Governments definitely will also want to make profit from it to carry on with social amenities. They won't fold arms and watched gambling outfits making money from masses without remittance.

While gambling is controlled by the government, we cannot have complete freedom when playing. In addition to monitoring fees and high withdrawals, Nigerian government monitors are increasingly interested in having access to our accounts.
Actually, in terms of gambling, the government is more hostile, if you look at it from a criminal perspective. and even then depending on the rules in force in certain countries. what is certain is that gamblers do not like the way the government conducts fund checks in all gambling sectors.

That may be true, but I know better now that there will always be corrupt officials in every administration of any country. It is correct that the government would also want to make profit out of gambling which can be done through taxation, which is intended to be used for funding national projects and agendas, however the distribution of benefits is not really guaranteed unless the government is committed and will show some transparency.

Regardless of how the lottery system works in their respective countries, because all have basic rights that have been protected by Nigerian regulations, and if they impose taxes on Lottery games it should no longer be a problem.

Especially with the inclusion of state finances, it must be reconsidered so as not to complicate the pace of gambling. this has been contained in white papers in several reports by the Nigerian authorities.

Lottery generates massive income and should aid in generating revenue for it's metropolis but my fear would be if greed wouldn't be found on the path of this so called leaders knowing how hash the treat their Citizens. Who knows if this could be another plot to extort so as to enable their greedy tummy with loothed funds

Lotteries from the governments are actually a nice thing if the funding goes towards economic development. Everyone has a bad feeling when paying taxes but the same people would happily lose to the lotteries and casinos. If the government runs the casinos or lotteries, they can collect revenue without actually hurting people too much by asking for higher taxes.

Indeed Nigeria is suffering from a crisis and that isn't hidden from anyone so imposing taxes isn't the worst thing because someone who manages to gamble in Nigeria must be earning more than required and should have no problems paying taxes while the casinos in any country earn massive and asking higher tax from them is another good way to make the country stronger economically.

Maybe this is a unique way for a country. They spend money as a vibrant for the citizens.
It is one of the good ways to help people when in a pandemic like this. But is it effective?
Moreover, how can we be sure they really do a foam with honesty and fairness?
Hopefully, Government will not do nepotism and also corruption because this is a lot of money.

It's a welcome development for Nigerians but the fear is how would the revenue generated by this leaders be spent. If the funds could be channeled to infrastructural development or economic growth it would add a massive impact even making this lottery companies to support not just by the revenue the pay to the government but with other donations.

Shouldn't you worry about how this is going to affect the culture and the behavior of the citizens? It's quite hard to think about but it's needed because the effect of having the opportunity to gamble can make some people get addicted to it and forget everything that they are building for. This should be done with other regulating bodies that would make it controlled when it comes to this activity.

The idea that is quite justifiable is not to increase gambling especially in religious communities but just to allow those who already gamble to be able to do so and benefit their own country with the revenue of both companies more locally and fair tax on it.   This is so common an argument and the cash is much needed in a pandemic to ensure regular fiscal budgeting though oil is up and Nigeria is an OPEC nation nothing is simple here.    Freedom to bet is far more profitable then repressive regimes driving business underground to cash handling gangs etc.

Every country of the world has massive amounts of gambling going on whether its banned or not, its a totally normal human activity and game to play.  The only difference is really criminalizing a population and restricting quite simple human freedom.

Lotteries are always a big attraction for any countries whether poor or rich countries, it's going to be profitable for both parties, as long as the entry bet is acceptable to all sectors of society and the prize is attractive to all sectors, I don't know about Nigerian state when it comes lottery they may have underground lottery working already as we have here in our country, this is will be only instances that the government can't collect taxes if there are underground lottery operator already.

One thing about the Nigerian government is that, they live to talk. To act as though, they are doing something, something that would be of great benefit to the citizenry but in turn, its just another mirage. There is nothing new of this news. I might not have any statistics or proof to the later but, I'm quite sure the proof is very visible before our eyes, for those of us that are Nigerians with the many bet brands and outlets around all corners of our streets within the nation. Its a lucrative business for sure and the government, let alone the bet owners have already generated or made a fortune of a life time out of this investment. Its very much an over explored one the way I see it.

I do not think that is what we are seeing, what we are seeing  is an increase in the demand of gambling and they want to take advantage of it by charging more taxes, this is what governments have always done and in fact this happened to this market as well, when this market was small governments did not even bother with it but once it grew to a good size then they put all kind of taxes trying to benefit from it, it is the same concept with the difference those lotteries do not really have a way to try to avoid the taxation.

So basically, another goverment taking the reins in the name of better management and more honest play, level playground or even arguing that is for the good of people. And if I were 5 years old and believed that Santa Claus was to come and buy a permanent residency in Nigeria I would also believe that the government is trying something that has nothing to do with levying taxes, getting up to the last dime and probably take it to Mauritius as a retirement plan. Am I too cynic? (Do I care?)

This issue is seriously undertaking the whole country right now, and if this was totally settled for good I guess it would provide benefit for the entire country. Hopefully it won't be abused and come to a point that corrupt takes place. Every country was facing those challenges, and it's the worst thing that I'm sighting to observe due to greed leaders.

Corruption is everywhere and we can't deny the fact that there will always be an individual wherein greed will overtake him. But we are just hoping that the majority will do the right thing so the money that they will get will indeed go to the right people or organizations. Let us just look at the brighter side on this kind of action. It is hard if there are people who are after for their own interest.

Corruption is a global problem and it cant really be just get rid of it since government would really be  having different personel or members which are really that had greed in mind which would really be taking up some advantage out of their high positions which cant really be avoided and cant be known this is why we should really choose up on every election on most possible honest candidate but well this is nearly impossible.
Government does have the full control of things and if they are changing up something then its citizens would really be ending up to follow and theres nothing you can do about it.
Not all government are like that and some of them do really mind of for the progress of the country.

Would you rather have a regulated gaming sector, or one that is completely underground?

I think the former is almost always more desirable for both the government and the players.

The players get peace of mind by playing on regulated platforms, whilst the government collects some revenue along the way. As long as the amount isn't exorbitant and way higher than normal corporate tax levels, what's the issue?

I think that with a state controlled lottery it would be good for it's economy since the money is directly injected to the public funds which ends up with more projects created. I think it's alright that you are cynical because we know that the government doesn't always have the best interest of the public on the top of their priorities.

Even if corruption is everywhere, we should still fight it no matter what because the only time the evil and corruption will triumph is if the good don't do anything. And by taking action, I mean whatever it takes, remember when France did a revolution, if the government is too corrupt, decapitation of the corrupt leader isn't a bad thing.

State controlled lotteries are the best way for me too,,, yes, the house edge is extreme but at least it goes to the state which then goes to fund charities,,, of course, this is not the best solution in a corrupt government but imagine if lotteries from states also used blockchain and made it all provably fair? Like using block hashes to pick the winner:)

That's right and looking at the current situation in Nigeria, I think there is a need for such actions that improve their poverty ratio.

And seriously, I think gambling organized and minimally taxed is better than illegal gambling not just for the government but also for the gamblers because a lot of casinos take advantage and scam players and they cannot even report the scam since they were illegally gambling in the first place. Someone gambling illegally cannot report a casino operating illegally.

It's a good step forward and I hope it improves the living standard at least somehow in Nigeria.

Same Situation in my country that The Lottery are being controlled by the government and yeah there are so much fund to Spend for health and other services supported by the department of gambling and sports.
I believe in this matter that the people are benefiting from the gambling addiction of others in which fair and best interest for everyone .
Lets try to look at the brighter side mate, Though i am also doubting this as I knew how Nigerian government moves now and How Corruption runs their country .

The government is always ready to make steps that can increase their revenue potential and funds inflows are welcomed by them so that's why they came up with this new law governing all the lottery based system in Nigeria.But it can have positive impacts like more organized system and no fear and you can publicly try your luck with the lottery system.Government promoting although due to tax revenue structure but still it's good they are in favour of gamblers.So hope all goes good there.

I still find it hard to differentiate between lottery and gambling and if the two are the same but with different processes, then why does the government attack gambling and call it criminal enhancing but promote the lottery.

This article shows that the Nigerian government is waking up to its responsibility of providing and enabling an environment for business.

You are not too cynic this is simply the truth, if politicians actually took care of the population they are said to represent then I could believe such a thing and if the side-effect of all of this was that they got some additional taxes then that will be fine, but we know the truth, they are after the money and they are using the well-being of their citizens as nothing more than an excuse to justify their behavior, once they get what they want then nothing will change despite whatever they may say about it.

We all just wish that these government officials will at least do their job. But sadly, some will be blinded by corruption. Maybe at the start, they will show productivity but as time goes by and once the system is proliferated by corrupt individuals, that's when the system starts to fail from their original mission. But let us see how they will use the new system to their advantage and at least to help their own citizens.

On the paper all governmental projects always look beautiful and perfect, but let's see how it's really going to work for real. I think before saying they want to increase revenue sources of the country they should let clear to the population why they want to increase government's income and how it's exactly going to be used.
The problem is that these governments are insatiable. Doesn't matter the money amount, it's never enough for them and the application of the money is never displayed in a clear or easily understandable way. I just hope the government fights fraudulent lotteries and at same time doesn't create too many issues to regulate the businesses.

I think you got it wrong. The Nigerian government announces it. There is no event that a tax increase will take effect right away. It will be first discussed thru the Senate and the equivalent House of Representatives in that country before the approval.

Aside from that, it's not that the government want to increase revenue source. They just saw gambling is performing good even in times of pandemic so they want to regulate it. The more they can shutdown illegal lotteries, the more it will benefit the legit ones.

The government just wants to take a tidbit of this market under its patronage. I don't think this will really change the situation in Nigeria because most likely due to the high level of corruption, taxpayers' money will just end up in the pockets of the officials.

They just use it as an alibi to take advantage of whatever result of it might come in the future. I don't mean to hurt Nigerians with my words but in reality, corruption is at another level there. where politics are used to manipulate people's trust and things like this are no safe especially when money is on the line.

On the brighter side, it's better than nothing. There's no such thing that it can change the situation completely. If you guys will read the article, the purpose is for good. There's no perfect government and in every country, corruption is there.

Don't just look at the tax concerns, changing the state of lotteries there will benefit all legit operators. There will be sanctions for those operators that won't comply with the law. In that way, people who mostly bet at these lotteries will also feel safe that they are only betting in a legit lottery, and no worries they will be sh*t in an event of winning.

It looks like the proposal comes from the government side to be discussed and approved by the senate. Anyway it is the government who is proposing it, they are the most interested in raising revenue, otherwise they wouldn't even announce a project like this. Sorry, but I think there is no way to deny governments are constantly seeking for more and new sources of income through taxes and that is the main goal when launching such projects. The benefit promised to the society stays in second plan.

That is the quote from the article.

Of course there is corruption in all countries, but in Nigeria the level of corruption is much higher than average.

Do you think it is possible that people close to power are fighting their competitors in this way? After all, as you know, laws in second- and third-world countries are written exclusively in favor of big business.

In my opinion this solution contributes to the appearance of another field for corruption schemes and mechanisms. Unwanted lottery operators in an attempt to become legal may face serious infringements from the regulatory authorities.

I'll tell you a secret that even state lotteries can be conducted not entirely honestly. 

^ That is probably the reason they banned untaxable currency there and that is a cryptocurrency just because they can't able to implement the tax.
Every country needs revenue just to fund all kinds of infrastructure that needs to improve such as buildings and roads which is very basic and also health financial assistance. We can not blame them and probably they saw that there is huge money by collecting tax in all their people. The problem is those who hold the fund, it could be not an exact amount and might abuse by them.

You are correct on both points, governments always try to sell their ideas as if it going to benefit everyone but once the laws are put into practice you realize that it is something completely different than what you were sold, and most of the time the government never explains why they want more money, it is simply assumed that this is good for the country when this is not true as a smaller government that keeps the law and order will be better for the citizens and instead most of the time we get a big government that cannot keep order at all.