“We are living in a time where the future of gaming will be determined by how well we harmonise innovation, regulation, expansion, responsibility and investment,” said Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, Enugu State Governor, represented by Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr Nathaniel Urama, on day one of the 2025 Enugu Gaming Conference.
Held at the International Conference Centre, the Conference revealed Enugu State’s full-scale launch into regulatory revolution to bolster the gaming sector, while being at the fore.
The State has its focus on digital infrastructure, ethical clarity, and inter-agency collaborations, not waiting for federal alignment, but building its own to thrive without limitations.
The National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) delivered a keynote, warning that Nigeria’s decentralised regulatory space would collapse without shared standards for privacy, security, and accountability.
“Effective data is the backbone of engagement and revenue. With this rise in interdependency comes heightened risk of violent intent, financial fraud, unauthorised profiling and child exploitation,” Dr Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner/CEO, NDPC, represented by Alexander Onwe, officer at the Commission.
The NDPC offered capacity-building partnerships and proposed a sector-specific compliance framework for the gaming industry. It also urged the Governor of Enugu to formalise collaboration with the Commission under President Tinubu’s National Digital Economy Policy.
“If we want a future where the Nigerian gaming industry thrives globally, we must build it on privacy, compliance and regulatory unity. In this digital age, trust is the new currency.”
Also speaking at the conference, Executive Secretary of the Enugu Gaming and Lotto Commission, Prince Arinze Arum, said, “We must be honest with ourselves. The Nigerian gaming industry is at a critical juncture. The conversations are no longer just about enforcement. They are now about jurisdiction, innovation, technology, cross-border collaborations and, most important, structure.”
Arum emphasised that centralised control had failed, and that state-level innovation and regulation must rise to meet current complexities. He highlighted that over half of Nigerian states don’t even have a gaming commission, allowing for extortionate practices under the guise of enforcement.
“Effective regulation is not just a legal mandate. It is an enabler of innovation, investment and public trust.”
Industry Speaks: Too Many Laws, Not Enough Clarity
At breakout sessions and panels, operators, developers, and legal experts stress that:
- Multiple licensing requirements across states are crippling operational efficiency.
- Some regulators are unaware of current CAC document standards or outdated EFCC compliance practices.
- In Imo State, gaming companies were fined ₦110 million by the environmental agency over “gaseous emissions”, a charge totally unrelated to their line of business.
- There’s still rampant illegal betting, worsened by lack of coordination and weak digital oversight.
Industry experts called for:
- A central compliance portal for gaming firms to submit documents to EFCC, NDPC, FIRS, etc.
- Pre-warning systems for regulatory breaches instead of first-strike penalties.
- A unified API and CMS standard for state monitoring systems to reduce tech duplication and regulatory fragmentation.
Responsible Gaming and Social Protection
A dedicated panel on responsible gaming noted how much more Nigeria needs to do. Stakeholders stressed that public education, addiction services, and data-driven self-exclusion systems were all lacking.
Prince Arum revealed that a Responsible Gaming Law was recently passed by the State House of Assembly and would soon be implemented. However, he warned:
“Responsible gaming must not be seen as a new avenue to tax the industry. It should be about clear objectives and genuine player protection.”
Experts also called for:
- Use of AI to monitor harmful player patterns;
- State-funded campaigns similar to the UK’s GambleAware;
- Creation of a national exclusion registry shared across operators and states.
What’s Next: A Five-Year View
Looking at what’s next, industry leaders identified that the sector can’t thrive without economic stability.
“If disposable income continues to fall, gaming will be seen less as entertainment and more as survival—which erodes trust and damages perception.”
The sector is hopeful that a centralised multi-state licensing regime, led by the Federation of State Gaming Regulators, will be fully operational within a year.
In closing, Arum said: “The future of Nigeria’s gaming landscape will not be built by passive observers. It will be shaped by those in this room, those who recognise that compliance and innovation are not in conflict.”
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