Nigeria’s Millionaires by Promo

Money is good, and so everybody wants money. But the proliferation of promos and lotteries by telecommunications companies and even banks, by which many hope to get rich quick are essentially anti-social. While a few might be lucky and start thanking their stars that they are now millionaires in naira, and even in dollars, this get-rich-quick attitude needs to be examined. It is like robbing many to enrich few, not even to talk about allegations that the companies running the try-your-luck games in town often undercut the intelligence of their unsuspecting subscribers.
The Director-General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Peter Igho, once said that “one of our major telecom operators made a profit of N2 billion from a lottery game and I do not think it gave up to N20 million to the public who played the lottery. Imagine the impact on the people if N1billion had been given to the public as prizes won in the lottery.” (Daily Trust, September 13, 2009).
Aside the cheating claims, the main reason why I think both the telecoms and the participating population should review this kind of lottery is that it tends to promote a materialist and consumerist society. Every young person is made to think that money is everything and the adverts for these lotteries seem to suggest that gambling is the best source of wealth. Instead of focusing on the lottery mentality, telecommunications companies should improve on their services. Call drops, bad networks, undelivered (yet charged) text messages are too common to enjoy the benefits of the global system for mobile communications in Nigeria.
They should use part of the proceeds from these lotteries to execute social responsibility services in schools and health centres. Banks should give scholarships to diligent students and modest loans to indigent ones. Many of our students in public schools cannot afford food and books and when they hear about enrichment by lottery I wonder what they think.
There is no doubt that lottery is a matter of choice, and that there are laws that govern it. Even in the UK some are becoming millionaires in pounds by hitting the jackpot. Yet, the psycho-social impacts of lottery mentality, especially when it is not properly regulated and is being branded as the most normal source of wealth, can only give rise to a material-driven and heavily monetized society, where people, especially the youth, would want to chase money by all easiest means possible.

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