VICTOR NWOBIA is the Chief Operating Officer of MegamillionsNaija, a gaming and entertainment platform which aggregates some of the world’s biggest lotteries on a common platform to easy the stress and process of gaming for Nigerians at home.
In other words, the average Nigerian can now sit in the comfort of his home and participate in the Megamillions USA, Euro Lottery, Australia Lottery, UK Lotto and other globally reputable lotteries without the encumberances of law or cross-border stress.
In this exclusive interview with naijasuperfans.com, Nwobia preaches the gospel of mutual prosperity available through the lotteries and why Nigerians should avail themselves the opportunity to grab a part of the pie with guaranteed peace of mind.
“Basically, what we have done is to aggregate all the foreign lotteries into one platform and, as a Nigerian, you don’t need to leave the comfort of your home to play. We also save you the headache of looking for foreign currency to play these lotteries because you can play with the naira. Just open an account on our website, choose the lottery you want to play in and fund your account. Then you’re good to go. And you can monitor your game in real time on our platform as the draws are being conducted. Even if you miss the live show, you can always watch it at a later date on our website,” he began.
Nwobia’s ethusiasm is infectious, his face lighting up animatedly as he discusses his favourite subject, and it was not too hard to see why. It comes out of a genuine desire to help ordinary Nigerians change their life’s circumstances for the better.
He said: “We are the only lottery in Nigeria who genuinely wants you to win and win big. We saw all the lotteries and how winners’ lives are instantly changed when we travelled overseas so we thought that it will be good to bring it to Nigeria so that our people can also benefit from it. Those who win lotteries abroad are ordinary everyday people like you and I and this is not like sports betting where you have to study the form and records of your team before placing a bet on them. Here, you can close your eyes, pick numbers randomly and win big money.”
Next Nwobia reaches for his laptop to demonstrate how easy it is to play any of the lotteries on the MegamillionsNaija platform.
“You see, people play lottery with numbers that mean something to them. Their birthdays, wife’s birthdays, anniversaries, mother’s birthdays etc. Generally, they use numbers that are special to them. When the numbers are drawn, they’re randomly drawn across 79 numbers from which you are expected to pick five or six numbers, depending on the particular lottery you’re playing. Then on the lower lower part of the ticket, you’ll also see a list of 29 numbers from which you pick one for the jackpot. So, if for example, I play mega millions and pick 12345 and come to the other part to pick number 23. If we draw and three of those numbers come out then you’re almost there. If your jackpot number is also picked with those three numbers then you’re guaranteed a sum of one million dollars, regardless of how the other numbers turn up. The draws are done live and you can follow it even on our website. We have systematically synchronised the draws on our channels so you can see it once you log on to your account. It is really simple to play,” he said.
Nwobia is a strong believer in putting one’s money where his mouth is so he also has a active account on the platform.
“I also play and if I don’t believe in it I won’t be playing with my own money. As a matter of fac, I won something yesterday though not much but it shows anybody can win but to win you must play. That’s why we always say ‘play it, win it.’ You can also make your dreams come through.”
He also has implicit trust in the integrity of the process put in place to guard against fraud.
“We have no fear that tomorrow the EFCC will come after us because the process is automated and transparent. It doesn’t require human intervention. The only thing required is you and your God to give you luck of the draw. You dont need to deposit money to open an account with us but, definitely, if you want to play you must have money in your account. Your funds are safe with us because we don’t even have the authority to tamper with your account. We also do not take a commission or cut from your winnings.”
MegamillionsNaija recently organised a media launch to introduce itself to the gaming public via the press and Nwobia is astounded by the response so far. He could barely hide his excitement, even.
He grinned: “It has been phenomenal. Don’t forget that what we did was just a media launch, not a public presentation, yet the number of people who have signed up is mind-boggling. I wonder what the reception will be like when we eventually do a nationwide roadshow to connect with the people. The response has been amazing even from the segment of the population that we didn’t expect. People you think will normally not play lotteries like housewives, mothers, retired teachers etc are registering. It told me that people understan that there’s a chance in life that you can change your destiny with just 100naira. It showed that there’s a healthy gaming culture in Nigeria, whether we like it or not, it has come to stay.”
Apart from integrity, the process is technology-driven which makes it easier for a lot more people to connect to the platform and win.
“We just did our media launch like I told you so we are building our web presence. Other channels that we are working on include the USSD, POS and through the use of your ATM to transact. All of these are coming on shortly and our app is almost ready too. So Nigerians will be giving the opportunity to confidently interact with our platforms and you don’t always have to log on to your desktop or handset to check your mail or go to the site. You can transact via USSD if you don’t have data on your phone or you can walk up to a POS agent and play our lottery. Infact, from the experience we’ve had with customers on-boarding themselves, it has made us acutely aware that we need to speedily roll out our other channels so that people can enjoy the benefit of the games we are offering,” Nwobia said.
Surely, with MegaMillionsNaija, the good times are here for the gaming community which is growing in leaps and bounds.
