National Lottery Authority launches museum, photo exhibition
The National Lottery Authority (NLA) on Friday launched a museum and a photo exhibition to showcase the various transformations that the authority had gone through for the past 50 years.
On display were types of NLA lottery products, its decentralisation process, state of infrastructure, its corporate social responsibilities and photographs of the leadership over the years.
Addressing the workers at the ceremony in Accra, Mr Aaron Gyabaah Yeboah, a Theatre and Culture Specialist, who cut the tape to the exhibition room, eulogised how the national cake was shared saying that those who worked around the national cake used different kinds of tools during sharing.
He noted that while some used axe, hoes, and machetes, others used bulldozers to secure their share thereby breeding corruption.
Mr Yeboah said African countries had become poor because of corruption stressing that; “We need to do away with corruption in order to make Ghana great.”
He cited Nigeria and Norway as two countries that produced oil but recounted that in Norway proceeds of their oil was used to create better health, agriculture, and education and their surplus proceeds were used to support African countries, but in Nigeria, some people used the oil proceeds to enrich themselves by acquiring private jets.
Mr Yeboah commended the NLA for giant strides chalked over the years especially its bid to support the needy in the society.
Mr Shine Kplorlali Gbologa, Director, Corporate Planning and Sales, NLA, explained that the exhibition was to enable the authority recollect and take stock of how it had delivered its mandate in the country.
He recounted how the NLA, formerly Department of National Lottery, used car numbers for their operations and now graduated to the use of automated machines.
Mr Gbologa noted that due to its sole mandate NLA was raking more revenue from its operations.
Some members of staff exhibited the various uniforms used by the staff since 1979 to date.
The introduction of lottery in Ghana was preceded by discussions and approval in 1955 and the passage of Parliamentary Act 1958 which gave birth to the Department of National Lottery. Subsequently it was incorporated into a Lottery and Betting Act in 1960.
The operations of NLA started in 1962 with lotto coupons, through ticket printing machines, which operate on-line and off-line through Portable Automated Data Processing Machines which solely operates on-line.
NLA can now boast of games such as Monday Special, Lucky Tuesday, Mid Week, Fortune Thursday, Friday Bonanza, National and Freeky Fortune.
Source: GNA