RISING COST OF LIVING: NIGERIANS RESORT TO GAMBLING

December 05, 2023

RISING COST OF LIVING: NIGERIANS RESORT TO GAMBLING

RISING COST OF LIVING

NIGERIANS RESORT TO GAMBLING

Forty-seven years ago, it was the three-month long vacation and I was looking for what we called Vacation Jobs. Vacation jobs were little things we looked for to keep busy and earn some money. Our parents supported it because it kept us from roaming the streets.

For me in July 1976 it was Ajasco’s Pools. The shop was in a corner in my neighborhood away from public glare. Daily I saw old men addicted to playing pools betting spend their whole day with large tabulated sheets I never made any sense of.

The permings, forecasts and all the stuff made no sense but they believed in them. They banked on teams they didn’t know playing draws and most times they failed.

The people who indulged in pools betting were considered irresponsible and the dregs of the society.

I didn’t spend a month there before Mama Teacher (that’s what everybody in the neighborhood called my mother.) stopped my Vacation Job. It took over a decade to reconcile her with the neighbor who got me the "job".

Fast forward to 2023.

Adedayo is in his late twenties. He wakes up daily and heads to the ‘junction’. Adedayo is a compulsive gambler. He resumes at a popular betting shop in the place called junction where he would spend the entire day monitoring different leagues while daily staking about N2000 across different leagues with the hope of becoming a millionaire.

He is not alone. There are tens of others at the junction every day. There are also those who work but dash in four or five times a day to stake.

Emma is a bike man, he said he has been playing sports betting for over six years now and won’t stop until he makes millions. “I have won on some occasions but not as big as I would want. On average, I stake at least N2000 daily. The focus is on the lower leagues. The odds are very high and I take my time to follow them and am very familiar with these leagues.”

There are always stories of someone who has made or lost tons of money from sports betting. A simple internet search will throw up tons of examples. The stories, whether of gain or pain, are endless.

Wasiu lives somewhere in Mokola. I once asked him if he would leave sports betting if he got a good job. He said the job must pay millions to make him leave sports betting. He only has his O’levels.

Iya Kike sells fish at a popular market in Ibadan. She knows nothing about football or the leagues. She relies on forecasts given her by the betting kiosk operator. Sometimes she wins but most times she loses. She keeps hope alive with the belief her millions are round the corner.

There are also the ones who play a game of numbers (Baba Ijebu). Tales of lamentations are rife when their combinations of numbers fail.

There are risks associated with sports betting, including the potential for financial losses, addiction, and other negative consequences. The young, the old and women are all vulnerable as the operators invade every nook and cranny without thinking about the social impact of their endeavors. Every nook and cranny has a betting cabinet, kiosk, or house.

Underage gambling through sports betting is another evil bedeviling the society. The issue of underage gambling through sports betting deserves special attention due to the potential harm it can cause to minors, including addiction. Sadly, today minors can access sports betting facilities without any encumbrance.

Another evil is the potential for addiction. Some people may become so engrossed in sports betting that they neglect their personal and professional responsibilities. It can lead to problems such as neglect of family and work and even criminal activity in some cases.

This vice is so rampant. It’s like a pandemic. Yesteryears, people hid to engage in pools betting, today the case is different as people unabashedly engage in this vice.

Popular opinion is that the number of Nigerians engaged in the act of betting has increased due to the present economic hardship and unemployment.

The youth’s appetite for gambling has increased recently due to the present economic reality as many people are putting their hopes on making millions from gambling.

A recent trending video on social media, especially X (formerly Twitter), showed several Nigerians lamenting after losing money in sports betting.

In the Video, hundreds of betting receipts were seen on the floor with many of the people in a state of hopelessness as a result of losing their money.

The players blamed the Nigerian government for the hardship in the country which has led them to betting.

The video generated lots of reactions from Nigerians, with some calling for a ban on betting in Nigeria.

Many responded by condemning the act of gambling, noting that many lives have been destroyed.

“Yet when I said this, they wanted to cook their uncle. Lives are being destroyed by this habit,” Aproko Doctor said on X (formerly Twitter). “Every two steps there’s a gambling kiosk, more marketing than should be allowed. Especially in a poor country like ours where people think it’s a route out of poverty.”

Lives have been disorganised by this pandemic called gambling. Nurturing the upcoming grown-ups in the right mindset may help in reducing the effect of this ‘disease’.

Another reason why Nigerians indulge in this behaviour is traceable to how we “worship” money in our society. This has created a culture of cutting corners and looking for shortcuts to make money at all costs. It’s a rat race. A case of the end justifies the means.

While sports betting is not illegal, the damage to the individual and by extension the fabric of the family should be a cause of concern for all of us.

Sports betting can be a fun and exciting form of entertainment, but it can also be addictive and potentially harmful if not approached with caution. In Nigeria, as in many other countries, sports betting has become increasingly popular in recent years, with an increasing number of online and offline betting companies offering a wide range of options for placing bets on various sports events.

Experts concede that gambling is addictive. Sports betting, in all its forms, is gambling. It follows that sports betting is addictive, contrary to what operators may try to portray.

Supporters of Sports betting often point out that sports betting creates jobs. They point to the myriad of betting shop outlets across the country in addition to in-house staff members to prove that they are a viable economic activity. In addition, they pay taxes.

Their operations in many instances however leave much to be desired.

At over $2 billion, the nation’s sports betting industry is today a behemoth. It must however be properly regulated if the country wishes to harness the benefits. Again, the onus is on the government and the regulator to rein it in before it wrecks the future of the youth.

While sports betting is getting more and more popular, the impact on sports development is still largely negligible.

Over the last decade of tremendous growth, how many new sports grounds have been built with funds from sports betting?

Can the sports betting industry point to athletes that its sponsorship has supported and promoted?

How much is paid in taxes and levies and which agency?

What is being done to curtail the increase in underage participation in sports betting?

If sports betting exists only to make money for a few, fuel the gambling addiction and drive-up underage participation, it is not a business but a parasite. They, therefore, need to be tamed, their activities curtailed and their modus operandi scrutinized more closely.

The sports betting industry must demonstrate a clear commitment to sports development. It equally has to invest in measures to curb underage participation. In addition, it must pay commensurate taxes.

The National Assembly needs to look at strengthening the laws prohibiting minors from engaging in gambling activities and include a provision to prosecute those who violate these laws. Security agencies must be willing to enforce the law to its full extent.

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission, the regulator of the sector, urgently needs to rise to its responsibility to protect society. At the very least, the commission must insist that operators implement strict age verification processes to ensure minors cannot access sports betting sites or shops and push to educate the public, especially minors, on the dangers of underage gambling through school programs, media campaigns and community outreach.

Parents equally have a responsibility to care for their wards. They need to closely monitor their children’s online activities and have open communication with them about the risks of underage gambling.

While Sports Betting and all other forms of gambling may be condemnable it is believed that an improvement in the standards of living of the people, reduction in cost of living and provision of employment will reduce involvement in gambling.