In a move that sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s sports sector, President Tinubu’s decision to scrap the standalone Ministry of Sports Development might have inadvertently dealt wild cards to one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing industries – sports betting. With over ₦2 trillion in annual revenue and millions of young Nigerians actively engaged, the betting industry’s fate now hangs in a curious balance as sports administration undergoes structural transformation.
Veteran sports broadcaster and producer, Toyin Ibitoye, is anything but shocked. He recalls that this is not the first time a Nigerian government has made such a move and explains that the rationale might be an indirect admission of the Tinubu administration’s pockets not being deep enough to shoulder the responsibility: “We are talking about the structure of sports development in Nigeria- the desire of the government to move into new areas of sports administration and focus on grassroots development and also get a lot of private sector development. This is because it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the government to solely improve sports while shouldering the responsibilities of improving other crucial sectors like health, education and defence. The National Sports Commission (NSC) is in place to develop a relationship with the private sector to improve funding, corporate governance, efficiency and make sports more profitable by developing a strong ecosystem for sports.” The Nigerian i-gaming industry is relatively new compared to the NSC which dates back to 1910 when the Empire Day competition first commenced. The last time it was dissolved was in 2015, during the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Now that it has been resurrected by the Tinubu administration, the expectations are hig