Children, youth and the elderly across both sexes now engage in sports betting without bathing an eyelid. Since September 7, 2018, when the National Lottery Regulatory Commission issued the Africa Betting Company Nigeria Ltd a five-year licence to operate as a sports betting company in the country, additional 35 such licences have been issued in the last three years, the latest being the Winners Golden Bet Nigeria Ltd which got its five-year licence on June 19, 2020.
One of them, Kafayat Adelakun, who resides in Oshodi area of Lagos State, said: “If there is any time that betting is productive, it is this era of hardship in this country. Only last week I won N30, 000 after playing with N600 only. What else can give me that kind of money? The N30, 000 I won went a long way for my family, even though the high cost of living made the money seem very insignificant.
“I am on a post-paid billing system and I get approximately N34, 000 every month. If not for the savings I keep from bet money, how am I supposed to pay such a bill? Do I really make up to N30, 000 after feeding my family from this job every month that I would now be able to pay N34, 000 for electricity every month?
Samuel , who lives in Isolo area, also said: “It’s almost impossible not to turn to betting these days. Just look around; the economy is bad, times are hard and there are a lot of jobless people around struggling to put food on their tables. Betting is simply trying to multiply the money you have at hand, using money to try to make more money.
“I won’t advise anyone to make betting the main source of income because anything can happen in sports betting but, as always, don’t stake what you cannot afford to lose. Betting is so common these days, primary school and JSS1 students are all involved in it; they have access to smartphones and are very active betting online.
“The Champions League is usually played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Other big leagues are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Before now, I played heavily; I used to spend at least N10, 000 on betting every week.