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A Call For Urgent Action Against Sports Betting Amongst Nigerian Youths 

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  Two things provoked this essay; first, was my walking into a plaza recently in Enugu. The plaza was seated pretty opposite the main gate of a popular university in the metropolis. In it, a big shop caught my attention. It was filled with young people, and were predominantly boys. It looked as though it was one of those business centres in Nkpokiti of those days when JAMB registration was a booming business.  Many hung at the door wearing long faces. They were desperate to go in.  Those inside were busy with computers and their smart phones. They had troubled faces. I was determined to gaze further inside just so I could see what items were being sold in the shop. Moving closer, I saw most of them clutching a white piece of paper. The air was pretty thick and the industrial fan was blowing hot already. It was a Saturday. It was a betting outfit. It was intense. It was on a match day and so, the place was packed with passionate fans, sporting replica jerseys and rooting for their favourite European teams. On keen observation, I noticed that the white piece of paper they held was a “ticket”. Ticket(s) are printed copies of selected games on which bets are placed. They were betting on matches being played in Europe. They could be seen putting in more money and altering bets in real time as the matches progressed. To say I was blown away by the boisterous crowd was to say the least.  Further evaluation revealed they were mostly young undergraduates with strikingly identical age brackets. Then, my mind quickly walked down memory lane to my undergraduate days back then in the university. Little would you see such a charged atmosphere around any shop. Jukwuese, my hostel mate would tell me how he would board a bus from perm site down to temp site just so he could stake his bet prediction. He had indeed become addicted to the extent he would travel the full distance. But then, the good thing was that he does so secretly because sport betters were scorned and so, they were pretty few. But the society has changed; betting companies are now littered everywhere. Sport betting automatically has become the trending game. Individuals seemingly make gains from sport by successfully predicting the outcome of various sport events in a competition, tournament or league. In Nigeria, football betting has taken a new turn and the popular ones most youths are engaged in include: Naira Bet, Bet 9ja, Sure Bet, Winners Golden Bet, 1960 Bet, Merry Bet, Bet Colony, Stakers Den, while the foreign betting games include but not limited to: Bet 360, Bet 365, 1x Bet, 24H Bet, 368 Bet, Apollo Bet, Bet-at-Home.  Typically, all the aforementioned betting companies create an open platform for interested persons to predict the outcome of a game – Football, Basketball, Car race, Hockey, Dog race, Virtual among others. Fans that predict correctly are rewarded and those whose predictions were wrong lose their monies. This is fast becoming the order in Nigeria.  The predominance of boys in the betting shop indicated that males are more involved in sport betting than the females. This may be as a result of the natural inclination in most men to be involved in activities-based endeavours like sporting. The few girls I saw in the betting shop perhaps represent the female minority that are passive sport betters. Walking down approximately 4 – electric poles down same road, I witnessed a second incident that provoked this essay; it was a banner with the inscription, ‘Make one million with a N200 bet’. This inscription provoked my thinking immediately so much so I wondered if it were a money doubling invitation. But it was not. It was indeed a betting promise of a life time.  If there were a third incident that provoked this essay, it would be that I got home same day to be greeted with my little cousin being heavily beaten. You know his offence? Well, a Bet9ja ticket was found in his bag. After siesta, his bag was presented for the customary review of the day’s class exercises alongside his take home assignments. It was in the process the betting ticket was found. He was in senior secondary one, and was aged 15. Further interrogation revealed that he and his friends would skip classes to visit the Bet9ja shop around Mbanefo street where their school was located to play their predicted matches.  It’s therefore established that sports betting is currently a very popular gambling activity with Nigerian young people. Technological advancement has helped to increase the dynamics of betting, so much so that these young ones only need to sit in their room to apply for a matching forecast.  The good? In a chat with ‘The Guardian’, managing director of ZenithBet, a licensed betting company in the country, Tope Fagbuaro noted that irrespective of what people think about sports betting, the companies are really empowering Nigeria, especially the youth, and in doing so, help to curb crime among them. Quoting him further, he said, “The issue of unemployment cannot be over emphasized. Lots of youths are jobless and few of us decided that we want to be independent and create employment, which is key in the country. Betting has drastically reduced the crime rate. So, government needs to assist us in terms of finance…” The bad and the ugly? For many people, sports betting may be seen as empowerment and a way to reduce crime. But for others, especially the young ones, it can be both problematic and addictive with serious negative effects. With sports betting, comes the incidence of gambling related problems such as borrowing, indebtedness, anxiety, and emotional worries in event of loss of money placed on stakes. Other ugly incidences related to sports betting include bankruptcy, job loss, the use and abuse of substances, depression and addiction. Sports betting among youths also results to poor academic standing. Researchers have established a correlation between poor academic performance and sports betting. They disclosed that heavy online sport betting was associated with poor grades.  In the meantime, the extensive availability of betting houses and the legalization of its publicity have been identified as contributory to the public health and addiction concerns of these young ones.  Our youths have therefore become addicted to search for easy success; no one preaches the virtue of self-contentment nor hard work any longer. His pastor or Imam helps his daydreaming by telling him prosperity tales that do not feature hard work.  The nosediving economy has not helped matters either. Betting also increases frustration tendencies. I heard about a 100 level student who used his school fees to bet online, and has never stopped regretting his actions after he lost. Quite sadly, he lost his admission. A whole year’s efforts completely wasted. Thus, the rigorous preparation to write another university tertiary matriculation examination, (UTME) looking him in the face. Of course, he wouldn’t just laugh

Essays, Writers

The Fate Of Young People by Matthew Oduola.

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The society itself asks the question, ‘what is the fate of my young people?’ The voice is loud and clear all over the street yet no one would even try to answer. According to the report, over 40 million of youths in Nigeria are either unemployed or paid below 50 US dollars, as there is large record of graduates every year and yet no job opportunity. The youth employment rate in 2018 was put at 36.5% but recently it has increased drastically to about 40.8%. Each year the number keeps on increasing and accumulates with the other jobless graduates who had initially spent six years in primary schools, six years in secondary schools and four, five, six or seven years as undergraduates with hard labour. Now, why do you think the voice of the common question would not be louder in the street? Unemployment constitutes to why youths engage in sports betting. Sports betting have become very popular in the country, particularly amongst the country’s bulging youth population. They have to miss one meal and use the money to strategically place a bet by predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. But would we say sports betting, a peril or alleviation to these young people? Certainly, it is a menace. These youths tend to believe that they will one day become millionaires. This is only a fantasy that may end in mental distress, insanity or probably death. According to statistics, 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 are involved in active sports betting. They spent almost 2 billion naira on sports betting daily. This translates to about 730 billion naira annually. This is a huge resource enough to manage 4.36 out of 100% annual budgets of most developing countries. In Nigeria’s economy today, the money is enough to sort 7.06% of the 2020 national budget. These young people don’t see all of this; instead they keep on fantasizing in their minds while they lose huge resources that could have been invested on something else every day. Sports betting may cause emotional depression on these people. As a result of this, it may lead to provocation and sometimes violence when they do not win. According to researches, many youths have become more aggressive and rascals due to gambling on sports. Their loss could mount pressure on them to the point that they may want to seek other easy means of survival by looting people’s properties, stealing, being hired as thugs by politicians, street begging. All of these are immoral and unethical behaviours that should not be spoken of amongst youths. These are proves that sports betting is not a relief for jobless young people. However, in order to mitigate the rate of youths who are sports bettors, remedies need to be introduced. One of which is to enlighten the youths on the adverse effects of sports gambling. There is an adage that ‘ignorance is the root cause of destruction’. Some of the youth sport bettors do not have enough insights on the dangers they could be exposed to. That is why the public needs to address this issue by taking the post of mobilizing and educating the young ones on the complications associated with gambling on sports. It will help curb the rate of hardship victims due to sports betting. Furthermore, youths should be encouraged to participate in entrepreneurship training programs. The role of entrepreneurship training implies that young individuals are able to get foundational knowledge, training and resources which often guide them through simulations of a business plan, start-up, operation and development. As sports betting tend to destroy youths ambition, creativity and innovation entrepreneurship programs happen to build them up. The resources that they could have wasted on gambling on sports can be put together within a particular rate of time by a team of young individuals and use their potentials, ideas and knowledge of entrepreneurship to start-up a business (or businesses) with common goals and giving the business proper monitoring to achieve their aims. On this regard, young people can also acquire skills necessary to attain sustainability of life and maintain a free living. Skill acquisition is the ability to be trained on a particular task or function and becomes an expert in it. In this current dispensation, acquiring skills is one of the best things for young people. Large numbers of skills are available for young people to be trained on in fields of science, fashion, building, art, technology and lots more. Instead of betting, youths can acquire skills like fashion designing, hairdressing, barbing, photography. In this present world, a lot of information technology (IT) skills are acquirable online. These skills are in high demands and generate a lot of money for those who have them. They include digital marketing, data analytics, computer programming, copywriting, machine learning et cetera. This, we could call an alleviation to jobless youths. In a nutshell, considering these remedies would better be a relief or alternative to unemployed young individuals rather than sports gambling as they would not be affected by emotional depression, mental distress and destruction of ambition and creativity. Reference Betting and Gambling in Nigeria (www.noi-polls.com) Sports betting (www.wikipedia.com) Nigeria sport betting sector (www.businesswire.com)   Matthew Oduola a student of Industrial Mathematics at the Federal University of Technology, Akure wrote in from matthewoduola@gmail.com

Essays, Writers

Sports Betting: A Sticked Carrot by Ogunsola Fisayo.

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  The atmosphere was stuffed with orchestra of breath; these were the breath of English premier League fanatics gathered for the weekly carnival of screen soccer. It’s always a spontaneous mix of emotional outbursts; from the thrill of victory to agony of defeat, no matter where the pendulum swings, this ground was a pool that’s always full of fun that splashed our weekends with delight; a pastime from the systemic economic disappointment thrown at the vibrant core of any society- the youths. One memorable day it was when we watched Manchester United do battle with Arsenal; this fixture in years past was a doyen etched in football worlds calendar, but now a boring salsa between two estranged bad fellows. The outcome of the match would not have a bearing on the title race, but it left fans with a scrap of bragging right till the next fixture. I had a sketchy information about sport betting till we were gathered as usual in our clime to watch a dead rubber match, and the match was grinding down to a halt when the opposing team scored an equalizing goal with the last kick of the game. This didn’t elicit substantial emotional response from neither the host nor rival fans save “white” who sunk to his knees in tandem with his shrills of disappointment. I wondering how a dead rubber game could elicit lively shout from anyone till I saw a white piece of paper clenched in his fist of fury- the real core and cause of his agony. He had made wholesome predictions (bettings as its called) about the match, and that goal had ‘cut’ his tickets. To white it was like losing the title with the last kick of the season. Sport betting is growing luxuriantly among the teeming youths of the Nigerian populace. It cuts across status and academic exposures. It is a golden goose in a land scarce of available and viable economic options. It’s like an outlet to breeze bottle filled frustrations and disappointments the youth have towards the ineptitude of the Motherland, who has been a victim or rape and neglect by successive failed leadership, hence her inability to breast feed her many offspring’s have thrown them to be bottle-fed by any means of economic ease. With an estimated 33,652,424 of Nigeria’s population being youths, Nigeria has Africa’s leading youthful population, which means Nigeria’s productivity can soar astronomically when these energies can be harnessed, co-ordinated and deployed. However, the chronic systemic failure of successive government has led to a country impoverished whilst sitting on an enviable seat of mineral and human resource; this has led to economic downturn dovetailing into a very low income earning, underemployment, and unemployment of the youths. Sport betting isn’t just a cash cow that helps provide temporary succor for hunger. Firstly it has provided entrepreneurship initiatives for many via the partnership arrangement for interested youths. They have shops and offices where betting takes place under a neat well arrange environment with apt technology. Consistent gains made here can give a wise young man leverage to focus, plan and sustain economically. Furthermore, this sport betting entrepreneurs employ a few hands to help in the running of the business and this dovetails into some stable economic emancipation for their employees. Secondly, the estimate by Naira Metrics puts at 60 million the population of Nigerians between 18 and 40 who are involved in active sport betting. As its being said ‘where the carcass is, the vulture gathers’ the good environment in which sport betting takes place is user friendly and specifically youth friendly; as it can be done on the go using the possibilities afforded by mobile devices, applications and USSD codes. The website designs of sport betting firms have a ‘do it yourself’ aura. Furthermore, the financial requirements to stake have a wide range swinging from the low investment to very high ones. With as low as a few hundreds of naira to hundreds of thousand worth of stakes. This masterstroke strategy is an all-inclusive and attractive one to all the teeming betting enthusiasts pocket. The various brands of sport betting companies with their products and services sets the youthful taste buds on very sharp edges. This scenario is like rabbits finding a carrots filled field after days of hunger. However, this carrots are held by invisible sticks that can gore the very souls of those who hold its bounties. Firstly because of its economic allures. It can get so addictive and ultimately leads to a situation called Compulsive Addictive Disorder, where restraints are thrown to the dogs, this leads to a reckless fund management such as misappropriation and debts to service the addiction. Sport betting is a high risk high reward venture, but it doesn’t put the outcome in the hands of person who stakes. The thrill of a better day makes the pain of losses ephemeral and so the quest for one sweet day makes the journey appealing that you would strip to the last apparel to keep the winning dream real. These debts, debt servicing and misappropriations have lots of multiplier effects on the integrity, trust, family bonds, lack of concentration on career, business and academic of those who stake. This may impact the blood pressure with underlining health issues and law enforcement entanglement for misappropriation. Sport betting is a sweet carrot, but it is held by a stick, a whip that can run one ragged for a lifetime if it is not done with sense and lots of restraints.   Ogunsola Fisayo via olufisdel@gmail.com  

Essays, Writers

Sports Betting: A Greek Gift To Unemployed Youths by Oluka Emmanuel.

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    Introduction From the streets of Lagos, to the creeks of the Niger-Delta; from the savannas of the middle belt, to the hinterlands of the north, you cannot but agree that sports betting have permeated these spaces and have found sweeping acceptance. With each day, comes the proliferation of sports betting houses and the emergence of new dimension(s) to its voyage and acceptance, leaving in its trail, a blend of bitter and sweet experiences in the lives of the youths.   One may wonder what “sports betting” is all about; it involves the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager (bet) on the outcome.  It is regarded a booming business for betting companies. According to an earlier report by Nairametrics, roughly 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 are actively involved in sports betting. Interestingly, this is the age bracket where the youths belong. It is therefore a huge business enterprise that continues to thrive, not just because there is a population for it, but because, Nigerians love sports a lot. Safe it is, based on this premise to say that these businesses should have no reason to worry or lose any sleep.   While there have been concerns on whether sports betting is truly a sustainable business model or a ploy by investors to exploit the income and vulnerability of most young Nigerians, this essay takes a visible approach; it presents sports betting as a potential Greek gift, that has propensity to wreck far reaching menacing consequences on the unemployed youths if care is not taken to handle and channel it properly. Meanwhile, a “Greek gift” as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is a gift given, or a favour done with a treacherous purpose. This means that such a gift presents hidden or unpredictable dangers and has the likelihood to trick and cause harm to the recipient(s). This definition sets the tone for this essay; it establishes a nexus between the various arguments for, and against sports betting and tries to find a common, non-detrimental ground for the youths in the long run.   The gains… There is no gainsaying that if properly harnessed, sports betting have the capacity to increase the revenues of a state through taxes and levies paid to the government. Many see it as a gift of financial independence, providing a means of livelihood for the betting operators who are mostly young adults. In a chat with The Guardian, managing director of ZenithBet, a licensed betting company in the country, Tope Fagbuaro noted that “irrespective of what people think about sports betting, the (betting) companies are really empowering Nigeria, especially the youths, and in doing so, help to curb crime among them”. Quoting him further, he said, “The issue of unemployment cannot be over emphasized. Lots of youths are jobless and few of us decided that we want to be independent and create employment, which is key in the country”. In a related development, Jukwuese, a graduate of Estate Management in a chat with Saturday PUNCH said, “It is true that Sports betting is not really a job but, it has been my sole source of income for a while now; I don’t win all the time but on the average, I do win quite often. Somehow it happens that I am making a living from it; so, for me, in the absence of a full-time employment, betting could as well be my job at the moment”. Jukwuese thus represents a demographic of numerous unemployed Nigerian youths who have embraced sports betting as a means of livelihood. And to be honest, it is better than resorting to crime in other to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the classification of Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world according to a report by the Brookings Institution, when juxtaposed with the unemployment rate, suggests that sports betting could be a means of escaping the endemic economic situation in the country.   The pains… On the one hand, many may see sports betting as empowerment and a way to reduce crime, while on the other hand, others view it to be both problematic and addictive with serious negative effects on young adults. A man who battled sports betting addiction once said, “When I won games, the urge to want more from the betting platform couldn’t be resisted; I would be forced to wager one more and one more rolled into two more and so, my personal savings many times, ended in oblivion. Yet, the jackpot rarely came. At some points, when I lost bets, it births the urge to keep playing, rather than prompt me to walk away. At that level, I had indeed become an addict, and the level of addiction had assumed frightening dimensions. Such dimensions involved me running up huge debts and even stealing money to wager a bet. I would borrow money to stake a bet with hopes of paying back when I won; but in most cases, that doesn’t happen”. Unfortunately this remains the tale of most sports bettors as reports show that there are more pains than gains. With sports betting, comes other problems such as borrowing, indebtedness, anxiety, and emotional worries in the event of loss of money placed on wagers. Other ugly incidences related to sports betting include bankruptcy, job loss, use and abuse of substances, depression and stealing. Some are even lured into ritualism, which involve the use of “good luck charms” to improve their chances of winning. Our youths have therefore become addicted to search for easy success; no one preaches the virtue of self-contentment or hard to them. Their religious leaders help their daydreaming by telling them prosperity tales that do not feature hard work. The nose-diving economy wouldn’t help matters either. Much as sports betting presents itself a gift in the form of employment, empowerment and a seemingly lure away from crime, the truth remains that there is every probability that once the youths get too much involved in it, and

Essays, Writers

My Battle With A Monster Called Sports Betting by Oluka Chukwuemeka. 

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Recently, I wrote a thought-provoking essay on the need for an urgent action against sports betting amongst Nigerian youths. In that essay, it never occurred to the readers it was a first-hand experience of my encounter with a monster called sports betting. I call it a monster because I had become addicted to it and the addiction had assumed extraordinary, dangerous and frightening dimensions.  It all began in my 100 Level in the university. I was new on campus and we just had our matriculation ceremony. One fateful day on a Saturday, I woke up determined to savour the sweetness of my local delicacy, ‘Abacha’. Being a native of Enugu state, ‘Abacha’ was a meal I enjoyed pretty well and have missed a lot, since gaining admission into the higher institution. Interestingly, it was part of the delicacies my parents had prepared when they visited my school during the occasion of my matriculation. So, it wasn’t unusual that I woke up that morning, longing for more, just like Oliver Twist. At midday, after the day’s work, I headed straight for Ntashi-osa, a popular joint around campus to oblige my taste buds; but along the way, I decided to dash quickly to Benny plaza to buy a few stationeries for lectures on Monday.   Walking into the plaza, a big shop caught my attention. It was filled with young people, and they were predominantly boys. It looked as though it was one of those business centres in Nkpokiti area of those days when JAMB registration was a booming business.  Many hung at the door and wore long faces. They were desperate to go in.  Those inside were busy and had their eyes fixated on computer screens and on their smart phones. They had troubled faces. I was determined to gaze further inside just so I could catch a glimpse of what items were probably being sold in the shop. Moving closer, I could feel the air inside the shop because, the industrial fan was blowing hot already. I saw most of them clutching a white piece of paper. On each paper was written, “Make one million with a N100 bet”. It was then it dawned on me it was a betting house. It was weekend, on a match day, and so, the place was packed with passionate fans rooting for their favourite European teams and sporting replica jerseys of those teams. On keen observation, I noticed that the white piece of paper they held was a “ticket”. Tickets are printed copies of selected games on which bets are placed. They were betting on matches being played in Europe. Each person could be seen putting in more money and altering bets in real time as the matches progressed. To say I was bewildered by the boisterous crowd was to say the least.   Further evaluation revealed they were mostly young undergraduates with remarkably identical age brackets. But that was not all; I met Jukwuese, my high school friend and classmate in the shop. He was in his 200 Level and had gained admission before me. On sighting me, he gave a thunderous shout, rushed towards me and gave me a crazy hug. We were so happy to reconnect once more after high school and most especially, to have been offered admission into the same university. We quickly exchanged contacts with the promise to hang out the evening of the following day. I left the shop and then proceeded to get my stationery ready for Monday. On my way however, I couldn’t help but ponder on what I had encountered.   Evening came, the following day and Jukwuese and I met at the popular Ntachi-osa joint. We were served plates of Abacha garnished with ‘Ukpaka’, ‘Anyara’ and ‘Azu’. Meanwhile, a little jug of fresh palm wine could be sighted just by the corner. While we were eating, Jukwuese put the question before me, “what brought you to Agbakoba’s shop yesterday? Have you too become a bet tycoon?” I quickly responded saying, “I was on my way to get a few items for lectures when I noticed the charged atmosphere around the shop, and in my curiosity, I found myself inside the shop.” I also told him I knew close to nothing about betting and what it portends. No sooner had I finished responding, than he burst into laughter. He knew I was a fresher on campus and was pretty oblivious of what the trending thing was. He wasted no time in making the promise of introducing me to the betting world. He told me it was a lucrative way I could be financially independent while on campus. In fact, he said he and his friends had made huge fortunes out of it. In his words, “Agbakoba’s shop has fast become the cynosure of all eyes on campus for this reason. He has made many students millionaires and the students in turn, have made him a millionaire”. For Jukwuese, sports betting was generally fast becoming the real deal in Nigeria.   After our hangout that evening, he kept to his promise because he taught me the nitty-gritties of sports betting and how to successfully place a wager on a football match. He would occasionally visit my hostel to put me through and help me navigate difficult matches. That was not all; he also introduced me to some of his close friends who in turn linked me to trending online odd makers. In betting terms, an ‘odd maker’ is one who figures betting odds.   Going forward, I could be seen spending minutes and hours on bet-staking sites, checking the largest odds and pay-outs to the extent that I found myself skipping lectures. Even when I attended lectures, I always had divided attention simply because I’d be checking bookmarks and monitoring odds with my internet-enabled mobile phone. Little did I partake in other activities that could be beneficial to me. Such activities like reading or learning something new never appealed to me anymore. My discussions with friends always centred around sports betting. When I won games, the urge to want more from the betting platform couldn’t be resisted. I would be forced to stake one more and one more rolled into two more and so, my personal savings many times ended in oblivion. Yet, the jackpot rarely came. At some points, when I lost bets, it sets off the urge to keep playing, rather than prompt me to walk away. At that level, I had indeed become an addict, and the level of addiction had assumed frightening dimensions. Such dimensions involved me running up huge debts and even stealing money to stake a bet. I would borrow money to stake a bet with hopes of paying back when I won; but in most cases, that doesn’t happen.   My romance with sports betting also lured me into ritualism, which involved the use of ‘good luck charms’. After some losing streaks, I made the decision that I wouldn’t put a huge amount of money into betting anymore without any form of spiritual enhancement to guarantee my chances of winning. In the course of that quest, it led me to the realization that some bet company operators aalongside bookmarkers were known to use spiritual powers as well to ensure that their clients do not win.   My bizarre experiences with sports betting could never be fully captured within the boundaries of this essay. But most striking of them was that it crippled my academic performance a whole lot because I wasn’t consistent with lectures, class works and assignments. For the two semesters in my

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