Is the advent of so many betting companies in Nigeria a good thing? Most neighbourhoods across the country have betting shops doted all over the place.
In an economy with a high unemployment rate, the temptation to have recourse to placing sporting bets hoping to hit a jackpot is very high. That is the biggest attraction of sports betting – the value proposition that for little or nothing placed as a bet, you can win a lot of money.
When you are unemployed and looking for how to make ends meet, getting involved in sports betting hoping against hope to make it big from your wagers can easily lead to you being a chronic gambler. You are always hoping to hit the jackpot with your next bet, and as a result, become addicted to gambling.
Across the Nigeria, with bets as little as ₦100, people can win up to ₦20,000. It’s this possibility of high returns from small wagers that lures millions of Nigerians, most of them poor, to ‘invest’ in sports betting.
This potential for profit has led many to resort to sports betting. Millions of Nigerians place bets daily win or lose, but most lose rather than win. Losing regularly does not put them off placing the next bet because “hope springs eternal” – if their number does not come up today, tomorrow will surely be their lucky day. This hope that tomorrow will be their “jackpot day” leads many a gambler to beg, borrow or steal to place their bets.
There is little or no public enlightenment about the dangers of gambling, and the resultant negative effect of gambling addiction. Also the lax regulatory environment provides an attractive incentive for both local and international betting companies to enter the Nigerian market.
Gambling is a game for “mugus” as the odds are always stacked in favour of the betting companies. These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. The mugu is left forever dreaming of the day when he will strike that big win which never comes.