Any corner or neighbourhood you turn to across the country there is a gaming centre, lottery, betting and game for money is on the rise, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, takes a look at this phenomenon.
THERE is a gambling boom in Nigeria. In fact, it keeps growing. Gambling revenues soared to a new height last year. Government statistics show that the authorities are garnering more and more revenue from the industry while a recent study revealed that a whopping 68.6 percent rise over 2012 in revenue and the country’s sixth straight year of record earnings.
Unlike never before, more and more Nigerians are taking to gambling as shown by both government statistics and reality on the streets. Investigations by The Nation across major cities revealed an unambiguous increase in the population of Nigerians who see gambling as a harmless way of boosting their income.
Strangely, it is not only to the Casinos that these ‘modern day’ gamblers are seeking their chances to make more money. Sports betting and lottery have joined the new leading forms of gambling, relegating the traditional casino stakes to the background in the ongoing boom in the sector.
Existing betting houses and lottery operators in major cities like Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Warri, Aba, Enugu, Kano and Kaduna now earn six times more than they did prior to the gambling boom that experts claim started about six years ago.
Even rural folks, according to surveys, are not left out of the boom in ‘trial-lucks’. Off-the-road towns and remote villages now have betting houses and lottery operators very close by if not right within them.
Across many cities and towns in the country, several new lottery operators, betting houses and gaming centres have sprung up. This wasn’t the case about six years ago.
“And in nearly all these cities, new and more sophisticated betting houses and gaming centres are daily springing up to complement the soaring demand amongst eager stakers who are ever willing to try their luck in the uncertain terrain of gambling,” says Jibola Sagoe, Chief Operating Officer of leading research outfit, Numeric West Africa.
According to a recent report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), more than 60 million Nigerians between 18 and 40 years of age spend something in the region of N2 billion on sports betting daily.
“They commit on the average N3,000 on sports betting daily. Sixty million Nigerians placed bets on different matches daily across the country. Most unemployed youths have taken to online and other forms of sports betting to make a living. Some people denied themselves of food after spending all they had on a bet,” the report revealed.
Nedu Obiozor, an agent for MERRYBET in Lagos, said that between 300 and 400 people visit his office to place bets on match days during football seasons while about 200 people bet at off-seasons.
According to him, a betting company can generate up to N30 million monthly and use between N8 million and N10 million to meet winners obligations in terms of payment.
A representative of another betting company, Nairabet, Fola Jewoniba, said that sport betting companies have employed about 500 youths in Lagos.
But he is worried that it is the same young people between ages 18 and 40 who come to place their bets. According to him, he is worried about the growing number of youths now taking to gambling through sport betting.
A blessing?
The ongoing boom is not just about increase in number of gamblers and growth in government earnings. Supporters of the boom are quick to point out its unarguable contribution to job creation in a country where unemployment is a major headache.
More and more jobless people are keying into the sector to get their dream jobs. “Blue-chip” lottery operators like NSL Lotteries Management Company Limited (NSL LMC), operators of Nigeria’s first national on-line lottery game, Lotto Nigeria; Premier Lotto, operators of the “Baba Ijebu” lottery game, Green Lotto and the likes are daily employing marketing executives, administrators and corporate affairs personnel and paying workers huge salaries far beyond the minimum wage.
The daily increasing numbers of betting websites are also creating jobs for numerous Nigerians. Scattered all over the country now are agents of betting sites like Naira-stake, 360BET, SUREBET247, 1960BET, Bet9ja, MERRYBET, LOVINGBET, Nairabet and others.Betting houses and gaming centres are taking care of jobless middle class youths by providing them opportunities to run betting corners and gambling kiosks located all over the cities. With just a large umbrella, a table and a chair, you can now be the proud operator of your own betting corner.
Some of these lottery papers and betting machines are now being sourced locally. Several foreign companies have now opened subsidiaries in the country to cater for the logistics need of the booming gambling sector.
“From 1960BET to Bet9ja to MERRYBET to and several others, we now have many reputable international gaming companies operating in Nigeria. They all have workers and support staff. This is helping reduce the unemployment problem in no small way,” Deen Sanwoola, Mayor of Lagos-based frontline hospitality concern, Funcity, said.
It was also gathered that Casino jobs, which pay 30 to 40 percent more than others in the sector, is also on the increase. Add casino-related positions like retailing and hospitality and you will agree that the gaming industry has its merits.
And with government record showing that that the industry has the potential to fetch the country a fortune like other prime sectors of the economy, proponents of more support and encouragement for the gaming sector see the boom as a huge blessing for the country at a time like this.
“The result is a visible increase in the country’s employment rate and enviable addition to government earnings. With that come more dividends of democracy,” Sanwoola posited.
While still in office, the former Director-General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Peter Igho, says the Commission wants to sanitise the industry and turn it into a viable agent of national development because of the numerous advantages that will come with promoting legal lottery in the country. But he says lottery is not gambling.
“Gambling is a game of chance that only the people who arrange it and the ones who play it can win while lottery is a game of chance whose proceeds go to charity. Lottery has been used in many countries for decades for development,” he said.
He also corroborated claims that the industry is helping to solve the unemployment problem currently bedevilling the country through job creation across the states.
“Now we have staff in most of the states, to ensure that our operations do not suffer. We have succeeded in creating employment for Nigerians, because in all those offices we have a minimum of 20 employees. In the past two years, we have raised over N2 billion for the Lottery Trust Fund and that is still a drop in the ocean for what can happen.
“I can assure that, this year, as we strengthen ourselves and position ourselves, we are now getting strong support from government and the National Assembly which has now realized that lottery can be a veritable support in bringing revenue outside oil.
“We got experts to study the business of lottery and they have just submitted their reports. Annual projected profit from the promo lottery alone is N45 billion. From the SMS lottery alone, we are looking at revenue of about N150 billion.
“Then we come to the regular lottery itself, which is the point of sales lottery. If that is fully developed and expanded the way we are pushing it, that one has the potential of about N161 billion annually. These are figures from veritable facts from the study of the industry, all things being equal,” Igho said.
The Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State lottery Commission, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiadi, while espousing the sunny side of Lottery, noted that revenues from the Lottery Commission were being used to finance other sectors of the state such as; health, education, infrastructure and environment sector.
These remitted revenues from the operation of lottery commission, he stated, were used by the Lagos State government which were also beneficial to the citizens of the state.
…Or a menace?
Good as the argument for the promotion of the gambling industry appears, growing tales of persons, homes and organisations being ruined by gambling create a picture of a growing menace needing urgent attention, especially amongst the youths.
In dealing with the issue of how this would not be turned into an avenue for money laundering, Sanwoola while agreeing with some of the advantages of the growing industry, the Funcity boss, is worried by what he sees as the biggest danger inherent in the growth of the gambling industry.
According to him, “I see a situation where corruption, especially money laundering is aided by this sector. And if this happens, the very people we want to help will be the greatest losers.”
Explaining further, he said unless government swiftly beams its searchlight on some heavy stakers, it is possible for stolen public funds to be deposited in the online accounts of online gaming sites and later retrieved outside the country.
For instance, he continued, “If I steal N100million today. I can simply upload it into several online betting accounts as if the funds are to be used by stakers in betting. I can conveniently get to withdraw large chunks of the money later within or outside the country. This is one worrisome aspect of the growing sector needing serious attention,” he cautioned.
This he added has to be considered by the government and the authorities vested with regulatory powers of the sub sector.
In another breath, a lottery addict, who lost N1,000, 000 in two months and had to close down his beer distributorship business, spoke to The Nation about how gambling ruined his life, family and business in a matter of months.
The man who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “I am a 46 year old. I never gambled as a child or even as a young man. But about five years ago, I got hooked up on watching football. I soon developed a habit of frequenting viewing centres to satisfy my passion for football.
“I am a businessman and I was into beer distributorship. My business was doing relatively well at the time my trouble with gambling started. My wife, who was also my business partner, having invested about N500, 000 of her savings into the business, did all she could to save me from the destruction that befell me but I was unyielding.”
In a subdued voice laced with regrets, he continued, “I started gambling when a friend introduced me to sport betting sites. I started with N500. The amount started increasing to N1000 and the amount got bigger and bigger. As if to lure me deep, I was winning at the initial stage, so it was easy for me to keep raising the stakes.
“Before I knew it, I was not just betting on sports, I was also playing ‘Baba Ijebu’, lottery and several other gambling games. That was when tragedy struck. In February 2012, I lost about N300, 000 to gambling. It was really a bad time for me. Things got so tough that I couldn’t pay my workers their salary.
“My wife warned me and reported me to friends and relatives, but something within me urged me to keep playing as I was bound to win big soon. I never won big, rather I lost heavily. By the end of April 2012, I had gambled away our entire N1, 000, 000 capital. Our stock was all gone and the workers, having nothing to distribute, left one after the other.”
If you think the story above is pathetic, then wait until you hear how a High School teacher ended up in the courtroom with charges of theft and burglary hanging over his head after he gambled himself into trouble.
Suraj Folami was recently paraded by the Police in Ogun State as part of a gang of armed robbers. The 38 year-old graduate, according to the Police, was apprehended with two locally made pistols in his possession.
Two members of the gang had earlier been arrested during a robbery operation at Oke Aro area of the state. But Folami denied being an armed robber. He said his only crime was accepting to help a stranger he met at a gaming house to keep a bag. His claims were corroborated by Elvis Madumere, the leader of the gang.
“I am a victim of hard fate,” Folami, who said he is a teacher at a public high school in Lagos State said.
“I got into this trouble because I am a gambler. I gambled away my entire life savings and also lost some money kept with me by the staff of the school where I am working to sport betting. It was that money Elvis promised to give me when he met me grieving on what to do.
“He promised to give me the N100, 000 if I can keep the bag for him till weekend. Initially I declined to do such a thing but when he gave me N20, 000 and also paid for my betting stakes at a ‘Baba Ijebu’ joint, I accepted to keep the bag for him,” Folami added.
Asked if he knew the content of the bag, the father of two said yes. “But I had no choice as I was expected to come with the N100, 000 to school the following Monday,” he explained.
The Police said Folami would be charged to court along with the other gang members.
“Gambling has destroyed my life. I don’t know how to live any longer as I am struggling to live life. Gambling has basically taken away my whole life as it has taken away my integrity and my respect,” Folami wailed.
Moral dilemma
Ilesanmi Kayode is an online preacher. According to him, it is immoral for anybody to think of not to talk of talking about promoting gambling in any form, be it betting, casino or lottery.
“I observe that there is an upsurge in internet gambling in Nigeria. We used to have people and still have people who gamble on snooker boards, lotto (baba ijebu), dice, cards, Play Station of which I’ve been a part of before. And I tell you that all these are wrong and not of God. People have gone as far as selling their properties: shoes, phone, belt, and several things because of gambling. Some have gone into huge debts as a result.
Now, many youths are going into online gambling, they bet on football matches via Nairabet and so many other websites that provide this functionality. I was in the salon few days ago and all through my stay there, these youths were talking about internet gambling. In fact, there’s a proposal to bring an office into Ondo town where I served.
“From the Biblical Perspective: Gambling precedes covetousness/envy and results into greed. Nowhere in the Bible is gambling mentioned, not that I know of. But that doesn’t mean it is not a sin, after all, pornography isn’t mentioned in the Bible, yet we all know it’s a sin. No gambler is ever satisfied. He/she is greedy of gain. Gambling is an addiction, there’s a spirit behind it. We must flee from this thing.
“The only near case of gambling I can find in the Bible is in Judges 14:12, we have Samson here, putting forth a riddle to 30 companions, had a bet with them that if they could answer the riddle, he will give them 30 sheets and 30 change of garment, but if they can’t, they will give him 30 sheets and 30 change of garments.
‘In the end, these gamble resulted into threat and Samson killing 30 people to fulfill his vow. If you read on to chapter 15, Samson’s wife and her father were burnt with fire. What started as fun and excitement ended up in wrath and deaths. True Christians must remember that all things are lawful unto us, but all things are not expedient, don’t allow the devil to bring you under the power of gambling,” Ilesanmi urged.
But the NLRC boss, Igho, would not be convinced by this argument. According to him, there is little or no moral burden involved.
“In Christendom, as far back as the 1700s, it was the Christian organizations that went to meet government and say, ‘You can’t provide everything. There is so much decay in infrastructure and we want to help you’.
“The government asked how? And they said that they wanted to start lottery and the government gave them a permit. They ran lottery and raised money to build 200 churches and universities, including Harvard and Columbian universities. It is not just a modern thing.
“As far back as 20BC when the barbarians attacked China and the Chinese Government didn’t have enough money to build up their defence, they ran a lottery and raised enough money to build up their defences, including the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. All over the world, lottery money has been used to help government endeavours,” he recalled.
Is this the same in Nigeria?
