Sports betting is a popular activity in Nigeria, with many people looking to make extra money by placing bets on their favourite teams. Many sports betting companies now offer online betting services, allowing Nigerians to place bets on their favourite sporting events from the comfort of their own homes.

Sports betting has a long and interesting history in Nigeria, dating back to the pre-colonial era. However, it wasn’t until the 21st century that sports betting became a popular pastime in the country.

About 60 million Nigerians between 18 and 40 years of age may be spending up to N1.8 billion on sports betting daily, a recent investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed.

However, with statistics showing that Nigerians spend such amounts daily on placing bets on sports activities, can sports betting be seen as a curse or a blessing for the country?

The Guardian correspondent spoke to some stakeholders in the sports betting industry, journalists, and a few sports bettors to seek their opinions on the topic.

According to the former MD of Betland and now FIFA-licensed football agent, Babajimi Ogunlana, “sports betting in Nigeria brings both significant benefits and serious risks.

“Economically, it contributes to growth by creating jobs and increasing government revenue, which is essential in a developing economy. It has also provided employment opportunities for many, especially young people, helping to reduce unemployment.

“Additionally, betting companies have the resources to invest in sports development, which could transform communities by supporting grassroots programmes and nurturing local talent.”

However, according to Ogunlana, the social costs can be high due to “the risk of addiction, particularly among young people, which leads to financial hardship, family issues, and mental health struggles.

“Dependency on betting revenue is also risky for the economy, creating an overreliance on an industry with moral and social challenges,” Ogunlana said, explaining that if betting overshadows the spirit of sports, it may lead to public scepticism and disengagement.

In conclusion, he said sports betting can benefit Nigeria if balanced carefully because with responsible gaming practices, robust regulations, and investment in community development, the industry can support Nigeria’s growth while minimising its potential downsides.

A sports journalist, Olufemi Ashaolu, however, thinks that sports betting can be seen as both a curse and a blessing to the country.

“Genuinely, I think it is both ways because when you consider the economic impact, sports betting has experienced so much boom that countries like Ghana now heavily tax earnings,” Ashaolu said.

“However, the negative outweighs other positive considerations because sports betting has pushed many into addiction, and there have been instances where people took their own lives because the outcomes of their bet placement turned out to be unfavourable, either due to the amount used in betting or the expected reward.

“Many youths have put their sustenance on betting, triggering a culture of laziness and uncertainty.

“More so, I think betting has rather killed genuine passion in sports, as the ultimate interest is not in sports itself but what is at stake (financial gain).

“Followership of some sports may have experienced certain booms, but if you remove betting, it’s all a mirage. In the long run, sports betting could become a social problem, particularly in Africa because of the level of poverty and addiction attached to it by the supposedly productive youths, to whom it is more than leisure or fun.”

For Dare Erinle, who is a sports bettor, he said sports betting is a blessing to some people and a curse to others, adding that it is a blessing when it’s working for you and a curse when it’s not working for you.

According to him, though, some people are lucky with it and some are not, but he feels people have different opinions about sports betting in Nigeria.

“Some believe it is a curse while others feel it is a blessing,” Erinle said.

When pressed further on where he stands and the reasons for his opinion and whether sports betting should be stopped as it appears to have more disadvantages than advantages, he said alarmingly: “Stopped ke.

“Some people are cashing out on it instead of their previous bad jobs like stealing and scamming people. The disadvantages are no more than the loss of income to the betting companies.”

The Marketing Manager of sports betting company Betwinner Nigeria Limited, Lukman Rahmon, also gave his opinion on whether sports betting in the country can be seen as a curse or blessing.

“The thing is that anything you are doing and you overdo it, then it has become a big problem, particularly as we are not supposed to overdo some things generally in life,” Rahmon said.

“Sports betting is supposed to be fun and entertainment; it is not a poverty alleviation scheme; it is not supposed to take you out of ‘sapa’ (poverty); that is not the idea behind the industry.

“You are not supposed to stake your child’s school fees or your school fees or your house rent with the idea that you could double the money by winning a sports bet.”

According to Rahmon, sports betting is more of fun and entertainment; it is not a do-or-die affair, and that is why “we at Betwinner have partnered with Gamble Alert to meet our customers or clients to educate them on gambling responsibly.”

However, to sum it all up, he said sports betting is more of a blessing to Nigerians and it can only be a curse if one overdoes it or stakes an amount one cannot afford to lose.