NewStats: 3,261,425 , 8,173,962 topics. Date: Thursday, 29 May 2025 at 08:47 AM 48143c

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 ing 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 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 ion 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.

https://guardian.ng/features/sports-betting-in-nigeria-curse-or-blessing-nigerians-speak/

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.
The figures are staggering

If it's not a curse how can a university graduate be praying for AC Milan to score at least one goal

It Is a weapon designed to destroy our youths and take them to sorry level in the nearest future, this is what happens when people are impoverished

Sportybet 🤕

I used to do this from 2015-2019 during the days of 1960bet with colored slips after my first two accidental wins, and i became very serious with it in 2019


In 2019, I played only 1XBet and since i used to think I'm smarter that the rest, I usually analyze my games with the aid of some bet analytics like Windrawin, soccervista, Afootballreport and Statsarea yet nothing show


I finally stopped the day i used this 1xbet option 'Player not to score a hattrick" on Bernardo Silva and the game was Man City vs Watford.

City flogged them 8-0 or so and Silva netted a hattrick. Funny thing is, that was his only ever hattrick for Man City till date

Its a curse abeg. Stopped since 2019

When you have outcomes like

Tottenham 1 - 2 Ipswich

Sociedad 1 - 0 Barcelona

Real Madrid 1 - 3 AC Milan

It is left for you to decide if it is a blessing or curse

v

Curse

Childofdoom is in the best position to answer this question

Maxymilliano:
When you have outcomes like

Tottenham 1 - 2 Ipswich

Sociedad 1 - 0 Barcelona

Real Madrid 1 - 3 AC Milan

It is left for you to decide if it is a blessing or curse

you can never make such prediction right

Barcelona game was fixed

I don't do betting but I watch football a lot. I'm an ARSENAL fan to the core. I need to geo into betting soon

Blessing to the few who knows

Lol! This is an interesting thread.

Sport betting is a form of gambling that most people struggle to master. Of course, I would not play it in Nigeria because the owners or operators of online betting sites can easily cheat players. This is the truth. So, if you play it in Nigeria, you can expect to be destroyed eventually.

It is a different game in a well-regulated setting. Sport betting has been around for a long time in the UK, and most of our grandparents bet with UK-based companies. Those grannies you saw with red, blue, green, and other single-color sheets at bus stops back then were into it. Of course, the majority of them were losers. Why?

Our grandfathers were losers because they knew nothing about probability, logic, or reasoning. How many of them can even solve a simple algebraic equation? Gambling is a mathematical game with probabilities. And you use the pattern there to make decisions. So, you need an analytical mind to master it. How can they master it when they are always with bottles of alcohol? Lol. A skill that you need to be composed to get done. Lol.

It is exactly the same with trading. Trading forex, futures, stocks, bonds, and other financial markets is nearly identical. OK. Forex trading is bad...right? But you buy stocks of companies and call it an investment. Lol. Education is important mehn!

So, I am just smiling at everyone here saying Sport betting is a curse. If so, stocks purchasing is a curse too. Lol.

The main issue here is that forex and sports betting are so simple to get started that everyone just jumps in. However, intelligence outweighs having a Ph.D. Lol. You can imagine that if proper screening is performed, 99.999% of those involved in sports betting and forex trading in Nigeria are unqualified to do so. Period.

Qualification
1. You are prepared to master an evergreen skill that will earn you money for the rest of your life.
2. You already have a source of income that will you for at least five years.
3. If you still live with your parents, you have mastered contentment. In fact, most children should avoid it because they struggle with contentment.
4. You are somewhat proficient in mathematics.
5. You possess a high intuitive skill.
6. You can train your analytical mind.

Trading is preferable to sport betting in Nigeria.

Duration of mastering trading
Minimum of 1 year, and can extent to 5 years. During the first stage, you are to use only a demo after rigorous study. It should not be less than 6 months.

What next?
To see patterns, you must first process data from your chart and then interpret it. This is why mastery of trading requires analytical skills.

Backtesting is very essential
Once you have identified enough patterns, thoroughly backtest your findings. This is where probability comes in. And this is where I help most people. You need to know your win-loss ratio and then map it to the appropriate risk-reward ratio. This way, you will be able to know which trades to take and which not to. This is where most traders fail. And this is where I assist my friends (only my network... one must be careful with losers that will damage ones reputation, and not to run into trouble with the authority if tou are in a well regulated place...and this is why good traders dont take money anyhow to trade...run away from anyone soliciting for investment from every Jack and Jerry) who are presently trading. I do not teach trading because there are so many free online resources available, but I do try to show friends who trade how to backtest effectively, and so far, some have improved to become better traders.

After going through the above proces for almost a year, you will spend between $25 and $600 (an amount you can afford to lose) to open a prop firm or live with a broker with an amount you can afford to lose after extensive backtesting. What is your assignment here? Not for profit, but to defend this for as long as possible. I defended mine for more than a year before I began profiting. So, do you see why you need an income and months of study, practice, and review before you can master trading?

So, tell me, did our grandpas do all this? How many of today's gambling boys go through this process? Do they even have the IQ to do what I described above? Think about these things. You want to do the same thing Wall Street gurus do, and you think you can lay around with sachets of alcohol gambling at Nigerian bus stops?

If you want to learn an evergreen skill that will make you very comfortable in life, you should read this post again. It takes between one and five years to begin making a profit. Can you find a source of income first? And then, can you defend your first investment against losing it for a year or more?

Good luck to everyone.

A big curse

Only bookies are consistently smiling to the bank.

You can't get something for nothing.
You're doing NOTHING and you expect money to magically appear for you?
That's stupidity.
The betting centre has done SOMETHING
-they built the center
-bought the TVs
-bought the PCs
-bought petrol to run the generators.
They have invested in your stupidity and they will always get your money.
This is how every gambling agency works. Be it SportsBet in Nigeria, or Casino in Las Vegas.
-
At least the Las Vegas ones, they create a serene environment with babes to make you dance and have fun and forget your money is going.
Nigeria one is just sweaty guys, with ARMPIT smelling everywhere. You start smelling them from the main road sef.

In my view, this is harming us deeply, and it’s only going to get worse. It’s clear that our leaders don’t really care , they only care about taking advantage of us in every way possible. Betting is harmful and, in my opinion, it’s immoral. These companies always profit and are set up to take everything people have. If I were president, the first thing I’d do is ban it. It’s destroying our youth.

Nothing more than a curse.
During the grid collapse few weeks back, I had to go charge my phone in one bet9ja shop and what I saw that day make me cry for Nigerian youths.

Blessing. Create jobs

I no even sabi play ham..

The thing don destroy many guys ehh..

I have a friend that plays bet and he knows I don’t. Anytime he calls me, the first thing he’ll tell me is to never start sport betting o!

Big time curse

Made me drop out of uni

God1000:


https://guardian.ng/features/sports-betting-in-nigeria-curse-or-blessing-nigerians-speak/

CAPITAL Curse. Especially EPL and La liga. Many have lost fortune. I ed one funny guy, he was sent N50k to buy plumbing materials. He staked on Arsenal to loose against Mancity, alas it was draw.

God1000:


https://guardian.ng/features/sports-betting-in-nigeria-curse-or-blessing-nigerians-speak/

sports bet is demonic u can't even make it thru betting stay away from betting is nt good

One of Nigeria's major sin together with fornication/adultery and Alcoholism!

Gambling is haram because Allah has forbidden it, and He rules as He wills. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), gambling, al-Ansab [sacrifices for idols, etc.] and al-Azlam [arrows for seeking luck or decision] are an abomination of Shaytan’s handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful. Shaytan wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drink) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from al-salah (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?” [al-Maidah 5:90-91]

GREAT CURSE!
Not only to Nigeria but WORLDWIDE!

No matter How smart you feel you are,
No matter How Knowledgeable you think you are,
No matter How Wise or Exposed you feel you are,

If you refuse to adhere and play by the rules of the CREATOR OF THE HEAVEN AND EARTH, you will Be SHATTERED and BATTERED!

If you turn your Back on GOD and HIS Ways, you will RUIN Yourself and all about you!

Flee GAMBLING!! FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

So far as Obi is not the President, Idiots will are better off with their bet rather than voting people that mean well for the country

Betting is a big sin!

A curse to Nigeria!

Leave betting for us o.

Lol. betting companies are not doing father Christmas o.

CURSE . Government should ban it

Curse

[/b]"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." [b]

I swear billion no get respect for Naija again we used to hear millionaire but now it's billionaire very soon na trillionaire.

Betting has become more of a curse than a blessing for many Nigerians. A lot of young people now spend most of their valuable time in betting houses, with some no longer focused on making positive, forward-thinking decisions. Instead, they're solely fixated on placing bets, hoping for quick gains. Some students even risk their school fees, and apprentices sometimes use money meant for their training to place bets.

This people are manipulating odds Now

Blessings to the Rich and wealthy but curse to the poor

Like yesterday match Chelsea vs Arsenal I saw it as big time draw imagine placing 5m on one ticket

Betting is for rich Men wey dey play single tickets