Oluwatobiloba Ademoye
It is alarming to know that a lot of children are cultivating a gambling lifestyle. What is more frightening is the notion that such habit is increasingly becoming a social behaviour of a city child––and what’s worse, the indicators are not comforting.
Presently, Lagos neighbourhoods are besieged by an accelerated proliferation of sports betting shops.
A recent investigation by Saturday Sun shows their presence is fueling the child gambling phenomenon.
“I use my pocket money to bet, ” 15-year-old Olanrewaju Adams declares to Saturday Sun.
Adams and his friends are seen hanging around a Bet9ja shop on the street of Abaranje in the Ikotun suburb of Lagos. The teenagers look not older than pupils of Junior Secondary Schools.
As to the reason he bets, he says: “I bet because of the enjoyment I derive from it. I bet also to earn money”.
He is representative of a swarm of teenagers trying their hands at betting at an age bracket that contravenes the universal law governing betting.
Growing trend of child betters
Generally, Under 18s shouldn’t bet. The 18 plus sign is usually visible on the banners posted at the front of betting shops. But a peek inside some betting shops gives one an eyeful of contrast. Most often, one would find one or two minors placing bets on varieties of games such as live football, virtual football (also known as “babii”), virtual dog and horse racings and Colour. Colour is Adam’s favourite option, because “it is the easiest and the fastest way of winning money.”
Then you would ask, what does a youngster know about betting? What he tells you next is a systematic habit of gambling: The average sum he stakes is N100; the highest he has ever played with is N200; while his lowest win was N300, he once won a jackpot of N2, 400.
At 16, when a child’s pastime ordinarily would include one of reading books, playing video games, watching movies, or hanging out with friends, betting was the greatest fun for Osinachi Richard.
Now at 18, he presently works as a ‘motor boy’ with a sachet water company and goes about daily to deliver bags of sachet water distributors. What that translates to is that he has a steady source of income to feed his gambling habit.
“I use the money I get from following pure water truck to bet”, says Richard who also admits to sometimes appropriating his savings to fund betting slips. “I like to play babii (virtual football), football bet and colour. These are the games I have ideas of and I believe I can win money when I place bets on them”.
He sees himself as an astute better, and not a reckless gambler. “I do visit a site called addybet which predicts games for people. Sometimes I would check the current stats of the teams I want to bet on,” he says.
Ayomide Ijaola, who started betting at the age of 15 three years ago, used to be a typical child gambler––he bets twice or thrice a week, and he claims a success of past winnings that ranged from N2000 to N8000.
He is seen at the point of placing a bet inside a betting shop. Now 18, his betting habit has become compulsive. “I am an apprentice. I bet with the money my Oga gives me. At times, I use my feeding or pocket money to bet,” he reveals. He usually bets the lowest stake of N100 and doesn’t go higher than N200.
Country music legend Kenny Rogers in his song “The Gambler,” asserts, “every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser”––this is not true for 17-year-old Azeez Olaniyi who has never struck gold in his betting venture. For him, betting is his jinx. He has never won a single bet in his life. The tragedy of it? He cannot stop betting. What is worse, the money to bet doesn’t come easily––he starves himself to save his pocket money for his next betslip on football teams.
Of his repertoire of lousy losses, a recent one hurts him most. “It was very painful,” he begins, “I played five games and I won four won, except the last one.”
Tosin Eyitayo is a bit luckier than Olaniyi. He has one win to show for two years of betting. “I have won just once, a sum of N2000,” affirms the lanky youngster who started betting at the age of 16 and is familiar with bet9ja even as he also plays Baba Ijebu.
Typically he bets with N100 and will not go beyond the N200 threshold. As a serial loser, he remembers his lowest moment. “I was about winning N150, 000, but just one game spoilt it.”
All the young persons engaged by Saturday Sun were below 18 when they started betting. The big question is how come they were allowed entry into betting shops to place bets?
‘Underage betting is illegal’
Ilori Oluwasanmi, vehemently opposed minors placing bets in his shop.
“We have a strict law against underage betting here,” he avers, “We strongly stand by the 18 plus rule. Anytime, boys that look under 18 come in to place a bet, we send them away. Even if it is an older person that sent them to place a bet for them, we don’t allow them. We believe anybody below 18 shouldn’t be allowed to bet, whether fast or sport bet.”
He goes further: “Betting has an adverse effect on underage people. Anybody that is not above 18, I believe, is still a child. If you allow them, in the long run, they get addicted to betting. An 18-year-old should know what he is doing, whether he wins or not; at 18, you could have a source of living; otherwise, where would you get money to bet? That is why we don’t encourage underage betting.”
No underage was sighted in Ilori’s shop. Perhaps, because his shop is on the main road of Abaranje. Children may find it hard to bet in shops situated on the roadsides because owners tend to adhere to the stipulated rule. For a reason, though. Betting shops on major roads are in the public’s eye and are prone to police raids and arrests. However, shops situated out of sight in inner streets and less busy places are hubs where underage betting occurs.
Kennedy Okolie, an adult punter who started betting at the age of 19 three years ago, also frowns upon underage betting, avowing, “betting is meant for mature people; not for teenagers.”
He dwells on the consequences he observes in some underage teenagers who bet. “A teenager who frequents a betting shop is prone to vices. For instance, he could find himself in the habit of stealing just to get money to place a bet. That is one of the reasons why a teenager shouldn’t be tolerated in a betting shop. Betting is gambling.”
Okolie, now a moderate better, knows a thing or two about the seamy side of betting. “At a point, I almost became an addict,” he muses.
Mrs Oluwatoyin Ajayi has a jaundiced view of underage betting, which she vehemently rails against.
“They [children] can become 419-ers as a result of betting when they grow up. It would induce truancy since they have started seeing money, which will make going to school uninteresting to them. They would get so addicted to betting that they wouldn’t want to do anything serious with their lives again,” she warns.