The habit of gambling was never one to be flaunted. The society despised gamblers and tagged them jinxed and ‘never-do-well.’ No wonder those who engaged in playing ‘pool’ many decades ago, were discreet about their acts. It is, however, a different ball game these days. Not only are more youths involved in different sports betting and the chance game, popularly called ‘Baba Ijebu’, today, even women of different ages play the game with gross impunity, as investigation by Yemisi Olusina reveals
In this part of the world, Monday mornings are simply not like other days. Being the first workday of the week, it is expected that everyone handles the day with such seriousness and focus that is possibly not attached to other days. Reason? It is a day believed to be laced with the power to set the pace for the rest of the week.
For residents in Lagos particularly, the demand of Mondays is heavier. Besides the stated traditional belief of the day, Mondays in Lagos are synonymous with perennial traffic congestion of people and vehicles on both the inner streets and the highways. With workers aiming to be at meetings as early as eight in the morning, businessmen
and women rushing to keep appointments and students hurrying to their different schools, the day is usually more challenging than other days.
To beat the Monday challenge, therefore, many usually set out of their houses early.
But while everyone was hurriedly going about the business of the day, on this particular Monday morning, the commotion on one side of the street around Ojodu Abiodun, a boundary town between Lagos and Ogun states was big enough to attract the attention of passers-by. So much was this noise that in no time, and in spite of the seemingly busy schedule of people, a crowd of onlookers had gathered on the scene.
What was the matter? A curious The Nigerian Xpress reporter sought to find out. The answer was not long in coming. It was a scuffle between a young couple. The man was speaking out very loudly to everyone who cared. “I have warned her never to use the money I give her for the upkeep of the family on Baba Ijebu, but she turned deaf ears. This morning, I intentionally stayed back at one corner after I had told her that I was going to work to monitor her activities because I had been told that she had not stopped playing the game. I will teach her a lesson that she will relay to her generations to come.”
An elder in the crowd, who obviously knew the couple interjected, pleading, “Lukman, leave her. Do not injure her. She is still your wife, take it easy with her. I am sure she has learnt her lesson.”
Also screaming on top of her voice was the woman (Lukman’s wife). “Who doesn’t play Baba Ijebu here? Do you not play it also? The gain I made from this game, do I spend it alone? We all benefit from it. After all, it was your mother that introduced me to the game and I have used it many times to complement the money you give me for the upkeep. How much do you even give for the upkeep that you are shouting all over the place; how much? Is it enough? You have not disgraced me oh! You have just disgraced yourself,” she kept rumbling angrily.
When the coast appeared to have been cleared, The Nigerian Xpress sought the side of the agent of the Baba Ijebu kiosk, who stood aloof while the couple scuffled. Lukman’s wife came to play the game at his shop. The man, who identified himself as Kayode Oje, was unusually calm about the incident. “This is none of my business now, it is their personal problem. I did not go to their home to drag them here; they came on their own. And just as the woman said, almost everyone plays it around here. The old and the young, they all play it. The woman she was referring to was her husband’s mother. She has died now but she used to play it. Almost everyone you see here is my customer. So, what is the guy’s problem? Even Lukman that was beating his wife still played it yesterday. So, I don’t know what his problem is,” he said.
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Scattered all over Lagos and its environs are kiosks of different colours where young men and women operate as agents of the lotto games and sports betting.
And just as Kayode said, investigation by The Nigerian Xpress revealed that more youths and women are today into the game of chance.
Unlike many years ago when people played the then popular pools betting secretly, everyone who fancies Baba Ijebu these days, plays it in broad daylight and at any time of the day.
Although majority of the players are uneducated or barely educated, they play it with an unusual devotion.
The disagreement between Lukman and his wife is nothing compared to other terrible consequences of the new wave gambling. For instance, in a rather bizarre circumstance, 29-year-old Owolabi Adewale, allegedly beheaded his 99-year-old aunt, Ebunola Oronboto, for allegedly being responsible for his failure to win Baba Ijebu. The tragic incident happened recently in Ago Iwoye community in Ogun State. The suspect accused the old woman of bewitching and impoverishing him.
With a common reason of seeking avenue to better their finances, patrons of Baba Ijebu feel no remorse about their action. A patron, Mrs. Comfort Ona, who has been playing it for about four years and had won a couple of times, explained why she would continue to play the game. “There is no business. Many times, I will sit in my shop for days and no customer will come. I sell okirika (second hand) shoes and bags; they are not costly but how many people are well fed now before they will come and buy shoes? The little money I make, I just use it to play Baba Ijebu. It is just to see if I can double it or make more money from it,” she said.
With a baby strapped to her back, Mama Ahmed, a fashion designer, who corroborated Mrs. Ona’s statement said: “I started playing this Baba Ijebu since when I was carrying the pregnancy of my first son. I started with N20.00 and now I can play with N500.00. I have won before and I used the money to buy my baby’s things. I am not working. I usually take a little from what my husband gives me but I don’t let him know. I don’t see anything wrong with playing the game,” she said.
A desperate Elias Babatunde, in a bid to win, went a weird extra mile. “I was once told that mad people help at giving out winning numbers. So, one day, I went looking for a mad person to make some predictions for me. For three days, I was looking for one. When I finally did, it was one weird mad man that was too scary to even get closer to. At another time, I consulted an Alfa because there are some of them who make predictions that end up coming real. The man gave me something to put under my pillow for me to dream of the right number. Do you know that it worked and I made about N20,000. I was unhappy that I did not play it with more money. When I went back to see the man, he had travelled out of Lagos and I had not been lucky with other Alfas,” recalled Babatunde.
A female agent, Rashidat Duru, explained how to win Baba Ijebu game. According to her: “There is the ‘Three Direct’ where you need to get three numbers out of the five numbers. There is also the ‘Two Sure’ where you play two numbers, which you think might be among the winning numbers. The other is ‘One Banker’ where you are just convinced of a single number that will be among winning numbers. But many people go for permutation by combining few numbers and getting two out of the winning numbers. It increases people’s winning chances. Baba Ijebu is a game that gives people the hope to better their finances,” she said.
But if the roads that lead to Baba Ijebu centres are broad, it is probably a narrow way when compared to the highway, leading to betting centres.
Unlike in the case of Baba Ijebu where the uneducated are mostly the patrons, patrons of sport bettings are literate and well lettered.
The sports betting centres, including Naijabet.com, 360bet.com, 960bet.com and the most popular of them all, Nairabet.com, are all over the country, raising hopes of making extra money in its patrons.
For any form of sports, such as tennis, golf, volleyball, rugby, floorball, darts, ice hockey, basketball and football among others, a willing client can take a bet as a goal-goal, where the gambler predicts that the competing club must score in a match; a first half win; the club that will lead before the break, the first half corner kick; which club kicks in the match; 2.5, meaning a score line from two goals and above or 3.5, a score line of above three goals.
The question here is how often do patrons make the money they clamour for? A patron, who prefers sports betting to playing Baba Ijebu, Chris Ikechukwu, told The Nigerian Xpress the reason behind his choice. “I am a Chelsea fan and I am into betting because of the passion I have for my club. I know the strength of my club, I know I will win any time without any stress, so I go for a bet. I have won before, so, what is the big deal about making more money?” he asked.
Ikechukwu reckons that Everton and Chelsea usually have tough games, which usually makes him cautious when the bet involves the two teams. “If I want to bet, I could give Everton a chance of winning, while for Chelsea, I could say draw would be good enough because there are a few times Chelsea got a draw either at home or away to Everton.”
Speaking further, Ikechukwu observed that sports betting is easier than playing Baba Ijebu. “A correctly predicted win or draw qualifies for a chance. This is not so with Baba Ijebu where you predict the numbers that will win, which can be more than five numbers out of 90. Sports betting is simpler. The various companies have now made it convenient for patrons. You can indulge in it by simply logging in online in the comfort of your home by opening dedicated accounts with any commercial banks. You can play it anywhere, at home, at work, even in a moving vehicle so far as you are not driving. It doesn’t have to be a particular day like Baba Ijebu,” he noted.
A win-some-and-lose-more game. Experts say that while Baba Ijebu prepares the people for a life of penury in making them believe anything is possible, sports betting centres provide the springboard for a hurried hole in the pocket, with the conviction that all is still in the spirit of the game.
It was gathered that while many of the patrons of the games continue counting on mother luck for financial fortunes, their chances of success get slimmer by the day, their passion for the gambling grow geometrically and the gambling companies keep smiling broadly to their various banks.
But why are more Nigerians involved in this act?
Mr. Gboye Idris, an economist and public affairs analyst, observed that it was a fallout of the bad state of the nation’s economy and the extremely high rate of poverty in the land. He said: “Whether we like it or not, about 75 percent of the Nigerian youths are unemployed and they have to survive. Many who had jobs before are currently out of jobs for the inability of their employers to pay salaries among other reasons. So, Lotto playing, gambling is one easy way to keep their hope alive. Besides, poverty rate in the country is also high. We have over 100 million people living under a dollar a day, which makes living very tough for many,” Idris said.
But a senior pastor and founder of a Pentecostal church, House of David Ministries, Pastor Fola Olumuyiwa, described those who engage in either of the games as greedy and lazy. His words: “Laziness, foolishness and greed are the only reasons anyone will be involved in gambling. If they are not seeking a shortcut to wealth, why play a game that promises to double or triple your money for no just cause? Honestly, many of these people are idle, lazy and cheats that can go to any length to make money. If you study these people very well, this is what they do throughout the day. They, however, do not mind losing. They just hope to win another day. This gives them strength for each day, while the owners of the betting companies keep laughing to the banks every day.”
An agent of a Baba Ijebu centre at Berger-Ojodu area of the state, Mr. Thompson Ije, however, said the existence of the gambling centres has nonetheless impacted positively on Nigerians. “People that have reservations about all these games are getting it wrong. I keep saying it that gaming is the stock exchange of the ordinary man in the street. At the stock exchange, people buy shares and as we have seen, the shares crash at times. Similarly, when you play this game, you can win or lose but at least, it gives the ordinary man hope. Even thugs are getting busy with Baba Ijebu. It is simply a game of luck. There are many
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help an average Nigerian out of the jail house that many people are. It is not to destroy any home but to help people achieve their dreams.”
The Director-General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Adolphus Ekpe, said sports betting was legal and regulated in the country.
Ekpe said in an interview that sports betting would become gambling if it was not properly regulated.
“Sport betting is an aspect of lottery. Now, when there is a prize based on an outcome of a sports event and somebody is running a scheme on that, telling you that if you do this – based on this result – if you can predict this right, you stand a chance of winning, the person has used sports to come up with a lottery scheme. So, it is a legitimate scheme.
“But the point there is, when you do not regulate sports scheme in a transparent way, that is where the gambling aspect comes in. When you regulate it in a transparent way, you now know that whatever the person is betting on, some amount is coming to government. Now, when the person wins, the person is entitled to what the person wins.
“We now decided to set up a framework to regulate sports betting and that is why we have what we call rules ,guiding sports lottery in Nigeria, which we have developed. We have given notice to all those who have been carrying out these activities that, please, come and regularise and subject yourself to regulations so that you will do it in a transparent way and be accountable to the country. That is what we are working on now. We have identified them, some of them have even applied,” he said.
Even with government’s involvement, Pastor Olumuyiwa expressed worry about the rate at which Nigerian youths were relying on betting for economic survival.
He said: “Government at all levels in the country still has a lot to do in this wise. No one is saying people should not play games, it is a personal thing but it is important that the youths get positively engaged. Imagine the extra mile they go just to win? To be looking for mad people around, on the streets to give them the right numbers. This is an extreme. It should be stopped. Government should do more in the area of employment. If more people are gainfully employed, kept busy, for instance ,on farm lands and others like that, the number of gamblers will be reduced,” he suggested.
Similarly, the Director, Media and Strategic Communications, Muslim Public Awareness Centre, Ustaz AbdulWarees Solanke, said that Islam forbade gambling, which he described, contrary to the explanation made by the lottery commission’s director-general, as a means to give or take money or goods, depending on something that is not known how it would end.
“No matter what the name is, any game or bet that has this characteristic and that is played in return for money or goods, whether regulated by government or not, is called gambling. The word “maysir” mentioned in the Quran is derived from the word “yusr”, which means ease, which indicates that money or goods are obtained or lost easily in gambling.”
According to the Muslim cleric, “betting is a way of obtaining undeserved money, which makes man forget his Creator, prevents him from performing prayers, leads him to laziness, eliminates his strength to work and causes grudge and enmity among people. All kinds of gambling, which cause irreparable wounds in individual and social life, are forbidden in the religion of Islam. He urged those engaged in it to desist, adding that it was not only sinful, but also harmful to the society.