By Toyin Falola
Permutation
2 sure Lotto
3 direct perming
Premier Lotto, Sure Bet
2 odds
Straight winning!
Virtually every Nigerian has, in one way or another, heard of these terms, either at the motor park or at the mini bet shop closest to your area, or you must have noticed some set of men crowded around a kiosk looking keenly at a paper as though their life depends on it. You must have also seen a blackboard with numbers written all over it. If you still need to figure out what I am talking about, I will tell you about Ali, my car mechanic.
Whenever I visited Ali for my car repair, he always gave me some gist about how playing Baba Ijebu and various sports bets was his second hustle aside from being a mechanic. Ali told me how he bought his first car with money from a sports bet. He always shared different stories about how he and his mates have cashed out from these betting platforms to encourage me to try my luck. One day, he advised me to stake half of my salary as a professor and watch how my life would take a new turn. I thanked him later. Ali, Alakoba! He said, “Oga, you think this game is for jobless, lazy men and people who have proper jobs and don’t play sports, but I know many professors like you who are in this game with us. What brings common men like us with Alakowes like you together is Baba Ijebu.”
Trust me, I never would buy such advice from Ali because,as a man of Timber and Calibre, I always try to keep my luck manageable!You would not believe that Ali, unfortunately, used the money I paid him to buy me a new car engine to play 2 Odds, saying he was hoping to cash out a million naira. Ejo rirun! A friend I reported to made sure Ali was locked behind bars for three days before he was released to find a means of repayment, whether through his sweat or blood.
Speaking of the dynamics of sports betting and their accumulation in recent times, many Nigerians have benefitted from the scheme. Nevertheless, the madness created by these platforms is quite alarming, making it a get-rich-quick scheme. Many Nigerians are under the spell of Baba Ijebu and various betting platforms, using every kobo earned through their sweat to make betting companies richer. Imagine a full-grown man who wakes up in the morning and leaves his home to sit at a betting centre, staking money he had worked hard for or even borrowed, all in the hopes that luck will find its way to him by doubling or tripling his “capital.” Many stories show people’s desperation to gain wealth through betting and gambling. A university student with a promising future could gamble with his school fees, which his parents either worked hard for or borrowed from a bad-mouth creditor or a loan company. He failed mathematics in Secondary school, which is why he is too dull to understand that the probability of winning a sports bet is as slim as 0.00012484395. But you know, life is all about taking risks.
Legal and illegal gambling is popular in Nigeria, and many people who engage in it see it as a saving grace from the shackles of poverty or a harmless leisure activity, while others see it as a sin and a wealth-without-labour scheme that is only ventured into by lazy, useless, and jobless people. While betting might be seen as a harmless leisure activity, it is likely to become an addiction. When a person tries it once and wins, the game becomes sweet and irresistible; they start to enjoy it and stake even more than they can afford or spend too much time on the game. Then, gambling stops being a game and turns into an addiction that controls them. The surge in online gambling platforms has led to a rise in popular activities such as online sports betting, including pools and football league promotions, as well as lotteries and slot machines. There are betting kiosks on almost every street in Lagos. Hence, the wide array of options has also contributed to the increased misuse of these betting platforms.
Many youths who gamble did not pluck the habit from the sky. It does not help that there are people on the internet who encourage betting by sharing gambling tactics and screenshots of how much they make from it. Twenty million naira only from betting? This motivates many gamblers to focus on “making it” from sports betting. Some were also raised by parents who were addicted gamblers. Ali, my unfortunate mechanic, had shared with me how his father once sold his mother’s large piece of land for a ridiculous amount with the hope of winning a large sum of money, which he would use to pay his school fees and replace the land but he lost the game, and his mother left his father who also had alcohol use disorder, coupled with his gambling addiction. That was also how Ali’s education ended in JSS 3. Seeing Ali’s gambling addiction is an inherited problem, should I not have suspected that Ali would one day use my money to place odds? Yes, I am still angry.
Unemployment and the desire to make quick money often lure people into gambling, as it requires only a small initial investment. A player can stake a modest amount and potentially win millions. What keeps them playing are the wins they see others achieve or the occasional wins they experience themselves. This creates a cycle of addiction fueled by greed, making it difficult for them to stop gambling despite numerous losses. There is a notable correlation between gambling and drinking addictions. Individuals with a gambling addiction are more likely to develop drinking problems, and vice versa, as both habits can be highly enticing and hard to resist. This is why you might see someone who has just cashed out from gambling spending their winnings on ogogoro at Iya Ayo’s spot, conveniently located right next to the betting kiosk. These addictions often go hand in hand, much like the saying “misery loves company.”
It is not the losing that destroys every gambler; it is the winning that does it. What makes an addicted gambler is their first win. Gambling addiction often begins with the initial taste of a lucky win and then graduates to a combination of desperation and pressure. The allure of potential winnings and the thrill of early successes can create a dangerous cycle of addictive gambling despite mounting losses and negative consequences. The occasional wins and greed are what fuel their addiction. Greed and the desperate pursuit of quick wealth can lead to other crimes, such as theft, as the obsessive desire for money is often cited as the root of all evil. This can trigger a chain of negative behaviors, including taking out loans to cover mounting debts and substance abuse issues like smoking and drinking.
However, the financial losses accumulated are not the only consequences of gambling. Just like every other addiction, gambling has a significant impact on the emotional well-being of its addicts, leading to anxiety, depression, emotional instability, and even suicide. Despite the endless list of the consequences of gambling, many who dabble in it still find it very difficult to stop themselves from continuing in the act. Some go to the length of using jazz and other diabolic means to ensure they win. It is also rumoured that some gamblers go to meet mad people very early in the morning to ask for numbers to pick because it is perceived that madness and accurate betting predictions are children of the same mother. Blessing in disguise, you say?
People need to know that sports betting only generates income for the betting companies to keep them in business, while the probability of winning big is as slim as fitting a thread through the eye of a needle. The amount of time spent picking random numbers from 1-90 at a betting kiosk or risking one’s hard-earned money on odds, which eventually leads to a turmoil of problems, can be used for more productive engagements that will yield sustainable dividends. If I had gambled with half of my salary as unfortunate Ali advised, who knows? I could be stinking rich like the gaming magnate, Baba Ijebu, or a church rat, which could be richer than me.
‘Àtẹ́lẹwọ́ ẹni kì í tan’ni jẹ.’ – “One’s palms cannot cheat or deceive one.” Only what is achieved by one’s sweat and effort will last; all others are temporary and will eventually go the same way they came. I do not think that anyone who has made a considerable amount from betting has continued that winning streak and has been lifted out of poverty by it. He who wants to reap where he did not sow and gather where he did not scatter will ultimately face the consequences of his actions and learn that true success requires effort and integrity.
My people, Baba Ijebu is not your friend!