How addiction to sports betting ruins finances, devastates lives

As many Nigerians resort to sports betting and other forms of betting to improve their financial status, the addiction that results from gambling further plunges them into the depth of devastation, loss, and poverty, VICTOR AYENI writes

A Lagos-based businessman, Sonny Azubuike, joined the gambling industry after he was fascinated by a betting advert he saw on a website four years ago. The prospect of winning huge amounts of money through bets placed on football teams and players seemed like a sure path to stupendous wealth. Unfortunately, his dream of vanquishing poverty remained an optical illusion like a rainbow in the sky.

With a tone of regret, 34-year-old Azubuike lamented to our correspondent how he had become so entangled with sports betting that he no longer had any significant savings.

“Betting is like my second hustle, like another source of income for me. I have won between N2m and N7m before but along the way, I just noticed that my financial spending became too much and I got to the point at which I was willing to sell anything I had because I was looking for money to place on bets.