It’s 8:30am on a Monday morning in Lagos. Many Lagosians who work in corporate offices are already seated in boardrooms awaiting the commencement of the Monday meeting that usually precedes the day’s business. Others who do not work in such corporate offices have either begun the day’s business or are still stuck in traffic. Businessmen, artisans and other tradesmen go about their businesses as usual. Students sit quietly in class awaiting the first lesson of the day.
At Abule-Ado Junction in the Satellite Town axis of the state, a group of young men of different ages clusters around a small kiosk, assorted pieces of papers in their hands. There are three red objects, more like NITEL land phone handset, on the counter in the kiosk. Three young men man each of the phone-like objects. At first, it appears like a phone booth. But not.
“They are playing Baba Ijebu,” a young lady standing in a shop opposite the kiosk volunteers.
They are not alone in this. Across the country, many Nigerians- the young as well as the old, patronise various forms of gambling. The major reason may be unemployment.
The hard economic realities in the country have also led to retrenchments in companies and the inability of public and private organisations to engage new hands in their employ. The consequence is the number of able-bodied men, women and youths roaming the streets on a daily basis.
As if to find job for the idle hands and minds, there are all manner of betting businesses springing up in many cities and towns in the country, particularly in Lagos State.
BD SUNDAY investigations show that many housewives have since been attracted to “Baba Ijebu” through which they claim to be making extra money from their winnings to rock shoulders with working class fellows.
In some places in Lagos, especially at the popular Ojuelegba in Surulere, some streets are housing more than 10 “Baba Ijebu” kiosks. These kiosks are besieged by customers who are eager-to-play.
It was gathered that these kiosk owners work on a contract basis for ‘Baba Ijebu’. Their revenue is said to depend largely on how many customers that play at their terminal and also, the total of their forecast numbers which turn out to be winning numbers.
BD SUNDAY also gathered that those who patronise these lottos are unemployed youths, unskilled people, commercial bus drivers, vulcanisers, housewives, retired people who live off their pension, etc. These patrons all have the same mindset that it is possible for them to join the millionaire club by playing the games.
To some patrons of Baba Ijebu and other easy/fast-paying lotteries, the avenue has become “a means out of poverty”, but to some others, “a precarious addiction.”
While some patrons tell the story of the fortunes they make from the gambling, some others say it could be both dangerous and destructive.
An operator, an agent of the ‘Baba Ijebu’, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said he saw nothing wrong with the business since it is all about engaging oneself in a meaningful venture.
“I graduated from the university 22 years ago. I worked with the defunct Afribank until it was liquidated following the bank recapitalisation exercise. After looking for work for five years without success, I decided to come into lotto business. I am not regretting it. In this business, nobody forces anyone to play. It is purely a forecast game. It is all about predicting correctly. I can tell you that some people have made it big through Baba Ijebu. Some people look at it from the angle of being a gambling, but they forget that whatever you do, if it does not defraud other people; if it does not amount to killing other people, it is all well and good,” said the man in his early 50s, who said he was a graduate of Business Administration.
According to him, “for me, you can’t compare looking for money through playing lotto to doing so through armed robbery, kidnapping or ritual killings. Or which one is more honourable? No one has classified playing Baba Ijebu or sports betting games as criminal activity. For your information, these lotteries you see and other forms of gaming are registered with the Lagos State government; you can see their legality. For me, it is all about creating employments. It is a growing industry in Nigeria and it is boosting the economy.”
Yahaya Maikori, president of the Gaming Association in Nigeria, harping on the gains of a regulated game/betting industry, gave an example of Lagos State where huge revenue comes into the coffers of the state government through the gaming industry. The state has properly licensed and regulated games and betting.
According to him, “in some other states, there is no proper licensing; there is no proper regulation. One can make all the money without giving the state what is required. In this era of reduced federal allocation, funding is an issue, thus, most states need to look into that area to generate income. They can look at gaming as an informal way of taxing the people.
“The industry offers mouth-watering incentives, begging for entrepreneurs who recognise and can take advantage of it. Lagos State knows that there is big revenue to generate from it; so they tax it. States that are still waiting for the Federal Government are going to have problems. The betting industry provides an opportunity for people to make money.”
“Nigeria has the right population- the population is a very young one. They have access to the internet on their phones. It is a games number. There is no marketing with almost N10 billion turnover in a year. There is a margin of about 15 percent. The competition and the entry fee is so low- between N200 and N300. It is a huge industry,” he said further.
According to him, “Gaming alone is worth N40 billion a year in Nigeria.”
“Gaming is the generic name for all the other areas. Betting constitutes about 70 percent of the gaming industry. Lottery is quite popular, but the only player in that area is Baba Ijebu. Lottery is also on our plate.”
The site http://www.xtremeloaded.com describes Baba Ijebu Premier Lotto as “a game that can make you rich quick but can also destroy you and send you back to the village if you don’t play wisely”.
In 2013 alone, the Lagos State Government realised about N1billion from lotteries, according to Lanre Gbajabiamila, general manager, Lagos Lottery Board, saying the board intended to surpass the performance in 2014.
Madam Alice, a food vendor who lives on Allen Street, Ojuelegba, Lagos, said she was nearly ruined by the habit of playing Baba Ijebu.
“My husband lost his job two years ago. After about a year his entitlements were paid to him. He decided to give me a substantial part of the money to begin food business. Because of the nature of the place we live, I decided to be selling cooked food. Within three months of starting the business, things started moving on well; I was making serious gain. A friend came and suggested I should start to play Baba Ijebu and I bought into it. I started with N1000. The first two days I started it, I made N30,000 and I couldn’t believe myself. That was how I nearly got my fingers burnt. I began to lose the money I used for my food business to the point that my husband noticed that something was happening, yet I was still playing the ‘Baba Ijebu’, thinking it would enable me recover the money I had lost. My husband had to bring in a third party to prevail on me to stop the gambling. Today, I am glad I did,” said Alice.
Someone said: “20 out of 100 ‘Baba Ijebu’ players win in a single play, while the losers keep playing, with the belief that they might someday win. For some people in this category, who go for as long as months without recording a win, it might require spiritual intervention to stop playing. So, there’s an element of addiction in it.”
In the last few years, a good number of sports betting companies have been established in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos State. Prominent among them are Bet365Naija, 360Bet, SureBet247, Nairabet, 1960bet, MerryBet, Bet9ja, BetRepublicana, Betcolony and LovingBet. There are also many other betting sites. It was also gathered that despite the entrance of the afore-listed gaming platforms, the ‘Premier lotto’, known as ‘Baba Ijebu’ has continued to enjoy increasing patronage.
A father’s agony
A cleric recently let out his frustration over one of his sons, an SSS 3 student, who has taken to gambling against all warning and threats by him. According to the man, the boy now steals to maintain the habit.
‘I was shocked to discover that the boy is into gambling. And I have been trying to persuade him to drop the habit. I couldn’t believe it until I made my personal investigation. The worst part of it all is that the boy appears so hardened in the exercise that he pointedly told me to leave him alone.
He once bragged that one day he would land into millions of Naira. Can you imagine a boy of 16 already dreaming of millions. My worry is that for a boy of his age to be so passionate about money, it shows that something has gone wrong somewhere. I have tried as a father to ensure he desists from that pernicious path, but he appears adamant and obstinate. I hope he heeds the warning at the right time,” the distraught father said.
Zebulon Agomuo, Chuka Uroko and Chuks Oluigbo
