00:00When Bola got admission into university, money was always tight.
00:05Sometimes even finding enough to print materials for class became a challenge.
00:11But everything changed when he could not pay his rent.
00:15Then the second year, I had the issue with the rent, so I started betting.
00:23With his landlady demanding payment, Bola placed a 200 naira bet and won.
00:30For him, it was big time.
00:33So I won $6,000 then, so I had to remove $100,000 to pay for the rent.
00:39For Bola, that win felt like proof that betting could solve his problems.
00:44A small stake had paid his rent.
00:47The pressure was gone.
00:48But Bola says that win became the reason that he kept going back.
00:54The industry often describes sports betting as entertainment.
00:58But many bettors tell a different story.
01:01Some say they come here hoping to solve immediate financial problems, to pay rent, to buy food.
01:08Imagine coming here to bet just to be able to afford a meal.
01:12That's what some of these people told me, the bets to afford basic necessities.
01:19Sometimes they really, sometimes they miss.
01:23They never stop calling.
01:25And they end up losing even the money they do.
01:30For some young Nigerians, betting is no longer about football or entertainment.
01:35They see it as an answer to an urgent question, where will my next money come from?
01:43Yet, while bettors may hope for life-changing winnings, even betting company accepts there
01:48is another side.
01:50Of course, people do lose.
01:53Know that about it.
01:53Betting should not be a source of income to anyone.
01:57It should be more like an entertainment.
01:58But for Bola, entertainment was never really the motivation.
02:03The attraction was the possibility that another small bet could deliver another big win.
02:09Yes, after he paid his rent with his winnings, he's not lost that hope.
02:15So I'll see how to flashback to the time that I won.
02:18So I'll say, ah, Bola, you won so much this last time.
02:24You can still do it now.
02:25It's not over yet.
02:26Just keep pushing.
02:28After years of gambling, the wins do not outweigh the losses.
02:34To be candid, I've lost money more than I've won.
02:39Still, he keeps playing, not because he believes he is winning.
02:44I believe the best company are weighing me a lot of money currently, even though I've
02:51lost a lot on them.
02:52So that's why I keep on playing and playing that, hoping that one day I'll hit the main
02:59targets so that I can recover all my losses.
03:02Today, Bola says he earns around 100,000 naira a month, about 75 US dollars.
03:08He sends his spends about half of that on his gambling habit.
03:13Bola knows the losses are greater than the wins.
03:16Yet, he still believes another breakthrough might come.
03:36That hope lies at the center of the betting industry's business model.
03:42While some see sports betting as entertainment, others do tend to it as a possible solution
03:48to financial hardship.
03:50But who should be responsible when people continue betting despite mountain losses?
03:56Customers are already well-oriented that it is a financial risk going into bets.
04:03They have that at the back of their mind that this we can actually win and sometimes we
04:08can actually lose.
04:09People come into bets based on different reasons.
04:12It is more of an individual behavioral thing.
04:16The industry insists that customers understand the risks and ultimately make their own decisions.
04:22But regulation is becoming more and more of a challenge, particularly in an industry that
04:28is increasingly moving online.
04:30Policy experts say that makes enforcing age restrictions more difficult.
04:35These things are done on your phone, on your apps.
04:38Persons younger than 18 years of age, they are not allowed or permitted to participate in
04:48lotteries, sports betting, games of chance, generally speaking.
04:54So marking stronger regulation is needed.
04:56Others call for an absolute ban.
04:59But I think a policy question for us is whether banning will not drive all of this underground.
05:07It is a debate about personal responsibility, government regulation and industry responsibility.
05:15Stories of big wins continue to fill hopes of striking it lucky.
05:20At our branches, I've seen people win about a million, 1.5 million.
05:26But they do not show how people may lose chasing that remote chance.
05:31What I would tell my young girl before placing the first bet is that it shouldn't be money
05:39that is meant for something important.
05:41Like maybe you are in school, this money is meant for tuition fee.
05:46Bola still remembers the day a 200 naira bet solved his rent problem.
05:51Years later, he says he has lost far more than he has won.
05:55But like many others chasing another breakthrough, he still believes the next bet could be different.
06:02And that may be what makes walking away so difficult.
06:06This is going to be right out of class.
06:06The English major bl Twelve, you can't ask me what I will say.
06:07I will know how hard these threats can be getting...
06:07fake specific h Under say is that the link.
06:07You
