After Victor Adedeji’s father died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 2011, Adedeji, then 14 years old, spent seven months living at his grandmother’s home in Ilesa, a remote town in Osun state, southwest Nigeria. In the mornings, Adedeji woke up to the smell of the fish his grandmother had purchased from local fishermen. He arranged the catch in a basin, placed it on his head, and walked the streets all day to sell the fish for 70–150 naira each (then about 50 cents to $1 USD).
Eventually Adedeji’s mother sent for him and two of his siblings to return home to Bayelsa state, 270 miles south of Ilesa. Her job as a trader selling menswear didn’t earn much, so he felt a responsibility to provide for his family.
“I felt I [must] man up since my mother was the only one taking care of us,” he said. “I just wanted to do something to get money.”
Adedeji thought if he could find a way to earn even a few hundred naira, he could help his family. Friends he met through his mother’s Roman Catholic parish introduced him to sports betting, luring him with promises of quick wins. Soon, 15-year-old Adedeji became a frequent visitor at betting shops in the area, where he wagered on European soccer leagues. He bet every naira he had but with little yield.
Adedeji fell into depression, losing interest in his studies, which the parish sponsored. For more than a decade he tried to quit, but the stories of others who won kept him going: “There was also the promise that the more you play, the higher chance of eventually winning big.”
Sports betting is a booming business in Africa, where betting companies report millions of dollars in profit yearly. Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya
rank as the continent’s top three countries for sports gambling. Nigeria alone has
over 100 betting companies, with shops stationed near neighborhoods and public spaces for easy access. The
rapid rise of smartphone internet access and online betting made gambling as easy as pushing a button. Most bettors are between 18 and 40 years old.
Many Nigerians
see gambling, especially sports betting, as a quick way to overcome financial burdens. Over half of Nigeria’s population
lives below the national poverty line, making many people desperate for extra income. Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission
estimates more than 60 million Nigerians—around a quarter of the population—gamble daily, spending about $5.5 million USD.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup games dominate sports coverage, men and women like Adedeji may be especially vulnerable. Nigerians typically bet on soccer games, especially
big European leagues in England, Spain, and Germany. Macquarie, a financial services firm,
forecast that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest-ever betting event, with bets exceeding $50 billion globally, a significant increase from the $35 billion placed at the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar.
For Adedeji, sports betting felt like a trap. “It caught up with me,” he told CT. “There wasn’t any sign of fulfillment. I was never satisfied.”
Adedeji said that in 2017, he felt burned-out from sports betting. He decided to learn fashion design at a family friend’s tailoring shop, looking for something else on which to focus. Yet he couldn’t quit his addiction.
Gambling also took a toll on his family. In 2019, he moved to the capital of Abuja, hoping for a fresh start. But instead of paying his sister’s college tuition or easing his mother’s financial burdens as he intended, he lost his wages gambling. One day in 2024, he entered a betting shop where he owed about 20,000 naira (then about $15 USD). He couldn’t pay. Adedeji said the employees didn’t let him leave, insisting he settle the debt. Hoping to borrow money, Adedeji called his younger brother, who then told his mother.
“She was heartbroken and devastated,” Adedeji said. “Now everybody knew. I couldn’t hide anymore.”
Samson Ocholi, executive director of
Right Mind Homes, a Bible-based recovery initiative for addicts in Abuja, said while the economy may play a role, idolatry drives betting in Nigeria.
“The major reason is that people want to make money without working, but it comes back to bite you,” he said.
Ocholi said even those who win don’t properly invest the money, “because they have not been disciplined and haven’t learned to manage money.” He encourages parents to keep a watchful eye on their children, as neglecting parental responsibility leaves teens and young adults vulnerable to peer pressure that promotes harmful habits like gambling.
Friends and celebrities also endorse and promote gambling on social media. Former Nigerian soccer stars like Augustine “Jay-Jay” Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu
serve as brand ambassadors for top sports betting companies and are regularly featured on their advertisements. Nearly 300 topflight soccer clubs in Europe, which are closely followed by Nigerians,
have partnerships with betting companies.
“If people, especially youths, see an influential person doing it, then they believe they too can,” Ocholi said. “It is a way to glamorize it and make it [seem] normal.”
But the consequences are dire.
Stephen Kolawole, a recovering addict at Right Mind Homes, said betting seems harmless at first. Eventually, though, Kolawole bet half his college’s school fees, preventing him from finishing his studies. Whenever he ran out of money, he thought his addiction was over. Then a paycheck would send him off on another spree. When he kept asking his parents for money, they checked his bank statement and realized he had a gambling problem.
“It was a tough experience,” he said. “I knew that I needed help but didn’t know what to do.”
A 2022 study
revealed that a quarter of college-aged callers to helplines reported suicidal ideation related to gambling. In 2021, researchers from the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit
said a 16-year-old boy killed himself after gambling and losing money he had stolen from his employers.
“[Gambling] has caused people to be pierced with many sorrows,” said Jeremiah Aluwong, the presiding pastor of LightWk, a nondenominational Christian mission organization in Kaduna in northwestern Nigeria. “It makes you a liar, a cheat, and leaves you with several broken relationships.”
Aluwong, who runs a recovery center helping 15 men—former drug dealers and gamblers—overcome their addictions, said sports betting has led to an increase in crime and other social vices as many youths seek ways to fund their lifestyles.
He said the spread of the prosperity-gospel preaching in Nigeria encouraged the rise of gambling by equating wealth with God’s blessing, often without clearly differentiating between earnings from hard work and vices like gambling. He urged pastors to resist practices such as blessing cars and accepting large tithes from church members without first inquiring about the source of their income.
“The pulpit is not holding Christians accountable,” Aluwong told CT.
The poorly enforced regulations and shifting laws can further push young people toward addiction. In sub-Saharan Africa, gambling companies
take advantage of a “regulatory void surrounding online forms of gambling and the promotion of gambling products,” a 2022 study said.
In November 2024, the Nigerian Supreme Court
nullified the 2005 National Lottery Act, which had
regulated betting and gambling in Nigeria. The court held that lotteries and sports betting belonged in the control of state governments. At least 10 of the 36 states have already created their own regulations, but others lag behind on this issue.
Eneh Chinaza, an Abuja-based lawyer, told CT the ruling doesn’t directly affect betting’s legality but loosens regulations restraining underage gambling. Chinaza said Nigeria doesn’t have any laws mandating that betting companies curb addictions.
“The laws and regulations on betting addictions in Nigeria are not very strong,” Chinaza said. “It is still an ongoing conversation.”
Adedeji said that last year he knew something had to change: “I was oppressed psychologically.”
He finally confessed his gambling addiction to his pastor, who advised him to visit LightWk’s addiction recovery center in Kaduna. Adedeji said LightWk taught him to see his gambling addiction as covetous.
“I learned that Christ was the only one who could save me,” he said.
After completing the recovery program, Adedeji said he started working at the center to help others discover the same freedom and forgiveness. While continuing his work as a fashion designer, Adedeji said he is also rebuilding relationships with his mother and siblings. Despite the strain caused by his past addiction, Adedeji said they’ve been welcoming and helpful.
“I thought my gambling wasn’t harming anyone,” he said. “But that was a lie.”
