•Says rate of gambling in Nigeria Alarming
By Safiu Kehinde
Popular Nigerian Activist and Social Media influencer, Reno Omokri, has urged Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, to ban sports betting apps just as he decried the rate of betting in the country.
The activist had, in a recent post on his X handle (formerly Twitter), lamented over the high rate of gambling, which labelled an “epidemic”, and its impact on the government’s effort to improve the economic condition of the country.
He suggested the issuance of an Executive Order by Tinubu to Nigerian Communications Commission, banning sports betting apps and also revoking the licenses of any physical sports betting operators in Nigeria.
“President Tinubu can immediately improve the economic conditions of most Nigerians and make the Naira grow by issuing an Executive Order authorising the Nigerian Communications Commission to ban sports betting apps from the App Store of any GSM Internet Service Provider in Nigeria and revoking the licenses of any physical sports betting operators in Nigeria. It makes better sense than Buhari’s draconian #TwitterBan.” He wrote.
Omokri revealed that Nigerian youths, as estimated by the National Lottery Trust Fund, spend $1 Billion on gambling daily- with an average Nigerian spending at least $15 per day on betting and other types of gambling.
“There is such an epidemic of gambling in Nigeria and it is destroying Nigerian youths. $1 billion is spent on gambling daily in Nigeria, according to the National Lottery Trust Fund. Please fact-check me.
The average Nigerian spends $15 daily on sports betting and other types of gambling, with the vast majority of that amount leaving our economy and going to places like Russia, South Africa, and Europe. The Naira can never sustain its rally under such circumstances.” He wrote further.
He lamented the impact of the expenditure on the country GDP, stressing that the “parasitic economic sabotage” will destroy Nigeria if left unchecked.