Former presidential media aide, Reno Omokri, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to issue an executive order banning sports betting in the country.
The public commentator made the call through Twitter (X), explaining that a ban on sports betting apps could help improve the value of the Naira.
He quoted the National Lottery Trust Fund and lamented that $1 billion is spent on gambling daily in Nigeria, and noted that an average Nigerian spends $15 daily on sports betting and other types of gambling.
The author also said that despite the high rate of gambling in the country a vast majority of that amount is leaving the shores of the country into foreign nations.
Omokri wrote: “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.
“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.
“Every year, Nigerians spend three times the entire Zambian GDP gambling. Fact-check me. Our main challenge is not poverty but the misapplication of wealth. Gambling and pornography are the top two activities online in Nigeria. We are destroying our youth by letting them have unregulated access to gambling and pornography.
“You can just imagine how much better our country would be if we channel the money, energy, and time we spend on these vices on something productive.
“If steps are not taken, and this cancer continues to spread, Nigeria will certainly not meet her developmental goals. Worse, we will lose out to smaller African nations, like Kenya, who have taken steps to limit the effects of these scourges on their population.”
