As Economy Bites Harder, Nigerians Take To Lotto

Unlike in the 70s when pools betting was the trend with pool houses located in shops at different street corners, Lotto has now taken over with kiosks of various sizes and colours serving as the betting game centres.

And with just N5, the winning could be as much as N1,000 and this is why the lotto game is becoming more popular than the pools Betting of Fixed odds fame of yesteryears. You only need to hear the local parlance “Baba Ijebu”, especially amongst Nigerian youths, and the excitement of making money would be as strong as the pillars that uphold the Nigerian banking halls.

A Lotto Agent popularly called Mr. Robinson at Akute spoke on this issue: “Pools as a betting game in the 70s used to be about the English/Scottish and Austrian Football Clubs and the results of the games they play every week. But now Lotto has taken over.  It originated from Malta as a game of numbers digitally arranged from 1 to almost 100. It was first exported to Ghana but presently Nigeria has taken over. The game is now more popular in Nigeria than Ghana. And it is even easier to win in the game of Lotto than in all the other competing games of chance.”

Eddie is a  journeyman, working as a welder in a structural engineering firm based in Ikeja.  He spoke recently about his great expectation as far as playing lotto game is concerned.  “I need a workshop of my own. This is the very reason why I am playing lotto.  And it is my hope that I shall win one day. And when that fortune comes, I will simply resign and be on my own.”

Kemi, a youngman in his 30s is a painter. But he is not all that successful, in his trade. According to him, “I do not get job regularly as a painter.  The jobs come once in a while. I have been playing lotto for the past 5 years. And I have been winning regularly. But the winnings are not big enough to set up a paint manufacturing company. The winnings are little I have been making use of such money to maintain my soul and body.”

Oyee (real name withheld) is a Kabukabu driver at Agege. He has been patronising the lotto centre in his neighbourhood for the past 3 years. He is welloff on his job as he gets money regularly. But whatever money he wins from lotto is spent on call girls in the red light district of Allen Avenue in Lagos.

He told spoke frankly about his habit: “I cannot do without sex on a daily basis. With this kind of nature, my wife cannot cope. So whatever money I make through lotto, I spend on call girls at Allen Avenue.”

Tunde is a ‘fine boy’ that works as a barber at Ojodu, a suburb of Ikeja.  He is an adept ‘researcher’ when it comes to permutation of numbers on the bogus lotto charts. He has been winning regularly in lotto games, only that the winnings are not big enough to enable him actualise a life ambition of owning a business of his own.

He spoke recently about this at a salon where he works for a female hairdresser: “As far as elegant hair cut is concerned, I was never an apprentice to anybody. It is God that gave me the gift. For so many years I have been praying to God to establish a barbing salon for me. It is my prayer that the winning would be big enough one day and I shall be able to have a barbing salon of my own.”

Mr. Igbo is a plumber of many years experience that squats with a friend in Oshodi area of Lagos. The income from his trade is not enough to rent a room, hence his love for lotto through which he hopes to win big so that he can rent a room.

The fairly old man told also bared his mind on the lotto game: “My wife and the children are in the village, in the Brass District of Bayelsa State. We are supposed to be living together as a family. But as a squatter in Lagos, this is not just possible. The money I earn as a plumber is not just enough to rent a room. But I hope that one day I shall be able to win big money in lotto. And when that time comes, I shall be able to rent a decent room and bring all my family members together in Lagos.”

A commuter bus driver that is lives in Ebute Metta was not ready to give his name when he was confronted at a lotto Kiosk. He simply gave his name as D-Driver, and that his family is based in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. Lotto holds a special attraction for the middle aged man. And in the past 2 years, he has been winning.

And when asked how he has been spending his winnings, he was quite forthright: “My wife and children are based in Abeokuta. Every month, I make sure I send them some money as allowances.  If not for the winnings in the game of lotto, this could not have been possible.”

A woman popularly knowna s Iya Amina is an ardent player of lotto. As a true Muslim, her religion does not permit the playing of this game of chance, but the winnings proved so tempting for a woman whose husband has lost his job as a factory worker for almost 9 months.

“I am a true Muslim, and it is my prayer that one day, I would go to Mecca and become an Alhaja. I live on the Island and regularly I see young boys playing the game and winning some money. When I found out about the amount that one can use in playing the game, I discovered that it is something I can afford through my petty trading. And I have been winning in the past 6 months. The boys in our area are so good to me. They have been forecasting and giving me winning numbers regularly.”

And when asked whether she does not care about the opinion of her fellow Muslims, she said frankly: “I do it secretly in order to avoid the prying eyes of fellow Muslims in our area. My husband approves of the game too. After all, I have been using the winnings to feed the family, and even pay my children’s school fees.”

A graduate of Economics who wishes to remain anonymous spoke of his plan to establish a car wash business since he could not get a job three years after graduation from the university. His friend, who is a lotto agent in Abule Egba, introduced him to the game. And he has been winning through the assistance of his friend, but the winnings are not enough to embark on his capital project that would take him out of the labour market.

“As far as lotto game is concerned, so far so good, thanks to the benevolence of a good friend of mine who was my mate in the primary school. You know, in this game of chance, you can win today and lose tomorrow, and that has been my experience. But it is my hope that ‘lady luck’ would soon smile on me and I would be able to make it big in the game. By that time, I shall be able to establish a car wash centre.”

Yinka is a young boy who left secondary school about three years ago.  All the while, he had always read in the newspapers about young boys being harassed frequently by the police because of their involvement in the yahoo-yahoo (internet scam) business.

So, when he found out that lotto game can bring fortune to the player without the harassment of the police, he quickly embarked on the business. “Three years on and I am still playing lotto. But I have not been able to win any big money. In actual fact, I embrace it as a game because it is really a decent alternative to internet fraud. Besides, I do not want to be tagged a yahoo-yahoo boy.”

Layi is also another school boy who left secondary school last year. He comes from an indigent family. And his purpose of playing lotto is to raise money in order to fund his university education.

But when asked whether he has written JAMB examination in order to gain admission into the university, he responded candidly: “No! I want to make money first through lotto. Gaining admission into the university would not be a problem as I am a student who is above average. I do not want to gain admission into the  university and be stranded later. As I said earlier on, I want to make money first before university admission.”  Just like Premier Lotto, one of the premium brands in this industry of chance and risk, Akinlabi is indeed a premium player. His own case is quite unique in the sense that he had taken to lotto not because of monetary gains but that of simple and plain passion for the game.

“You wouldn’t believe it that my going into this game of chance is not because of money. If winnings come, fine. And if otherwise, no hard feelings. I just like playing figures. I take deep interest in playing with figures on the large lotto charts. And my forecast had always turned out to be winning numbers.”

But when asked whether he would risk his money one day and simply play the game of chance, he retorted: “Never! It is a policy based on principle. I just like watching my forecasts turning out to be winning numbers whenever the results are out. But mark you, one way or the other, I still benefit from the game. This is because those I freely give my forecasts give me money whenever they win.”

“I play lotto,” says Ladi, a 20-year old young man, “because most of my friends in our area are doing the same thing.”

In every game of chance, luck is always the crucial element, although once in a while, the permutation of numerical figures can sway that luck in the direction of the risk-taker called the staking player. Wishing that many of my compatriots would be lucky and make big money through lotto. Just a wish!

—Bayo Babatunde writes from Lagos

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