Gambling research in Nigeria has been mainly focused on the prevalence, pattern and determinants of gambling among the different subpopulations in the country. It is surprising that, despite the nature and scale of this problem, gambling and its related harms have not been adequately researched in Nigeria. Illegal gambling, especially betting on football, is extremely popular in Nigeria, although its precise scale is unknown. 4 However, some argue that problem gambling in Nigeria, in the near future, will be a greater public health problem than substance misuse. 3 Many Nigerians view gambling as a harmless leisure activity: a recent study of the Nigerian general population found that 36% of adult respondents had gambled and 53% of these people were daily gamblers. football league promotions and the pools), the lottery and slot machines. 2 The most popular forms of gambling in present-day Nigeria are online sports betting (e.g.
1 This has made gambling more acceptable to the public, especially to the under-aged. In the late 1990s, in Chapter 22, section 236 of the Criminal Code Act, the Nigerian government legalised certain forms of gambling in an attempt to generate tax revenues. Gambling has always existed in Nigeria but in the past it was viewed as an antisocial activity and was actively discouraged by the church, which warned against the quest for quick wealth.