Social commentator Reno Omokri has urged the administration of President Bola Tinubu to ban and regulate sports betting apps and gambling of all kinds.
He made this statement on his official X page, saying that banning sports betting will drastically improve the economy.
He 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.”
In another tweet he highlighted that Nigerians spend triple Zambia’s GDP on gambling, he wrote partly “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.
Lastly, he wrote, “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.”