Gambling in Transition: Assessing Youth Narratives of Gambling in Nigeria
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Gambling in Transition: Assessing Youth Narratives of Gambling in Nigeria Tunde Adebisi1 · Oluwatobi Alabi2 · Ogadimma Arisukwu1 · Festus Asamu1 Accepted: 22 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Nigeria has witnessed some significant changes in gambling which have resulted in more people becoming interested in the activity. In an attempt to increase participation, bookmakers have introduced a variety of innovations. Literature has established that this increased participation is inter-generational, cross-cultural, and inter-religious. Particularly among Nigerian youth, participation in gambling cuts across all age groups, socioeconomic status, and gender. Both financial and social rewards have been identified as reasons why many youths gamble. Through a qualitative lens, this study investigates how the dynamics of gambling in recent times have affected the biographies of youth within a relatively deprived socio-economic locality in Kwara State, Nigeria. Thirty young gamblers between the ages of 15 and 29 were engaged in a semi-structured interview session. Drawing from the meaning of ‘youth’ from a sociological lexicon, one can advance this unique narrative of the transitions in gambling activities which can occur as a result of the youths’ biographies and socio-economic status. Nigerian youth adopt three specific gambling types as a coping strategy in the face of a crisis-ridden socio-economic structure characterised by poverty, and unemployment. As such, gambling has become a normative activity experimented by the youth to survive the harsh economic conditions. This study therefore argues the need to situate the discourse of youth gambling within the social, cultural, and economic context in which they are located in Nigeria. In addition, the authors provide a framework for understanding the complexity of youth gambling in Nigeria. Keywords Gambling · Youth · Problematic gambling · Discreet gambling · Safe gambling · Experimental gambling
* Tunde Adebisi [email protected] Oluwatobi Alabi [email protected] Ogadimma Arisukwu [email protected] Festus Asamu [email protected] 1
Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu‑Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria
2
Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Gambling Studies
Introduction Africa has been identified as the only emerging market, and the final frontier (BBC News 2019). Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with a population of approximately 185 million. It is the seventh most populous country in the world with the 20th largest economy (Aguocha and George 2020). Gambling activities, whether legal or illegal, are popular in Nigeria. This activity has become a part of the mainstream culture, found among all age groups, socio-economic statuses, religions, and gender in the country (Bankole 2019; Omanchi and Okpamen 2018). Monetary benefits motivated by greed, unemployment, economic deprivatio
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