Online gambling boom in Nigeria and self-Exclusion

While Nigeria does not have an online infrastructure of its own, the country’s leadership does permit its residents to gamble online if they can find suitable operators. As it stands, there are plenty of UK online gambling providers that are happy to bring Nigerian online gamblers into the mix.

Despite what people might think, there is a huge population of Nigerians who have the financial resources and desire to enjoy a few hours of online gambling every now and then. In fact, the country is filled with people who enjoy casino gambling and betting on sports like football (soccer), rugby, and basketball.

The Explosion of Online Gambling in Nigeria

With Nigeria being labeled as a third-world country, the assumption is the entire population is out of tune with modern society. While there is plenty of poverty throughout the country, there is still a fair amount of the population that is educated and informed. They are quite aware that online gambling exists and how much fun it can be.

Like so many other third-world countries, Nigeria has been busy putting in a much better communications infrastructure. That includes better cell and wifi service to larger portions of the population. With more and easier access to the internet, many people in the population are turning to the internet for entertainment. Yes, that includes online gambling.

For many of the same reasons that exist in other countries, Nigerians are flocking to the best online gambling sites in Europe, many of which are licensed and regulated in the UK. By law, UK operators are permitted to offer “offshore” online gambling services to people who reside in countries where online gambling is permissible by law. Since Nigeria is one of those countries, UK operators have been successfully marketing to prospective Nigerian online gamblers. Those marketing efforts have been very successful based on the growing number of Nigerian gamblers who are registering for online gambling accounts every day. 

Problem Gambling Issues in Nigeria

The above information is the warm and fuzzy part of the story. What people have to remember is there will always be people who are vulnerable to having problem gambling issues. That is going to include some of the fine online gamblers coming from Nigeria.

When Nigerian online gamblers align themselves with UK online gambling operators, they get some of the same benefits that are extended to UK gamblers. That includes getting access to problem gambling resources like GamStop.

What is GamStop

GamStop is a very important self-exclusion program that was the brainchild of certain officials from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). Membership in the program is required of licensed UK online gambling operators as a condition of getting licensing. 

The program works like this: A gambler from anywhere in the world suspects they might be on the verge of gambling addiction. To stem the tide of continuing issues related to their online gambling, they can register with the GamStop Self-exclusion scheme. After doing so, all member UK operators are required to block them from accessing licensed UK online gambling sites. 

The registered gamblers get the benefit of setting the length of their own self-exclusion period because the program is strictly voluntary. They can ask to be excluded for 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years. When the self-exclusion period expires, the GamStop registered gambler can request reactivation of their gambling accounts.  Best Betting Platform 

Getting Around GamStop

The program works very well. That’s good and bad. It’s good for gamblers who are committed to taking a break from their online gambling activities. It’s bad for any online gambler who has a change of heart and feels they can handle their online gambling without further issues. When that time comes, gamblers who change their minds will not be able to use most licensed UK online gambling sites until the self-exclusion ends. What’s a Nigerian to do under these circumstances?

If any registered GamStop gambler wants to get around their self-exclusion program, they have options. The most obvious option would be to seek gambling refuge with the same online casinos where UK players only use those casinos not on GamStop. To be clear, there are a lot of quality UK gambling operators that are not subscribed to the GamStop scheme.

Other non-GamStop options a Nigerian registered GamStop gambler might want to consider would be:

• Opening gambling accounts under other legitimate identities
• Registering with online casinos that do little to no account verification
• Looking for onlione gambling access in other jurisdictions that accept Nigerian gamblers
• Use crypto-only gambling sites, benefiting from the anonymity cryptocurrencies provide

The bottom line is this: Nigerians are learning to love online gambling. They can get access to it in the UK. By using that option, they will always have access to GamStop should problem gambling issues become apparent. Maybe, Nigeria will be graduating from third-world status in the very near future.

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