Nigerian public health researcher, Dr. Faithful Miebaka Daniel, has issued a stark warning over the growing crisis of sports betting in Nigeria, particularly among students and young adults. His presentation at the recently concluded Current Advances in Gambling Research (CAGR25) conference in Glasgow, Scotland, spotlighted the extent of the problem and its overlooked consequences on education, public health, and national development.
Dr. Daniel made these remarks on Thursday, July 24, during a stakeholders’ webinar organised by the First On-Call Initiative (FOCI) as part of post-conference knowledge transfer activities. He currently serves as the Director of the Research Division at FOCI, a healthcare non-profit organisation focused on research, capacity building, community outreaches, and interventions in resource-constrained settings.
Addressing academics, public health professionals, students, and media participants, Dr. Daniel emphasised that Nigeria is “dangerously close to normalising gambling harm” among young people.
At CAGR25, the world’s most influential gathering of gambling researchers, Dr. Daniel presented findings from two groundbreaking studies, both shedding light on the pervasive culture of betting among university students. His data, drawn from original research conducted in Nigeria, has sparked global interest and calls for urgent policy reform.
The first study, titled ‘Problem Gambling and Academic Impact Among Nigerian Undergraduates,’ was conducted among 406 students at the University of Calabar. According to the research, over a third of the surveyed students had engaged in sports betting at least once in their lifetime. Nearly a third had done so in the past year, and approximately one in seven showed signs of problem gambling. Males were disproportionately represented, with over 80 per cent of bettors being male. The vast majority of students who gambled reported doing so in the hopes of making money.
However, the academic consequences were sobering. Three out of every four students identified as problem gamblers admitted to prioritising betting over studying, with many following sports events instead of attending lectures. Nearly two-thirds confessed that gambling had negatively affected their academic performance. Perhaps most concerning was the finding that exposure to betting advertisements significantly increased a student’s risk of becoming a problem gambler. Students who were regularly influenced by gambling ads were more than four times as likely to develop gambling-related issues, suggesting a direct link between marketing and harm.
In the second study presented, title ‘Online Gambling and Its Prevalence Among Nigerian Medical and Dental Students,’ Dr. Daniel offered insight from a multi-centre survey conducted across 12 institutions representing all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Despite the demanding nature of their academic pursuits, a significant proportion of medical and dental students were found to be engaging in online gambling. Almost 26 percent of those who gambled reported experiencing gambling-related harm. Many had family members affected by gambling, with two-thirds revealing that they had close relatives battling gambling issues. Males between the ages of 21 and 25 were identified as the group most vulnerable to addiction.
The study found that sports betting and card games were the most prevalent forms of gambling among this cohort, with many reporting that they had engaged in ‘chasing losses’—a compulsive pattern of behaviour where gamblers continue to stake money in an attempt to recover previous losses. Dr. Daniel emphasised that the presence of gambling among future health professionals was particularly alarming, warning that if these trends continue, the integrity and focus of Nigeria’s future healthcare workforce may be compromised.
During the webinar, Dr. Daniel described the national implications of unchecked gambling as “catastrophic.” He stressed that the impacts of betting go far beyond individual losses. Across campuses, students are skipping classes, failing exams, and falling into debt. Families are suffering in silence as addiction quietly dismantles their financial stability. The youth, he argued, are losing valuable time and potential to a cycle of hope, loss, and despair—often exacerbated by aggressive advertising and the promise of overnight wealth.
He proposed several policy and public health interventions, calling for the banning of betting advertisements targeting students and young people, alongside the establishment of specialised treatment centres for gambling addiction. He urged educational institutions to integrate gambling risk screening into campus health services and advocated for the formal recognition of gambling harm as a public health issue. Furthermore, he recommended that youth-focused awareness campaigns be launched in schools and universities to combat the rising trend.
In Nigeria, the sports betting industry continues to thrive with little regulatory oversight. Betting brands sponsor major football matches, entertainment shows, and even educational programmes, embedding themselves into the cultural fabric of youth life. Dr. Daniel cautioned that this normalisation of betting is part of the problem. What was once stigmatised is now seen as a harmless pastime—or worse, as a viable income strategy in a struggling economy.
“This perception that betting is simply a game is what makes it so dangerous,” he said. “We are not just gambling with our youth. We are betting against Nigeria’s future.”
Dr. Daniel’s appearance at CAGR25 and his subsequent webinar engagement mark a significant moment in Nigeria’s confrontation with gambling-related harms. It was the first time original Nigerian data on student gambling was presented on such a prominent international stage. His research was met with critical acclaim, with stakeholders from across Europe, North America, and Asia drawing parallels with their own youth populations.
But for Dr. Daniel, the priority remains local. “Gambling addiction in Nigeria is real. And it is growing faster than we are responding to it,” he said. “This is our wake-up call. If we fail to act now, the next generation may be lost not to war or disease, but to the slow, quiet destruction of their hopes, intellect, and future.” He also thanked his co-authors who brought the research to life, members of the FOCI Research Division, and the Emerging Researchers Network (ERN).
The question now, according to him, is whether Nigeria is willing to listen.
