There was a time I was at Imota, Ikorodu, for a work related engagement. On one Sunday morning my friends came to me and said they wanted to show me the fun part of the town. I never knew what they had in store for me until I was taken to a wide open field with lots of people.
On getting there I saw guys running around, making alliances and super excited. I wondered what they were excited about until I saw two guys lead out two hefty looking rams. In an instant, folks were already placing official bets and side bets on the rams. I turned to my friends and was like, "Guy, wetin dey happen for here? Why are people placing bets on rams?"
Look, gambling is an age old vice that has been in existence for thousands of years. According to historians, the oldest known dice was found in the Sumerian city of Ur around 3000 BCE. Liberty Bell, the first slot machine was invented in the year 1887. As for online gambling, it seeped into our airspace in the mid to late 2000s.
I remember watching Django Unchained where two rich people sat in excitement as they watched two Mandingo fighters fight to death. Also, movies about olden day Greece and Rome show a lot of betting activities during games and when gladiators fight. Without a doubt, gambling has been around for as long as possible.
Now, wherever there is gambling, there is loss of fortune; a lot of lives have been ruined. In fact, a lot of lives have been lost to gambling and its related activities and it has always been that way. Despite that, gambling survived through the ages to the present day and is still ruining lives in spades. So, why is this dangerous vice not abolished?
One thing that remains sacrosanct is our ability as humans to ruin and destroy ourselves with greed and shortcuts. And if there is one thing gambling offers, it is a promise of shortcuts to riches. Making money - lots of money - remains the ultimate goal of most humans. However, that goal continues to be elusive so much that every promise of the holy grail is entertained. Gambling promises a fast path to that holy grail!
Anyway, I am very sure there would've been instances where the government tried to end gambling. Also, I am certain they would've met stiff resistance from the populace. To a gambler, betting gives hope of a brighter future. All he needed is to hit it once and he'll escape poverty. It's even more interesting when you consider the fact that people bet on events they presumably know the outcome. The result of a football match between two team looks straightforward until it no longer does. A gambler always believes his luck will turn, that his time will come.
In the end, gambling will not go away. Just like for alcohol and cigarettes where the only thing the government can do is to advise people on the dangers involved in those, the best the government can do is to advice. There is no one out there who can tell a grown man what to do with his life. If gambling is banned officially, it will still be done unofficially without
regulations.
