The Nigerian nation is one that is full of drama and intrigues on a daily basis. There can never be a dull moment living in any of the major cities in the country as you will always find something interesting to gist about daily. From the bus conductors and their unruly attitudes, to the traffic management agents, or the army of young men and women moving about embracing their hustle, there is always something new.
In the Isheri area of Lagos state, Nigeria recently, there was a case where a young man and his girlfriend found themselves in the police station after neighbours reported to the police that they constituted public disturbance as a result of a fight that broke out between the two love birds.
It happened that the young man named Joshua (28) who like many Nigerians place bets daily with different bookmakers, had gone to a bet shop to stake his bet as usual and on returning home the bet slip or ticket as it is popularly referred to amongst the betting public in the country had fallen on the floor from the top of the table where he had kept it. His girlfriend of four years was in the house and decided to clean house while he was in the bathroom. She swept the house and dumped the litters in the fire that the neighbours had lit to burn refuse that day.
Later that afternoon, Joshua returned from the viewing centre with a new gait to his walk and excitement written all over his face. He began to search the table for his bet ticket which was nowhere to be found. After almost 10 minutes of searching, he voiced out his frustration to his girlfriend and was confronted with an answer no one in his situation would have loved to hear. She had swept one small paper earlier that day along with other litters and burnt them.
According to Joshua, that news hit him with a force that made him lose his senses momentarily. The revelation led to a shouting bout and exchange of angry words as his frustration mounted. In the heat of the exchange, he had accused her of possessing an evil spirit bent on making his life miserable while she had angrily retorted that he was becoming irresponsible and get angry on something that was no fault of hers. The shouting resulted in a fight which called for the intervention of the neighbours.
Joshua’s frustration was born out of the fact that he had placed a N3000 bet on that ticket and all the eight games on the ticket had come through as he had predicted. His total win on the ticket was N360, 000. He lamented that his house rent was due, he had debts to off-set, and the money would have come in handy but with the burnt ticket, he felt all hope was lost on claiming the winning.
Well, they were eventually released to their families to go sort out their issue amicably and what happened thereafter is unknown to most of us who got wind of the story.
Joshua’s experience highlights the pitfall of printed bet tickets in an age of electronic devices. As Nigerians continue to patronize sports betting to actualize the better life they dream of, it must be reinforced that It is much more easier and convenient to place bets through any of the electronic devices online and more importantly, it is much safer.
