Our original goal is to find out if sport betting is a good way to make money and become real rich this year. Some say it is the best way to waste money and live in false hope and addiction in gambling. These hypothesis led us to track some of the biggest winners of sport betting in Nigeria: where are they now, have they become really rich or has their winning led them to more addiction?
First, we wanted to know if the wins were real and not just publicity storms or propaganda of some of these bookies (betting companies) to attract and lure more people into betting habits.
Of course, we couldn't verify or follow some of the stories. We couldn't follow the story of an apprentice in Alaba Market, Lagos who they said hit it big as he won sports bet of ₦16 million. According to @oku_yungx who shared the story on Twitter, the boy's master requested that he is given half of the total winning. This story was tweeted on October 15, 2022. We didn't get the name of the apprentice nor that of the master or where their shop is located at Alaba market.
We couldn't also verify a 17 year old boy they say won a whooping sum of 43 million naira on bet9ja in otukpo local government area of Benue state.
The story stated that the boy (no name nor address) should have won more than that as he played the ticket twice but was denied the glory by a greedy board man (bet9ja attendant) who cancelled one of the tickets just to have the 100 naira for himself; which led to angry mob beating him up to stupor.
The winning Coupon Code: B933RACACWAAZ-2053181, but we couldn't verify the story even from Bet9ja officials or agents we spoke to.
Well, there are real and verifiable persons who won Sport betting big in Nigeria and highlighted some of the biggest winner here, how much they won, where are now and how are they doing.
Godwin Ighalo won on August 30, 2015 won N58 Million from 1960Bet
Godwin Ighalo, has won the sum of N58,945,553, after placing bets with N800 in 1960Bet. The sexagenarian accomplished the feat after placing bets on two different bet slips of N500 and N300. On the N500 ticket, Ighalo won N36,840,971.25 while the N300 slip won him N22,104,582.75.
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Pay Out: Ighalo, who was accompanied by two of his relatives, received his cheque at the head office of 1960bet in Lagos.
Status Quo-ante: Godwin Ighalo was a Professor of Computer Engineering at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, with an annual salary of N2.6 million
Status Quo: Prof. Ighalo has since migrated to Canada with his family. A story we couldn't follow through that he is carrying a major research work at the University of British-Columbia. Before migrating, Ighalo built a house at Ekpoma.
Melvin Chike Ekpe on April 6, 2017 Won N27.1 million from Surebet247
Melvin Chike Ekpe has won N27.1million from a Surebet247 ticket. The 30-year-old man who hails from Isu Local Government Area of Imo State got his winning bet comprised of 16 games all with options of Over 2.5 goals & was played with a ₦100 stake (Ticket Code: 201477201000001754).
Pay Out: Melvin Chike Ekpe received his full payment cheque at Surebet247 branch office in Owerri.
Status Quo-ante: Melvin Chike Ekpe was a salesman who deals with insecticides and air freshers in Orlu main market.
Status Quo: Melvin Chike Ekpe is now a major agent of Bet9ja with several outlets in Orlu, Nkwerre and in Isu. He own a Highlander Jeep, built his own house and a public borehole in his community. However, we could verify the story that he may have won several big tickets from bet9ja in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Arinze Cosmas Ezeanyanwu, June 18, 2017 Won ₦46.2 million from Bet9ja in Onitsha
Arinze Cosmas Ezeanyanwu has won N46.2 million from a bet9ja ticket. The 35 year-old man winning at Onitsha main market after placing N1000 bet at the bet9ja shop right there in the market.reportedly won over 46 million naira betting in football game.
Pay Out: Arinze was hosted in style on June 25 at the Bet9ja office in Onitsha where a cheque of his full payment was handed over to him.
Status Quo-ante: Arinze Cosmas Ezeanyanwu was identified as a barrow pusher who worked along the main market axis in Onitsha, who helped move the loads of businessmen and women who came to purchase bulk goods at the main market.
Status Quo: The young man who now has a very large phone and accessories outlet at the Emeka Offor plaza in Onitsha -.is now a big importer, traveling to China to import goods. Got married in 2021 and built his own house at Jubilee Estate Onitsha and also has two cars and a trailer vehicle.
Sunday Nwachukwu March 7, 2019 Won N58.8million and in January 29, 2021 won another N72.7 from Green Lotto ticket.
Sunday Nwachukwu has won N58.8 million and N72.7 million respectively from a sports bet with Green Lotto In 2019, Nwachukwu played with N220,000 and won the sum of N58,800,000 and in 2021 played with N330,000 and won another N72,700,000.
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Pay Out: Mr Sunday Nwachukwu received the cheque of the full payment of N58,800,000 (Fifty-eight Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) April 2nd, 2019.
But the management of Green Lotto refuse to pay for his second win for alleged irregularities. The case is in court before Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay, at the Magistrate court by Tafawa Balewa square Lagos.
Status Quo-ante: We are not sure of the status of Sunday Nwachukwu before the windfall. It was simply stated as Self employed: that may mean unemployed or a professional gambler as the case may be.
Status Quo: Nwachukwu is now in real estate business. He has bought several plots of land in the Mowe/Sagamu arises. He is said to be a landlord with two tenant buildings of 8 flats each at Alagbole and Akute area off Ojodu-Berger.
There are other big winners and we will continue to update this post as we gather more information on how Sport betting have been transforming lives in Nigeria.
