I thought that nothing could touch me — that I was unstoppable and would continue to win bets, but my life was spiraling into chaos.

I’ve always loved sports. In secondary school, I played football and basketball, and I was a sprinter. I went on to play football semi-professionally. I enjoyed the risk of winning or losing, but I didn’t get very far. Even though I had a lot of natural ability, I never practiced. Soon, younger players were outshining me. When I couldn’t keep up, I gave up playing and just enjoyed watching. But I was left with a void in my life.

From a young age, I was a good talker. I became a successful salesman and was making a lot of money by the time I married in 1961. Even though my job was going well, I couldn’t forget the old days. I found people who enjoyed watching football like me. Since I had so much knowledge and experience from playing the sport, I could predict who would win a match. My new friends pushed and encouraged me to make money out of my predictions.

I easily bought into what they were saying and began placing bets. Just N20,000 or N40,000 at first. There was a thrill in it and I was winning. Soon I was betting up to N100,000 or even N500,000 at a time. Even when I didn’t have the money, I would still bet, believing that I could turn things around in the next round.

If things did not go my way and I fell into debt, I would borrow from my mother-in-law to pay it back. On several occasions, I borrowed N500,000 or more from her without feeling guilty. I was convinced I would win it all back soon enough and pay her back. Plus, I still had a high-paying job so I was never in real trouble. I was an unrelenting optimist. Especially when it came to gambling.

Thirteen years later, I said to myself, “I’m going to stop this!” I moved away out of the city to get away from gambling. But that didn’t change me. I would still look for similar crowds of people and my addiction got worse. This went on for four more years.

I was an unrelenting optimist. Especially when it came to gambling.

Because I was so good at persuading others, I began to persuade myself. I would make myself compromise my integrity. Once, I took an office check and used it for gambling. I convinced myself I could pay it back before my oga noticed. But he did notice and I was sacked. I almost went to jail, but I was able to get the money to pay him back.

My addiction was stronger than my desire to take care of my family. I lost two houses and nearly lost my marriage. When I realized that my wife might leave me, it finally hit me. They had been tolerating me for years, but they had a limit. Despite my selfishness, my wife stayed, but she fell into deep depression. Seeing her like that, I finally meant it when I said, “I’m done.”

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