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The Night I Almost Died From Gambling Addiction in Abeokuta
S
Spiral Hornbill from Yola
3 months ago
In 2021, I was 27, working as a sales rep in Abeokuta, and I had a secret: I was addicted to betting. It started small, 500 naira on a football match, then 2,000, then I was borrowing from everyone. My salary of 85,000 naira was gone by the second week of every month. I lied to my girlfriend, said I was sending money home. I was not. The low point was a night in December. I had taken a loan from a local money lender, 150,000 naira, and lost it all in one night on virtual football. I sat on the floor of my one-room apartment in Ita-Oshin, staring at my phone, and I felt something break inside me. I knew I had to stop, but the next day I was back at the betting shop, trying to win back what I had lost. That is the cycle. That is what people do not understand. What saved me was not my willpower. It was my younger sister. She came to visit, saw the loan papers, and she did not shout. She just sat me down and said, 'Baba, you are better than this. We need you.' She helped me pay off the loan, took my phone for three months, and made me see a counsellor at the church. The withdrawal was hell. I shook, I could not sleep, I was angry at everyone. But I did not relapse. Now, I am clean. I still get the urge, especially when money is tight, but I remind myself of that night. If you are in that hole, tell one person. Do not carry it alone. The shame is not in falling; it is in staying down. God will see you through.
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