"SAPA" and the Height of Betting Spirit Among OAU Students

          Bakare Israel

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) has long been celebrated for its excellent academic reputation. The institution, over the years, accommodates students of diverse backgrounds, exposure, and financial status. 

As the semester unfolds and academic pressure becomes intense, several students become financially restrained, subtly tagged “Sapa” by the students, this simply is a term for financial constraints. Sapa hits differently on OAU campus, ranging from financial constraints to food items, transportation fare, amongst others.

For an average OAU student, right from the mid-semester, particularly mid-December, essential food items including Garri, Beans and Rice becomes almost exhausted with little or no funds for sustainability. Some students may even be restrained to procure vital study materials, workbooks, or contribute to a project or assignment as a result of this.

According to Oguntula Victor, a student of Mass Communication,“on the average, Sapa starts from mid semester onwards irrespective of your financial capabilities, often caused by diverse financial mistakes like feeding on junks instead of proper planning. Students should not be blamed for this either, because in some  cases, it is just what the situation requires. A student who lives off-campus having a 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. lecture hour might not be able to eat from home, such a student is not expected to stay on an empty stomach without feeding on junk food.” —He added.

Sapa on OAU campus generally, often result from family condition, lavish spending, while some are caused by losing money to stakes on bet. 

On OAU campus, you see students focused on their smartphones with a thick tension, accompanied with frustrations and sighs, not to view lectures, results, or any academics-related updates, but rather to follow LiveScores, not just as a football and games lover but as gamblers. Gambling for many of these students is foundly called “hustle,” and it serves as their means of survival amidst sapa. 

In almost every room, analyzing odds, placing bets, celebrating wins, narrating stories of a narrow loss becomes a topic. 

Students experiencing financial challenges such as feeding, clothing, upkeep, and tuition fees payments regularly engage in sport betting in a bid to meet necessary needs. 

“Financial issues are the major reason why students engage in sport betting, you won't even think of it if you're financially buoyant. The narrations of sudden wealth is what allure some whose parents are financially stable to betting. Greediness and desire for fast and multiple money led many to mismanagement in terms of losing capital and assets invested in it.”— Babatunde told the ICONS Correspondents.

While speaking with our correspondents, Ammeh ThankGod noted that the pursuit of wealth sometimes forced many students to actively engage in sport betting, citing an example of how a student who sustain on #1,000 to sustain for the whole week, through greediness may want to multiply the money by all means. 

While only a few students agreed that betting is the main cause of financial constraints, because there is a higher tendency of losing than winning it. Others dispute it, claiming that the inability to meet up with academic demands pushed many to it. 

"Betting affects students differently, and the main problem is that once they get addicted to it , it affects their finances, explaining how one of his friends, despite multiple losses, keeps playing, yet never wins.”

Miserable losses sport betting has resulted in debts and regrets to some student, and inability to break through may leads to depression and other mental health struggles

On OAU campus, there have been cases of students who stake their tuition fees or class funds only to lose. An OAU class rep recently placed a bet on the class’ manual fee and lost everything. After losing, he went ahead to make a fake transfer to the custodian of the manuals, and distributed it to his coursemates. Unfortunately, he was later caught by the ICT officials and was handed over to the security unit. 

To curtail the persistence of these on OAU campus, the counseling unit of the institution should be more proactive in their dealings, setting up symposiums which focuses on educating students on financial management and liberation from betting addiction.

Although many betting organizations like 1X Bet, Sporty Bet, Bet9ja recommend responsible betting, strict limits should be automatically placed on students' bets.