By Ayomide Otitoju
Several Nigerian youths have criticised fintech company OPay over the number of betting applications previously featured on its platform, amid growing concerns about gambling and betting addiction in the country.
In posts on X, formerly Twitter, users and influencers accused OPay of exposing young Nigerians to gambling by integrating multiple betting services into its financial platform.
One user, Bearded Shina, who has a large following on the platform, called on the Federal Government to place an embargo on OPay and prevent it from featuring betting and gambling applications on its platform.
He argued that making betting services accessible through a fintech platform could expose teenagers to gambling at an early age and increase the risk of addiction.
Bearded Shina described OPay as a potential “financial Pandora’s box” and warned that its integration of betting services could have wider economic consequences.
“I just got off the call with a Tech Bro who explained in details what ‘Aviator’ and ‘virtual’ are. I think the government needs to put an embargo on Opay, preventing [it] from putting Betting and Gambling apps on a transaction platform,” he wrote.
He added that millions of people were struggling with gambling addiction and argued that financial platforms should not facilitate access to betting services.
Another X user, Sporting King, also criticised OPay’s decision to integrate gambling into its ecosystem, saying financial platforms should encourage users to save and invest rather than gamble.
“I just saw Opay integrated gaming center into their system. It is deeply concerning that a financial institution entrusted with people’s money is integrating gambling into its ecosystem,” he said.
Several other users also reacted to OPay’s introduction of a game centre featuring multiple betting platforms, including Aviator.
However, checks by this publication showed that OPay had since removed the feature from its platform.
Attempts to obtain comments from the company’s public relations lead were unsuccessful as of the time of publication.
