Working Lives

Working Lives: The Baba Ijebu Agent Planning to Return to Farming in Aiyetoro

Working Lives: The Ubiquitous Agents of Baba Ijebu

You could also call them The Red Brigade – the men and women you see at bus stops or near the gates of mostly commercial buildings all over Lagos hurdled over small red machines the size of a POS terminal and surrounded by working class (i.e. people engaged in non-professional jobs like artisans) types. Probably everyone knows they are engaged in gambling but only a few of us have anything beyond this basic knowledge. We decided to find out more about the Working Lives of these people. They are agents of Premier Lotto, owned by Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu. Sir Adebutu is from Iperu Remo, an Ijebu town, hence the alias, Baba Ijebu, which his business is known by. To win, punters have to correctly predict winning numbers. Many players believe there is a science to predicting the patterns of winning numbers while others think it’s down to luck. Some claim the numbers are revealed in dreams. And even by mad men! Whatever they believe, the agents of Baba Ijebu are everywhere in Lagos to help them play.

Working Lives: The Baba Ijebu Agent Planning to Return to Farming in Aiyetoro

 You just reminded me of this regular customer I had. He was always playing a certain number frequently and it always wasn’t coming through. The day he started lamenting about it and decided not to play again the same number came through the next day. He was so sad on that day. I felt bad for him too. I haven’t seen him around since then. Maybe he decided betting was not for him and gave up.

 

Ganiyu (Baba Basira), Ile  Iwe Bus Stop Meiran. Forty-four years old.

Where are you from?

I am from Ayetoro in Ogun State. I was living with my parents in Ayetoro before I came to Lagos.

When did you get to Lagos?

I got to Lagos in 1999. I lived with my brother for about six months in Aboru, around Iyana Ipaja, before I was able to rent my own apartment in the year 2000. I also rented my apartment in Aboru not very far from where my brother lives.

Tell me about your family?

I am the third child in a family of four. My parents are both farmers. They have a very big farm back home in Ayetoro. I know a lot about farming because our parents showed us everything. We used to go to the farm with them from when we were about six years old.

Where do you live now and how much is the rent?

I still live in Aboru. I live in a room and I pay N3,000:00 monthly.

How did you start working for Baba ijebu lotto?

When I got to Lagos in 1999  I started riding okada. I did that up until 2013. I quit the okada job in 2013 when the opportunity for a construction job in Warri came. I was a caterpillar operator at the site. I spent about 4 years doing that in Warri. I am one of the construction workers that built Shoprite in Warri.

As a family man, I realized that traveling to and fro was getting too much. Today, I might be in Port Harcourt and tomorrow I might be in Asaba and this was affecting my family. My wife was always panicking and I couldn’t spend enough time with the kids. That was how I decided to choose the lotto job so I would be going in the morning and coming back at night. At least with that decision my wife and kids would be seeing me every day.

 

Also Read: Working Lives: The Woman Who Had to Become a Baba Ijebu Agent After Marriage

How does it work – what are you expected to do when you get to the shop every day?

If one is interested in working for Baba Ijebu, all you need to do is go to the office of the principal agent. These are the people in charge of the terminal and they get orders from Baba Ijebu himself from the head office in Ojuelegba. Then we the sub-agents go to meet the principal agents and tell them we want to work for Baba Ijebu, then they get our necessary details like full names, address and even ask you to bring a guarantor. After doing all the registration, you would be given a terminal and you would also be asked where you want to be situated. So when business starts and customers come to play games, after the end of the day, we remove our commission, which is 15% of the amount you make in sales for the day.

How much do you make from sales in a day?

When people come around and play very well in a day I make N20, 000:00 in a day. From that N20,000, N3,000:00 is my own commission. And from that same money, I spend on food and other minor things like recharge cards. Sometimes when customers don’t troop in I make less. Sometimes N15,000:00 or even N12,000:00. But on a really good day, I make N25,000:00 in sales.

How many hours do you work in a day?

I resume by 8 a.m. and I close by 7 p.m. Though there are some games that come out by 10:30pm but I don’t have a shop, so that is why I don’t wait until then. I operate from a bus stop. If I had a shop I wouldn’t mind staying up until 11 o’clock because I stay nearby. I just have a small bench and a very big umbrella that I use at the bus-stop; I can’t afford to make a kiosk yet or rent a shop. I am actually planning to make a kiosk soon. I just need to gather enough money. If I had a shop, I wouldn’t  have to worry about going home early, simply because I would feel safe and there would be people around me.

For how long have you been doing this job?

I started in 2017 so it has been 3 years and some months.

How are you paid? 

Like I explained earlier, it is based on commission. Whatever amount we make in sales for the day, I have a 15% commission from that.

How do you remit the money? 

I remit the money daily. This is how it works. I remit the money from today’s sales the next day by 1 p.m. latest. The terminal (the red machine) has been connected to the system in the headquarters. So whatever amount of ticket you play reflects on their end. So, there won’t be need for any argument.

How much do you spend in a day? 

Because I have four kids and a wife at home, whenever I want to leave the house in the morning I drop N1,000:00 for the family. My wife is also doing the little she can. She sells soft drinks, bottled water, biscuits etc. So apart from the N1,000:00 I drop in the morning, I also spend about N500:00 on myself while I am at work. So that’s about N1, 500:00 daily.

Have you ever opened a bank account?

Yes, I have a bank account. I opened one with Access Bank.

Do you have savings? If yes, how much do you save in a month? 

Yes, I save. But it’s not monthly. It all depends on how the money comes. I save N2,000:00 or N3,000:00 like once or twice in a week. The highest amount that has ever been in my bank account is N70,000:00. Sometimes customers transfer money to me to play a game – N10,000:00 or less.

 

Also Read: Working Lives: The NURTW Agent Who Got in Through His Pastor Dad’s Connect

Who are your customers?

Majority of my customers are workers around here – bikemen, keke napep drivers and then some alakowes (educated people) also come in to play once in a while.

How frequently do they win?

At least no matter how bad it might be in a day, one or two people always win. But there are some customers that always keep playing and never win. You have people who win N30,000:00 more than two times in a week.

Do you play yourself?

Yes I sometimes play some games. But I don’t want that to affect the money I am taking home to my family at night so I limit the way I play.

Who are the smartest customers?

There are different types of people. Some are very good at forecasting the game while some will just come in and tell other people to pick any game for them. It works for both.

Very happy stories about customers?

I had a customer in November 2018. I always give him games whenever I have any number in mind. So I called him on that day which was a Thursday and gave him the numbers to play. He did and won N48,000:00.  I called him on Friday again and gave him numbers to play again and he won N120,000:00. Hold on, that’s not all o. I called him on Saturday again, he won N24,000:00. I then called him again on Sunday and he won millions that day. He didn’t disclose the exact amount of millions but he settled me with about N55,000:00. He was so happy and I was just there wishing I had played the game if I had money. I still call him whenever I have any game.

Sad story about customers?

Hahaha. You just reminded me of this regular customer I had. He was always playing a certain number frequently and it always wasn’t coming through. The day he started lamenting about it and decided not to play again, the same number came through the next day. He was so sad on that day. I felt badly for him too. I haven’t seen him around since then. Maybe he decided betting was not for him and gave up.

Most shocking thing that happened? 

Well, I try to avoid any shock. Nothing really shocking has happened because I don’t disappoint my customers. When a customer gives me money to play a game, I always make sure I do and whenever they win, I make sure I pay on time. Those are the only major things that can really cause any issues around here. We the agents are the ones that pay customers when they win. We go to the head office to collect the cash and pay the customer.

Average amount the average customer stakes in a day?

The highest I have seen a customer stake in a day is N10,000:00 for a single game. There are other places around where people stake more than N10,000:00 regularly. I have been to a place where someone staked N50,000:00 on a single game. But the average amount will is N100:00.

Do you have plans to venture into something else and leave this business?

I have not made up my mind to stop this job. But if I can get enough money, I am going into farming. You know I told you that my parents are farmers. They taught us to work on the farm since we were kids. We have enough farmland back home in Ayetoro. So, once there’s enough money, I am off!

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