The founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has cautioned young Nigerians against relying on sports betting as a means of achieving financial success, urging them to embrace patience and hard work instead.

Speaking during a sermon on Sunday, Oyedepo described betting as a distraction that could derail the future of young people, insisting that lasting prosperity comes through diligence rather than gambling.

“Young people, naija bet is not the way to financial fortune. Stop wasting your destiny, stop wasting your time. I have never been once deceived. Stop!” he said.

The cleric acknowledged that progress in life may not always come quickly but maintained that genuine success is certain for those who remain committed to the right path.

“Things may be slow, but it is sure,” he added.

Oyedepo also reflected on his personal journey of faith, recalling how he gave a car to the woman who led him to Christ decades earlier as a gesture of gratitude.

“My mother of faith led me to Christ at 15. When I turned 60, I got her a car that they took to her place in the U.S, she wept. You had better wake up,” he said.

The sermon comes amid growing concerns over the increasing popularity of sports betting among young Nigerians, with religious leaders and social commentators repeatedly warning about its financial and social consequences.

Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has reacted to Burkina Faso leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s decision to reject the introduction of Sharia law in the country, questioning the military ruler’s understanding of the issue.

In a Facebook post shared on Saturday, Gumi described Traoré as a young leader with limited experience outside military training.

It was reports that he said the Burkina Faso president may not have enough knowledge of social matters and international politics to properly handle the debate surrounding religion and governance.

The cleric also argued that Traoré’s decision to keep Burkina Faso as a secular state and prevent the adoption of Sharia law could give extremist groups an opportunity to attract more supporters.

According to Gumi, the statement may become a tool used by such groups to increase their influence.

“Capt. Ibrahim Traoré (born 14 March 1988), with his anti-Shariah stance, at the age of 38, with nothing but military training on his resumé, is too naïve to understand even the complicity of the society he is ruling under the gun, let alone the dynamics of contemporary geopolitics. He has given the extremists the weapon they need to conscript more foot soldiers against his secular regime”, Gumi wrote.

Traoré had earlier announced during a national address that Burkina Faso would not adopt Sharia law despite being a Muslim-majority country.

The 38-year-old leader said citizens would continue to have the freedom to practise their chosen religions, but the country would not introduce Islamic law into its legal system.

The Burkina Faso president also questioned the decision of some citizens who travelled to Saudi Arabia to study Sharia law, saying they would have been better served by gaining skills in areas such as technology that could contribute to the country’s development.

Traoré further warned that those students should remain outside the country, stating that they would not be allowed to return after completing their studies.

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A former Director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, retired, has called on the Federal Government to review Nigerian soldiers’ welfare.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Saturday, Enenche said Nigerian army’s personnel should not earn less than N250,000 a month.

“For me, a Nigerian soldier from the base, shouldn’t be paid anything less than N250,000 per month,” he said.

According to him, the amount was a modest benchmark considering the rising cost of living.

Enenche argued that military personnel make sacrifices that distinguish them from other public servants.

The retired Army general stressed that soldiers remain on duty round the clock and are required to respond whenever called upon, even after retirement.

“No soldier is ever off-duty, even as I’m retired now,” adding that a senior officer calls him now, ‘General Enenche, sir, we want you to…’ I would do it, even in retirement.”

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