For Nigerian youths and sports betting enthusiasts, Akin Alabi is a household name. Alabi, founder of Nairabet, Nigeria’s first online sports betting platform has also been making his mark in the country’s political space of late.
Since he announced his political ambition, Alabi has committed himself more on inspiring Nigerian youths through his success story as a focused entrepreneur.
For Alabi, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, according to him, Nairabet is his only surviving business entity after several failed business attempts in the past.
Motivated by @OgbeniDipo, a Career and Personal Development Coach, Alabi made a Twitter thread sharing exclusive pictures of his luxurious office.
In the thread, the Nairabet founder said he started the Nairabet business from his room and later moved to a shop. Alabi added that he has been able to build an office with four floors.
My office tour #thread
I got inspired to do this after @OgbeniDipo tweeted on progress.
My first office was my room. Then rented a shop. Then a duplex and then extended to the next duplex.
Now, I’ve built an office with 4 floors with a penthouse for faaji every evening. 🤸♀️ pic.twitter.com/6v066IC27H
— Oloye Akin Alabi (@akinalabi) November 25, 2018
24 hour customer car and call center. pic.twitter.com/mytDWFaxba
— Oloye Akin Alabi (@akinalabi) November 25, 2018
— Oloye Akin Alabi (@akinalabi) November 25, 2018
The office of the boss 😎😎😎 pic.twitter.com/2z4LoYkAn3
— Oloye Akin Alabi (@akinalabi) November 25, 2018
The “faaji” venue 😀🤸♀️🕺 pic.twitter.com/z2An8GIpa2
— Oloye Akin Alabi (@akinalabi) November 25, 2018
Alabi has been operating his Nairabet business in the office for over 2 years.
Akin Alabi’s foray into business
Alabi had always wanted to be his own boss and the decision to be an entrepreneur was further boosted with the discrimination against HND holders in the country.
Alabi recalled how he ventured into several failed businesses to make a living. The list of businesses includes selling of chicken on the streets of Ibadan, importing and exporting of cash crops, sports news publishing, business paper, a printing press and a travel company. It was usually just a matter of time before they hit the rocks.
After making some money from organising seminars, he travelled outside the shores of the country. Alabi later travelled to the United Kingdom to join his brother, who introduced him to sports betting. It was there that he studied the business model for placing bets on sports.
He later created an information product on how to place sports bets online from Nigeria. He made huge sales on the product and impressed by the enthusiasm shown, he birthed the idea of creating his own platform in Nigeria.
He recalled how he conducted an online survey to see how willing Nigerians were to patronise the business. Based on the positive feedback he received, he decided to embark on the online sports betting business.
According to information on the platform’s website, Nairabet started in 2009; although it is not the first sports betting platform in the country, Nairabet was the first company to come up with a fully functional website, that is an online website where you can actually deposit money, place bets and make withdrawals.
