But the assumptions becloud the fact that an estimated sum of N3 trillion has been lost in the last six months when market capitalisation declined by 23.5 percent. From available records, the market suffered losses from N12.1 trillion at the beginning of the slide in March 2008 to N9.26 trillion by the first week of October 2008.

Thousands of Nigerians had planned to improve their status, marry, construct houses and educate their children among other dreams, but these appear to have been dashed.

These losses suffered by Nigerians at the stick exchange have led to a flurry of measures aimed at stabilising the market whose present state has led to a lamentation by Nigerian investors. From Lagos to Maiduguri; Port Harcourt to Kebbi, Nigerians are expressing great fears over what would become of their investments.

These losses and growing loss of confidence in the stock market has led to a decline in business for stockbrokers. When Sunday Trust visited one of the stock brooking firms located at the Central Business District in Abuja, a disturbing silence enveloped the office. The beehive activity that was seen during the reporter's visit last year was totally absent. The firm was devoid of the usual hustle and bustle of business activities and long queues of investors seeking information on shares.

After staying ten minutes at the reception with no one to talk to, a lady walked to the reception desk and asked if she could be of assistance. When the reporter said he had come to have a chat with her boss, she said: "He is out of town and is presently in a seminar in Ilorin and won't be back till next week," she said. Throughout the 30-minutes stay, not a single investor walked in to inquire on state of stocks. A visit to another stockbroker's office revealed the same picture. Only the chattering of cheerless voices whose faces bemoaned the anguish of the times. Last week, the Nigeria Stock Exchange declared that over N3 trillion had been lost in the last seven months since the down turn on the shares prices commenced.

As investors continue to lament the threatening unpredictability of the stock market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not forthcoming with measures to bail out the market from the crisis it finds itself. Though operators of the market are confident that regulators of the market would soon come up with measures, many Nigerians spoken to expressed disappointments over the declining shares prices.

For some time now, the instability in the stock market has generated so much tension for those who own shares in the Nigerian stock market. While most of them worry that this instability would make them run at a loss in the end, others insist that the rise and fall is nothing to worry about as it is a phase in the stock market which cannot be avoided and would come to pass in a short while.

Adakole Ijogi, a property developer, owns shares in Access Bank and doesn't feel the instability is an issue to be troubled over.

"I bought shares in a public offer sometime last year, for some time it was doing well and now that it is depreciating, I am not in the least way worried or disappointed because I didn't expect an immediate progress. Those who know the stock market well would tell you that it is a long term goal so one shouldn't panic when it depreciates. The Nigerian stock market is still growing and in the next five years I see it stabilising."

He said the major problem the stock market is faced with is the entry and exit of funds.

"Most people buy shares during public offers and once they obtain their certificates, they dump it in the market. People need to understand that it doesn't work that way."

While Ijogi says the instability of the stock market does not disappoint him, Habiba Yusuf says otherwise.

She bought N130,000 worth of shares from IBTC at the rate of N11 per unit in June 2007; just like every other person she says she needed to invest her money wisely. Unlike Ijogi however, she is worried that this flux could make her lose so much at the end.

"I am very unhappy with the situation of things in the stock market particularly IBTC because I have shares there. I bought shares because I needed a place I could invest my money hoping that in the end it would yield good returns but as at October the value was less than 120,000. I have not been able to redeem my money due to the fall in price."

Unlike Habiba, Salisu Umar shares the same view. He bought shares in a public offer from First Bank in 2007 at the rate of N33 per unit and he says that fluctuation is a normal trend in the stock market.

"I am not worried about the fluctuation in the stock market because it is a normal trend. Such instability only worries those who bought shares for short term purposes; I on the other hand did because I want a long term investment. It is a good long term investment if you are not a secondary market player. I have always known that First Bank would have this problem because sometime 2006 they gave their share holders a one to one bonus and a one to four in 2007; a lot of people rushed to the market to make money and as a result the prices crashed. That's not to say I do not believe in the Bank. I bought the shares because I know it is a very strong bank that has been on the stock market for over 100 years; they have money asset base, share capital and good business men. It isn't possible that at the end of the day share holders would run at a loss."

He said that people have no idea how the stock market works so they need to be educated.

"Nigerians are copy cats. They always want to do what they see people doing without knowing if it would work for them. If you are a person who wants immediate profit, then you should go for the primary investment, however if you want a long term investment then you should go for the secondary."

Prince Bulus Audu agrees with Salisu. He owns shares in Skye Bank, Bank PHB, Bagco, UBA and Union Bank. Some of them he bought 3 years ago and others last year. He says the instability does not worry him.

"A few years ago I bought UBA shares at the rate of N3.80k and last year I bought Bank PHB shares at N15.50k. Right now my UBA shares are worth millions of Naira so there is no way I can say I am disappointed. I feel that people are worrying unnecessarily because it is a global crisis. It isn't just limited to Nigeria or the African economy and it is a stage in the stock market that cannot be avoided. Right now, maybe there is a huge flux but in the long run it would appreciate. I bought these shares because I have faith in the Nigerian stock market and the situation of things now wouldn't make me lose the faith I have. Eventually it would be stable."

Even though Audu, Umar and Ijogi maintain this instability, it is only a temporary crisis that shouldn't generate worry in any way, Ahmed Talib disagrees. He, like Audu, owns shares in UBA and he says the instability in the stock market is definitely something to worry about.

In Talib's words, "I ask myself why I bought shares, the answer is simple. I did so to invest my money and in the long run make much more. But with the rise and fall here and there how can I not be disappointed? No one would want to invest in a business that isn't stable and now we are talking about shares. However little you bought, you still hope it would eventually manifest into something great. I must tell you that I really don't see that happening with this instability. It makes me unhappy to think that my investment would go down the drain."

The continuous plummeting of the capital market in the country is translating into wanton fear and uncertainty in the minds of many investors in that financial sector. Malam Bukar Gadanga, an Abuja based businessman and long time investor in the stock market related his experiences to Sunday Trust. His investments are spread across the manufacturing, insurance, banking, among other blue chips companies.

Though he never purchased his shares through the initial public offer (IPO), given the Nigerian experience where it takes about six months for people to get their share certificates. And at the end of these six months, they may not even get the shares and is another trouble getting their money returned. These among other things made Gadanga purchase his shares in the secondary market.

The value of his stocks have since actually plummeted. "In my own case, there are shares that I bought whose value has fallen in relation to the value I purchased them. I can give you an example, I know that there was a share I bought at may be N4.00 and it is now N1.80. There was also another one I bought at about N28 and it is now only above N10.00. Generally, there is a general decline in the value of virtually all the stocks I bought."

He added that "every body that bought a share at the beginning of the year up to March, April or so, you will find out that the prices have gone down, there has been almost a free fall in the value of the stocks. Even though there are others that are a bit static, but the rest have not recovered yet. I think the experience of most stockholders is that the value of stock they were having in around March up to June, July, August compared to now, is that they have lost something.

"If you read in the papers just yesterday, they said that the share prices in the stock market was valued at over N12 trillion at around March and it is now about N9 trillion. That means almost N3 trillion has been wiped off the value of those shares. And these shares are for people like me and you, if you are also an investor into stocks. So, they are ordinary small holders and also big companies who have all being affected by the financial meltdown," the disturbed investor declared.

Gadanga, who has been investing in the stocks in the past 15 years, said that many people have recently gone into stock market because of the unhealthy business environment, bank interests, among other factors. "Apart from me, who has been there for a long time, other people, who have just started newly got interested into the stock market because of the huge publicity that has been given to the issue. As well as the IPOs we are talking about, and they have heard stories of people who literally become millionaires.

"You hear people who bought Dangote sugar and whatever, and within a short period, it sort of more than tripled. So, they really made a lot of money. But like I said, I have never done an IPO, so I never benefited from it, but many people have done so. If you stroll to any stock brooking firm in the past months, you will be amazed with the kind of people you meet there. You will see house wives, you will see people who are earning may be N15,000 a month; and all sorts of people who have become converted into the stocks. So, these are actually the people who are really hard hit because it is their life savings that they have put there, and is now wiping away."

Gadanga is not perturbed by the ongoing financial meltdown as he insisted that "I will still buy stocks even before the market stabilizes. I was just reading the big people in stock yesterday and the Oracle of Omaha, that is Warren Buffet, who is one of biggest American investors in stocks, was saying that now is the time to buy the stocks in America even. He said it is when people are panicking and everybody is selling, so that is the time to buy. And if you ask any stockbroker he would tell you that."

The investor added that "if I have the money, I will carefully study the situation and buy more shares. I can give you an example of stocks that many people said is very solid that is that of GT Bank. It used to be over N30.00. But it is now N18.00. I can tell you that if I have the money I will buy it. Because from all I hear it is a matter of time before it picks up again. If you can keep your shirt on when people are panicking and looking for the door, now is the time to do it."

Barrister Raymond Nyagba, an Abuja based lawyer is one of those who have also been hard hit by the crisis in the stock market. According to him, he bought about 5000 units of Oceanic Bank Initial Public Offer (IPO) at N16.00 per a unit in the first quarter of 2007. He also bought First Inland Bank shares at N9 per share of 10 000 units and First Bank at N33.00 per share of 2000 shares.

According to the investor, "But some six months ago, I began to notice a steady decline in the prices. Before then, the prices had gone up twice the amount I had bought them. The Oceanic Bank shares went up to N33 per share, the First Bank stocks had upped by N42.00 but all that have fallen down now".

The bitter sense of loss was evident in the voice of the lawyer when he regretfully said, "If I had sold them that time I would have made a 100% gain". The Oceanic shares have dropped to N17.00 per share as at Thursday and the First Bank ones have spiralled to N23.00 per a share, he lamented.

He said though stocks could be a long term investment, it could also come in handy when one is hard pressed for a need. "As an investor, I invest to make profit, I invest to make gain and it has given one cause to worry, though it's a long term investment, you could rush there and grab some units and sell. I can't do that now because I can't gain anything. My plan was let me invest in stocks, maybe at the end of a year, hopefully, I should be able to get 100% returns on my investment and take the interest to build a house. Certainly I can not do that again. All my hopes and aspirations are dashed! It may not be physically telling on me but emotionally I am affected because the purpose for which I was investing in the capital market is defeated, at least for now".

He is very apprehensive that the capital market has failed him woefully. Although stock brokers are assuring him that there is no cause to worry, and that now is even the best time to invest in the market, he said, "I am yet to be convinced".

Another lawyer, Musa Yamta, happens to be a few of those who have invested in the stock market that have fewer worries. Though worried in a different way, he thought that share prices were only jerked up forcefully to promote the value of the company in the eyes of the customers. "Appropriate share pricing ought to be there. I feel that certain share prices are jerked up out of false promotion of a company".

He told Sunday Trust that he didn't buy shares to speculate but he bought to invest in the long term. "I bought 20,000 units of shares with Skye Bank at N3 per unit of shares in the late 1980s. I was buying just to pile my stock when I had excess money. I didn't buy to speculate with it. I was only buying it as an investment, so I never planned to speculate on what I have bought. Just to invest, pile them and whenever there is need, sell them".

And because he didn't buy to speculate, he doesn't even know the value of the stocks at present. "I have never gone there to assess actually", he said. For him, it was a cause for concern when the stocks were going up. "Even when the shares were going up I really wanted to know, what were the indices, why the shares should go up the way they have gone. Is it that the bank has now expanded, or the value of the bank has increased so much that it has to cost this much? But as for me, a layman, I don't have to look into it seriously. But if they say that is the price, well it is good".

However, the pain of losing some money cannot be done away with completely. "When I was imagining that I have shares of 20,000 units costing me about N400,000, and now the price is gone down, invariably I might have lost. But in the actual sense, the lost is not much and I'm not so scared and dumbfounded as if the end of the world has come. In every thing there is risk, there is always the ups and the downs of the business. It is one misfortune that has happened but it will be over", he assured.

The only regret he has for losing whatever money he might have lost in the stock market is seeing his hope of comfortable retirement torn to shreds. "You always think as a human being when you get much older, you always hope to get something to rely on. If therefore the prices have gone down, you will feel bitter about it of course. But under the circumstances, what do you do? As a human being you just have to accept that failure for the time being and sit down and pray that things will improve".

Yamta advised that the stock market should be legalised. "To assess a share to its appropriate price, the indices should definitely be observed. Prices should always be looked into before they are jerked up. Because when you look at certain prices you continue to smile as if you have a lot of money with you but in actual sense, those of us who have spent up to 20 years in the market, we always feel that at times it is not the true price".

For Israel Wave, he has lost over 50% of his investments in the crisis. He had bought the stocks in February while in Lagos, hoping that by the time he got to Abuja, the prices would go up and he would sell them and rent a house. He said, "I bought Mutual Benefit shares for N5.50k, then the Law Union, for N7.50k. My intention was that when I move over to Abuja, I would trade, may be then it might have increased. But when I came, I had no option than to sell what I bought for N7.50k for N4.00. So I have lost almost half of what I have invested within some few months. They are now getting even lower than what I sold".

He is very sceptical about buying stocks again and also seemed to be at a loss on what to do with the one he has. "With what is happening now, I am not buying any shares again. I even wanted to sell but if I sell again the loss will be too much. I don't even look at stock reports again. I don't want to sell and I don't want to buy. I used to buy a lot of stocks but that is useless now. I think the best investment now is property and that's what one should be doing now and not stocks", he said.

In spite of his huge loss, he feels deep sympathy for those who have borrowed money to invest in stocks. "There are some people I know that took loans to buy shares and they are paying interest on the loans today, the shares are not rising, and instead they are coming down". He only hoped that the market would improve soon, at least by next year.

Rep Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, Chairman House Committee on Capital Market believes that the challenge of enforcement and compliance is most daunting.

"The key activities about regulations are enforcement and compliance. Our regulators do not ensure full enforcement and where they ensure enforcement; full compliance is not adhered to. So, what we really need to do is to find ways on how to rejuvenate this market. And rejuvenation of this market cannot be achieved without our regulators standing up to the challenges they have," the lawmaker said.

But in spite of the lamentations of stocks investors, key player in the sector still believes that the future is bright. Michael Daniel Katsit, Managing Director of Kapital Kare Trust and Securities Limited believes that the present crisis would soon usher in a period of prosperity. He advises Nigerians to patronise the market. He is quick to add that money interested in stocks should not be borrowed because of the cost of borrowings.

Dele Odusina, Managing Director Quantum Securities Limited believes that Nigerian stock market would not depreciate further. He says the market is still fundamentally strong and that the initial problem with the market was that of lack of confidence.

He maintains that the market got boosted by inflow of foreign investors and the present global meltdown has affected the capital market. He says that the market would soon bounce back to reckoning. Odusina explains that the market started finding its level as major companies gained on their shares price, other companies such as financial institutions, manufacturing confectionaries would follow.

"The market will come back and we have started seeing that in the appreciation of First Bank and Union Bank shares on Friday and since this has started other companies would follow", he said

Frank Ogiamien of Platform Investment opines that the market would not collapse, adding that Nigerian investors have seen the worse of the market in the last three months. He says a couple of things are being done to bring the market to appreciable level and that by this week; investors would begin to see the reversal of the trend in the market.

Ogiamien said the Chairman of NSE council Oba Otudeko met with Nigeria Economic council in Abuja last week as part of efforts to bring back the market on its feet. He said what further aggravated the problem was the refusal by the federal government to bail out the market. He added that since government had promised it would not intervene, it now rests on the regulators such as the Nigerian Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), CBN to come out with laudable ideas to bail the market.

According to Martin Oluba, President of ValueFronteria Limited, there are series of domestic financial policy faux passes which caused a reversal of inflow of rise in shares prices. The first was the Central Bank of Nigeria's decision to stop the then massive credit expansions which took place through bank lending for equities. The implication of this, according to him, was the endless upward price movement of Nigerian stocks, particularly the equities of the banks which were driven by the bank-credit-backed demand pressure, halted

Banks, according to Oluba, had sustained the equities market boom by using a combination of tactics-direct interventions through lending to stock broking firms primarily to buy their shares to sustain demand pressure on their stocks such that its prices continued to rise without corresponding appreciation on the underlying values.

The camel's back was however broken when JP Morgan, on its 12th May 2008 report, pointed out that more than 56 per cent of the banks are overvalued, while pointing out clearly that bank shares prices have run well ahead of fundamentals and do not incorporate the numerous risks facing the sector from both the operational and macro-perspective. This, Oluba said, triggered an increased drop in the holding of bank shares particularly by the foreign investors who have reckoned that the Nigerian market was indeed headed to experience exactly what other global market were facing. True to that perception, the price slide which started since then has not stopped

Meanwhile as Nigerians continue to lament the present crisis ravaging the stock market, both the Nigerian Stick Exchange and the regulatory agency, Stock Exchange Commission (SEC) have allayed the anxieties of investors, claiming that all measures would be put in place to arrest the problem

SEC, in a statement signed by its head of media, Lanre Oloyi, the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by its Chairman, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma accompanied by the Director-General, Musa Al-Faki and other Executive and Non-Executive Commissioners met with the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to review the situation of the Nigerian capital market.

The meeting, the statement said, was held at the SEC corporate headquarters in Abuja and members of the Council of the Exchange present included its President, Chief Oba Otudeko, the Vice President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Director-General, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and other members of the Council.

"At the end of the meeting, the SEC and the NSE expressed satisfaction with the performance of the companies listed on the Exchange as shown by their various results up to the last quarter", it said.

As Nigerians continue to lament their N3 trillion losses and to expect a quick resolution of the problems confronting the stick market, not a few Nigerians are of the view that it would take a little longer for the stock market to get back on the path of recovery.Though key players in the

sector have tried to douse the

tension raised by the decline in the stock market since it took a sliding due to the global economic downturn, the Nigerian capital market has taken a turn for the worst. Rep Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, chairman House Committee on Capital Market believes that the challenge of enforcement and compliance is the most daunting. While the managing director of Kapital Kare Trust and Securities Limited predicts that the situation will take a turn for the better.

But the assumptions becloud the fact that an estimated sum of N3 trillion has been lost in the last six months when market capitalisation declined by 23.5 percent. From available records, the market suffered losses from N12.1 trillion at the beginning of the slide in March 2008 to N9.26 trillion by the first week of October 2008.

Thousands of Nigerians had planned to improve their status, marry, construct houses and educate their children among other dreams, but these appear to have been dashed.

These losses suffered by Nigerians at the stick exchange have led to a flurry of measures aimed at stabilising the market whose present state has led to a lamentation by Nigerian investors. From Lagos to Maiduguri; Port Harcourt to Kebbi, Nigerians are expressing great fears over what would become of their investments.

These losses and growing loss of confidence in the stock market has led to a decline in business for stockbrokers. When Sunday Trust visited one of the stock brooking firms located at the Central Business District in Abuja, a disturbing silence enveloped the office. The beehive activity that was seen during the reporter's visit last year was totally absent. The firm was devoid of the usual hustle and bustle of business activities and long queues of investors seeking information on shares.

After staying ten minutes at the reception with no one to talk to, a lady walked to the reception desk and asked if she could be of assistance. When the reporter said he had come to have a chat with her boss, she said: "He is out of town and is presently in a seminar in Ilorin and won't be back till next week," she said. Throughout the 30-minutes stay, not a single investor walked in to inquire on state of stocks. A visit to another stockbroker's office revealed the same picture. Only the chattering of cheerless voices whose faces bemoaned the anguish of the times. Last week, the Nigeria Stock Exchange declared that over N3 trillion had been lost in the last seven months since the down turn on the shares prices commenced.

As investors continue to lament the threatening unpredictability of the stock market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not forthcoming with measures to bail out the market from the crisis it finds itself. Though operators of the market are confident that regulators of the market would soon come up with measures, many Nigerians spoken to expressed disappointments over the declining shares prices.

For some time now, the instability in the stock market has generated so much tension for those who own shares in the Nigerian stock market. While most of them worry that this instability would make them run at a loss in the end, others insist that the rise and fall is nothing to worry about as it is a phase in the stock market which cannot be avoided and would come to pass in a short while.

Adakole Ijogi, a property developer, owns shares in Access Bank and doesn't feel the instability is an issue to be troubled over.

"I bought shares in a public offer sometime last year, for some time it was doing well and now that it is depreciating, I am not in the least way worried or disappointed because I didn't expect an immediate progress. Those who know the stock market well would tell you that it is a long term goal so one shouldn't panic when it depreciates. The Nigerian stock market is still growing and in the next five years I see it stabilising."

He said the major problem the stock market is faced with is the entry and exit of funds.

"Most people buy shares during public offers and once they obtain their certificates, they dump it in the market. People need to understand that it doesn't work that way."

While Ijogi says the instability of the stock market does not disappoint him, Habiba Yusuf says otherwise.

She bought N130,000 worth of shares from IBTC at the rate of N11 per unit in June 2007; just like every other person she says she needed to invest her money wisely. Unlike Ijogi however, she is worried that this flux could make her lose so much at the end.

"I am very unhappy with the situation of things in the stock market particularly IBTC because I have shares there. I bought shares because I needed a place I could invest my money hoping that in the end it would yield good returns but as at October the value was less than 120,000. I have not been able to redeem my money due to the fall in price."

Unlike Habiba, Salisu Umar shares the same view. He bought shares in a public offer from First Bank in 2007 at the rate of N33 per unit and he says that fluctuation is a normal trend in the stock market.

"I am not worried about the fluctuation in the stock market because it is a normal trend. Such instability only worries those who bought shares for short term purposes; I on the other hand did because I want a long term investment. It is a good long term investment if you are not a secondary market player. I have always known that First Bank would have this problem because sometime 2006 they gave their share holders a one to one bonus and a one to four in 2007; a lot of people rushed to the market to make money and as a result the prices crashed. That's not to say I do not believe in the Bank. I bought the shares because I know it is a very strong bank that has been on the stock market for over 100 years; they have money asset base, share capital and good business men. It isn't possible that at the end of the day share holders would run at a loss."

He said that people have no idea how the stock market works so they need to be educated.

"Nigerians are copy cats. They always want to do what they see people doing without knowing if it would work for them. If you are a person who wants immediate profit, then you should go for the primary investment, however if you want a long term investment then you should go for the secondary."

Prince Bulus Audu agrees with Salisu. He owns shares in Skye Bank, Bank PHB, Bagco, UBA and Union Bank. Some of them he bought 3 years ago and others last year. He says the instability does not worry him.

"A few years ago I bought UBA shares at the rate of N3.80k and last year I bought Bank PHB shares at N15.50k. Right now my UBA shares are worth millions of Naira so there is no way I can say I am disappointed. I feel that people are worrying unnecessarily because it is a global crisis. It isn't just limited to Nigeria or the African economy and it is a stage in the stock market that cannot be avoided. Right now, maybe there is a huge flux but in the long run it would appreciate. I bought these shares because I have faith in the Nigerian stock market and the situation of things now wouldn't make me lose the faith I have. Eventually it would be stable."

Even though Audu, Umar and Ijogi maintain this instability, it is only a temporary crisis that shouldn't generate worry in any way, Ahmed Talib disagrees. He, like Audu, owns shares in UBA and he says the instability in the stock market is definitely something to worry about.

In Talib's words, "I ask myself why I bought shares, the answer is simple. I did so to invest my money and in the long run make much more. But with the rise and fall here and there how can I not be disappointed? No one would want to invest in a business that isn't stable and now we are talking about shares. However little you bought, you still hope it would eventually manifest into something great. I must tell you that I really don't see that happening with this instability. It makes me unhappy to think that my investment would go down the drain."

The continuous plummeting of the capital market in the country is translating into wanton fear and uncertainty in the minds of many investors in that financial sector. Malam Bukar Gadanga, an Abuja based businessman and long time investor in the stock market related his experiences to Sunday Trust. His investments are spread across the manufacturing, insurance, banking, among other blue chips companies.

Though he never purchased his shares through the initial public offer (IPO), given the Nigerian experience where it takes about six months for people to get their share certificates. And at the end of these six months, they may not even get the shares and is another trouble getting their money returned. These among other things made Gadanga purchase his shares in the secondary market.

The value of his stocks have since actually plummeted. "In my own case, there are shares that I bought whose value has fallen in relation to the value I purchased them. I can give you an example, I know that there was a share I bought at may be N4.00 and it is now N1.80. There was also another one I bought at about N28 and it is now only above N10.00. Generally, there is a general decline in the value of virtually all the stocks I bought."

He added that "every body that bought a share at the beginning of the year up to March, April or so, you will find out that the prices have gone down, there has been almost a free fall in the value of the stocks. Even though there are others that are a bit static, but the rest have not recovered yet. I think the experience of most stockholders is that the value of stock they were having in around March up to June, July, August compared to now, is that they have lost something.

"If you read in the papers just yesterday, they said that the share prices in the stock market was valued at over N12 trillion at around March and it is now about N9 trillion. That means almost N3 trillion has been wiped off the value of those shares. And these shares are for people like me and you, if you are also an investor into stocks. So, they are ordinary small holders and also big companies who have all being affected by the financial meltdown," the disturbed investor declared.

Gadanga, who has been investing in the stocks in the past 15 years, said that many people have recently gone into stock market because of the unhealthy business environment, bank interests, among other factors. "Apart from me, who has been there for a long time, other people, who have just started newly got interested into the stock market because of the huge publicity that has been given to the issue. As well as the IPOs we are talking about, and they have heard stories of people who literally become millionaires.

"You hear people who bought Dangote sugar and whatever, and within a short period, it sort of more than tripled. So, they really made a lot of money. But like I said, I have never done an IPO, so I never benefited from it, but many people have done so. If you stroll to any stock brooking firm in the past months, you will be amazed with the kind of people you meet there. You will see house wives, you will see people who are earning may be N15,000 a month; and all sorts of people who have become converted into the stocks. So, these are actually the people who are really hard hit because it is their life savings that they have put there, and is now wiping away."

Gadanga is not perturbed by the ongoing financial meltdown as he insisted that "I will still buy stocks even before the market stabilizes. I was just reading the big people in stock yesterday and the Oracle of Omaha, that is Warren Buffet, who is one of biggest American investors in stocks, was saying that now is the time to buy the stocks in America even. He said it is when people are panicking and everybody is selling, so that is the time to buy. And if you ask any stockbroker he would tell you that."

The investor added that "if I have the money, I will carefully study the situation and buy more shares. I can give you an example of stocks that many people said is very solid that is that of GT Bank. It used to be over N30.00. But it is now N18.00. I can tell you that if I have the money I will buy it. Because from all I hear it is a matter of time before it picks up again. If you can keep your shirt on when people are panicking and looking for the door, now is the time to do it."

Barrister Raymond Nyagba, an Abuja based lawyer is one of those who have also been hard hit by the crisis in the stock market. According to him, he bought about 5000 units of Oceanic Bank Initial Public Offer (IPO) at N16.00 per a unit in the first quarter of 2007. He also bought First Inland Bank shares at N9 per share of 10 000 units and First Bank at N33.00 per share of 2000 shares.

According to the investor, "But some six months ago, I began to notice a steady decline in the prices. Before then, the prices had gone up twice the amount I had bought them. The Oceanic Bank shares went up to N33 per share, the First Bank stocks had upped by N42.00 but all that have fallen down now".

The bitter sense of loss was evident in the voice of the lawyer when he regretfully said, "If I had sold them that time I would have made a 100% gain". The Oceanic shares have dropped to N17.00 per share as at Thursday and the First Bank ones have spiralled to N23.00 per a share, he lamented.

He said though stocks could be a long term investment, it could also come in handy when one is hard pressed for a need. "As an investor, I invest to make profit, I invest to make gain and it has given one cause to worry, though it's a long term investment, you could rush there and grab some units and sell. I can't do that now because I can't gain anything. My plan was let me invest in stocks, maybe at the end of a year, hopefully, I should be able to get 100% returns on my investment and take the interest to build a house. Certainly I can not do that again. All my hopes and aspirations are dashed! It may not be physically telling on me but emotionally I am affected because the purpose for which I was investing in the capital market is defeated, at least for now".

He is very apprehensive that the capital market has failed him woefully. Although stock brokers are assuring him that there is no cause to worry, and that now is even the best time to invest in the market, he said, "I am yet to be convinced".

Another lawyer, Musa Yamta, happens to be a few of those who have invested in the stock market that have fewer worries. Though worried in a different way, he thought that share prices were only jerked up forcefully to promote the value of the company in the eyes of the customers. "Appropriate share pricing ought to be there. I feel that certain share prices are jerked up out of false promotion of a company".

He told Sunday Trust that he didn't buy shares to speculate but he bought to invest in the long term. "I bought 20,000 units of shares with Skye Bank at N3 per unit of shares in the late 1980s. I was buying just to pile my stock when I had excess money. I didn't buy to speculate with it. I was only buying it as an investment, so I never planned to speculate on what I have bought. Just to invest, pile them and whenever there is need, sell them".

And because he didn't buy to speculate, he doesn't even know the value of the stocks at present. "I have never gone there to assess actually", he said. For him, it was a cause for concern when the stocks were going up. "Even when the shares were going up I really wanted to know, what were the indices, why the shares should go up the way they have gone. Is it that the bank has now expanded, or the value of the bank has increased so much that it has to cost this much? But as for me, a layman, I don't have to look into it seriously. But if they say that is the price, well it is good".

However, the pain of losing some money cannot be done away with completely. "When I was imagining that I have shares of 20,000 units costing me about N400,000, and now the price is gone down, invariably I might have lost. But in the actual sense, the lost is not much and I'm not so scared and dumbfounded as if the end of the world has come. In every thing there is risk, there is always the ups and the downs of the business. It is one misfortune that has happened but it will be over", he assured.

The only regret he has for losing whatever money he might have lost in the stock market is seeing his hope of comfortable retirement torn to shreds. "You always think as a human being when you get much older, you always hope to get something to rely on. If therefore the prices have gone down, you will feel bitter about it of course. But under the circumstances, what do you do? As a human being you just have to accept that failure for the time being and sit down and pray that things will improve".

Yamta advised that the stock market should be legalised. "To assess a share to its appropriate price, the indices should definitely be observed. Prices should always be looked into before they are jerked up. Because when you look at certain prices you continue to smile as if you have a lot of money with you but in actual sense, those of us who have spent up to 20 years in the market, we always feel that at times it is not the true price".

For Israel Wave, he has lost over 50% of his investments in the crisis. He had bought the stocks in February while in Lagos, hoping that by the time he got to Abuja, the prices would go up and he would sell them and rent a house. He said, "I bought Mutual Benefit shares for N5.50k, then the Law Union, for N7.50k. My intention was that when I move over to Abuja, I would trade, may be then it might have increased. But when I came, I had no option than to sell what I bought for N7.50k for N4.00. So I have lost almost half of what I have invested within some few months. They are now getting even lower than what I sold".

He is very sceptical about buying stocks again and also seemed to be at a loss on what to do with the one he has. "With what is happening now, I am not buying any shares again. I even wanted to sell but if I sell again the loss will be too much. I don't even look at stock reports again. I don't want to sell and I don't want to buy. I used to buy a lot of stocks but that is useless now. I think the best investment now is property and that's what one should be doing now and not stocks", he said.

In spite of his huge loss, he feels deep sympathy for those who have borrowed money to invest in stocks. "There are some people I know that took loans to buy shares and they are paying interest on the loans today, the shares are not rising, and instead they are coming down". He only hoped that the market would improve soon, at least by next year.

Rep Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, Chairman House Committee on Capital Market believes that the challenge of enforcement and compliance is most daunting.

"The key activities about regulations are enforcement and compliance. Our regulators do not ensure full enforcement and where they ensure enforcement; full compliance is not adhered to. So, what we really need to do is to find ways on how to rejuvenate this market. And rejuvenation of this market cannot be achieved without our regulators standing up to the challenges they have," the lawmaker said.

But in spite of the lamentations of stocks investors, key player in the sector still believes that the future is bright. Michael Daniel Katsit, Managing Director of Kapital Kare Trust and Securities Limited believes that the present crisis would soon usher in a period of prosperity. He advises Nigerians to patronise the market. He is quick to add that money interested in stocks should not be borrowed because of the cost of borrowings.

Dele Odusina, Managing Director Quantum Securities Limited believes that Nigerian stock market would not depreciate further. He says the market is still fundamentally strong and that the initial problem with the market was that of lack of confidence.

He maintains that the market got boosted by inflow of foreign investors and the present global meltdown has affected the capital market. He says that the market would soon bounce back to reckoning. Odusina explains that the market started finding its level as major companies gained on their shares price, other companies such as financial institutions, manufacturing confectionaries would follow.

"The market will come back and we have started seeing that in the appreciation of First Bank and Union Bank shares on Friday and since this has started other companies would follow", he said

Frank Ogiamien of Platform Investment opines that the market would not collapse, adding that Nigerian investors have seen the worse of the market in the last three months. He says a couple of things are being done to bring the market to appreciable level and that by this week; investors would begin to see the reversal of the trend in the market.

Ogiamien said the Chairman of NSE council Oba Otudeko met with Nigeria Economic council in Abuja last week as part of efforts to bring back the market on its feet. He said what further aggravated the problem was the refusal by the federal government to bail out the market. He added that since government had promised it would not intervene, it now rests on the regulators such as the Nigerian Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), CBN to come out with laudable ideas to bail the market.

According to Martin Oluba, President of ValueFronteria Limited, there are series of domestic financial policy faux passes which caused a reversal of inflow of rise in shares prices. The first was the Central Bank of Nigeria's decision to stop the then massive credit expansions which took place through bank lending for equities. The implication of this, according to him, was the endless upward price movement of Nigerian stocks, particularly the equities of the banks which were driven by the bank-credit-backed demand pressure, halted

Banks, according to Oluba, had sustained the equities market boom by using a combination of tactics-direct interventions through lending to stock broking firms primarily to buy their shares to sustain demand pressure on their stocks such that its prices continued to rise without corresponding appreciation on the underlying values.

The camel's back was however broken when JP Morgan, on its 12th May 2008 report, pointed out that more than 56 per cent of the banks are overvalued, while pointing out clearly that bank shares prices have run well ahead of fundamentals and do not incorporate the numerous risks facing the sector from both the operational and macro-perspective. This, Oluba said, triggered an increased drop in the holding of bank shares particularly by the foreign investors who have reckoned that the Nigerian market was indeed headed to experience exactly what other global market were facing. True to that perception, the price slide which started since then has not stopped

Meanwhile as Nigerians continue to lament the present crisis ravaging the stock market, both the Nigerian Stick Exchange and the regulatory agency, Stock Exchange Commission (SEC) have allayed the anxieties of investors, claiming that all measures would be put in place to arrest the problem

SEC, in a statement signed by its head of media, Lanre Oloyi, the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by its Chairman, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma accompanied by the Director-General, Musa Al-Faki and other Executive and Non-Executive Commissioners met with the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to review the situation of the Nigerian capital market.

The meeting, the statement said, was held at the SEC corporate headquarters in Abuja and members of the Council of the Exchange present included its President, Chief Oba Otudeko, the Vice President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Director-General, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and other members of the Council.

"At the end of the meeting, the SEC and the NSE expressed satisfaction with the performance of the companies listed on the Exchange as shown by their various results up to the last quarter", it said.

As Nigerians continue to lament their N3 trillion losses and to expect a quick resolution of the problems confronting the stick market, not a few Nigerians are of the view that it would take a little longer for the stock market to get back on the path of recovery.Though key players in the

sector have tried to douse the

tension raised by the decline in the stock market since it took a sliding due to the global economic downturn, the Nigerian capital market has taken a turn for the worst. Rep Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, chairman House Committee on Capital Market believes that the challenge of enforcement and compliance is the most daunting. While the managing director of Kapital Kare Trust and Securities Limited predicts that the situation will take a turn for the better.

But the assumptions becloud the fact that an estimated sum of N3 trillion has been lost in the last six months when market capitalisation declined by 23.5 percent. From available records, the market suffered losses from N12.1 trillion at the beginning of the slide in March 2008 to N9.26 trillion by the first week of October 2008.

Thousands of Nigerians had planned to improve their status, marry, construct houses and educate their children among other dreams, but these appear to have been dashed.

These losses suffered by Nigerians at the stick exchange have led to a flurry of measures aimed at stabilising the market whose present state has led to a lamentation by Nigerian investors. From Lagos to Maiduguri; Port Harcourt to Kebbi, Nigerians are expressing great fears over what would become of their investments.

These losses and growing loss of confidence in the stock market has led to a decline in business for stockbrokers. When Sunday Trust visited one of the stock brooking firms located at the Central Business District in Abuja, a disturbing silence enveloped the office. The beehive activity that was seen during the reporter's visit last year was totally absent. The firm was devoid of the usual hustle and bustle of business activities and long queues of investors seeking information on shares.

After staying ten minutes at the reception with no one to talk to, a lady walked to the reception desk and asked if she could be of assistance. When the reporter said he had come to have a chat with her boss, she said: "He is out of town and is presently in a seminar in Ilorin and won't be back till next week," she said. Throughout the 30-minutes stay, not a single investor walked in to inquire on state of stocks. A visit to another stockbroker's office revealed the same picture. Only the chattering of cheerless voices whose faces bemoaned the anguish of the times. Last week, the Nigeria Stock Exchange declared that over N3 trillion had been lost in the last seven months since the down turn on the shares prices commenced.

As investors continue to lament the threatening unpredictability of the stock market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not forthcoming with measures to bail out the market from the crisis it finds itself. Though operators of the market are confident that regulators of the market would soon come up with measures, many Nigerians spoken to expressed disappointments over the declining shares prices.

For some time now, the instability in the stock market has generated so much tension for those who own shares in the Nigerian stock market. While most of them worry that this instability would make them run at a loss in the end, others insist that the rise and fall is nothing to worry about as it is a phase in the stock market which cannot be avoided and would come to pass in a short while.

Adakole Ijogi, a property developer, owns shares in Access Bank and doesn't feel the instability is an issue to be troubled over.

"I bought shares in a public offer sometime last year, for some time it was doing well and now that it is depreciating, I am not in the least way worried or disappointed because I didn't expect an immediate progress. Those who know the stock market well would tell you that it is a long term goal so one shouldn't panic when it depreciates. The Nigerian stock market is still growing and in the next five years I see it stabilising."

He said the major problem the stock market is faced with is the entry and exit of funds.

"Most people buy shares during public offers and once they obtain their certificates, they dump it in the market. People need to understand that it doesn't work that way."

While Ijogi says the instability of the stock market does not disappoint him, Habiba Yusuf says otherwise.

She bought N130,000 worth of shares from IBTC at the rate of N11 per unit in June 2007; just like every other person she says she needed to invest her money wisely. Unlike Ijogi however, she is worried that this flux could make her lose so much at the end.

"I am very unhappy with the situation of things in the stock market particularly IBTC because I have shares there. I bought shares because I needed a place I could invest my money hoping that in the end it would yield good returns but as at October the value was less than 120,000. I have not been able to redeem my money due to the fall in price."

Unlike Habiba, Salisu Umar shares the same view. He bought shares in a public offer from First Bank in 2007 at the rate of N33 per unit and he says that fluctuation is a normal trend in the stock market.

"I am not worried about the fluctuation in the stock market because it is a normal trend. Such instability only worries those who bought shares for short term purposes; I on the other hand did because I want a long term investment. It is a good long term investment if you are not a secondary market player. I have always known that First Bank would have this problem because sometime 2006 they gave their share holders a one to one bonus and a one to four in 2007; a lot of people rushed to the market to make money and as a result the prices crashed. That's not to say I do not believe in the Bank. I bought the shares because I know it is a very strong bank that has been on the stock market for over 100 years; they have money asset base, share capital and good business men. It isn't possible that at the end of the day share holders would run at a loss."

He said that people have no idea how the stock market works so they need to be educated.

"Nigerians are copy cats. They always want to do what they see people doing without knowing if it would work for them. If you are a person who wants immediate profit, then you should go for the primary investment, however if you want a long term investment then you should go for the secondary."

Prince Bulus Audu agrees with Salisu. He owns shares in Skye Bank, Bank PHB, Bagco, UBA and Union Bank. Some of them he bought 3 years ago and others last year. He says the instability does not worry him.

"A few years ago I bought UBA shares at the rate of N3.80k and last year I bought Bank PHB shares at N15.50k. Right now my UBA shares are worth millions of Naira so there is no way I can say I am disappointed. I feel that people are worrying unnecessarily because it is a global crisis. It isn't just limited to Nigeria or the African economy and it is a stage in the stock market that cannot be avoided. Right now, maybe there is a huge flux but in the long run it would appreciate. I bought these shares because I have faith in the Nigerian stock market and the situation of things now wouldn't make me lose the faith I have. Eventually it would be stable."

Even though Audu, Umar and Ijogi maintain this instability, it is only a temporary crisis that shouldn't generate worry in any way, Ahmed Talib disagrees. He, like Audu, owns shares in UBA and he says the instability in the stock market is definitely something to worry about.

In Talib's words, "I ask myself why I bought shares, the answer is simple. I did so to invest my money and in the long run make much more. But with the rise and fall here and there how can I not be disappointed? No one would want to invest in a business that isn't stable and now we are talking about shares. However little you bought, you still hope it would eventually manifest into something great. I must tell you that I really don't see that happening with this instability. It makes me unhappy to think that my investment would go down the drain."

The continuous plummeting of the capital market in the country is translating into wanton fear and uncertainty in the minds of many investors in that financial sector. Malam Bukar Gadanga, an Abuja based businessman and long time investor in the stock market related his experiences to Sunday Trust. His investments are spread across the manufacturing, insurance, banking, among other blue chips companies.

Though he never purchased his shares through the initial public offer (IPO), given the Nigerian experience where it takes about six months for people to get their share certificates. And at the end of these six months, they may not even get the shares and is another trouble getting their money returned. These among other things made Gadanga purchase his shares in the secondary market.

The value of his stocks have since actually plummeted. "In my own case, there are shares that I bought whose value has fallen in relation to the value I purchased them. I can give you an example, I know that there was a share I bought at may be N4.00 and it is now N1.80. There was also another one I bought at about N28 and it is now only above N10.00. Generally, there is a general decline in the value of virtually all the stocks I bought."

He added that "every body that bought a share at the beginning of the year up to March, April or so, you will find out that the prices have gone down, there has been almost a free fall in the value of the stocks. Even though there are others that are a bit static, but the rest have not recovered yet. I think the experience of most stockholders is that the value of stock they were having in around March up to June, July, August compared to now, is that they have lost something.

"If you read in the papers just yesterday, they said that the share prices in the stock market was valued at over N12 trillion at around March and it is now about N9 trillion. That means almost N3 trillion has been wiped off the value of those shares. And these shares are for people like me and you, if you are also an investor into stocks. So, they are ordinary small holders and also big companies who have all being affected by the financial meltdown," the disturbed investor declared.

Gadanga, who has been investing in the stocks in the past 15 years, said that many people have recently gone into stock market because of the unhealthy business environment, bank interests, among other factors. "Apart from me, who has been there for a long time, other people, who have just started newly got interested into the stock market because of the huge publicity that has been given to the issue. As well as the IPOs we are talking about, and they have heard stories of people who literally become millionaires.

"You hear people who bought Dangote sugar and whatever, and within a short period, it sort of more than tripled. So, they really made a lot of money. But like I said, I have never done an IPO, so I never benefited from it, but many people have done so. If you stroll to any stock brooking firm in the past months, you will be amazed with the kind of people you meet there. You will see house wives, you will see people who are earning may be N15,000 a month; and all sorts of people who have become converted into the stocks. So, these are actually the people who are really hard hit because it is their life savings that they have put there, and is now wiping away."

Gadanga is not perturbed by the ongoing financial meltdown as he insisted that "I will still buy stocks even before the market stabilizes. I was just reading the big people in stock yesterday and the Oracle of Omaha, that is Warren Buffet, who is one of biggest American investors in stocks, was saying that now is the time to buy the stocks in America even. He said it is when people are panicking and everybody is selling, so that is the time to buy. And if you ask any stockbroker he would tell you that."

The investor added that "if I have the money, I will carefully study the situation and buy more shares. I can give you an example of stocks that many people said is very solid that is that of GT Bank. It used to be over N30.00. But it is now N18.00. I can tell you that if I have the money I will buy it. Because from all I hear it is a matter of time before it picks up again. If you can keep your shirt on when people are panicking and looking for the door, now is the time to do it."

Barrister Raymond Nyagba, an Abuja based lawyer is one of those who have also been hard hit by the crisis in the stock market. According to him, he bought about 5000 units of Oceanic Bank Initial Public Offer (IPO) at N16.00 per a unit in the first quarter of 2007. He also bought First Inland Bank shares at N9 per share of 10 000 units and First Bank at N33.00 per share of 2000 shares.

According to the investor, "But some six months ago, I began to notice a steady decline in the prices. Before then, the prices had gone up twice the amount I had bought them. The Oceanic Bank shares went up to N33 per share, the First Bank stocks had upped by N42.00 but all that have fallen down now".

The bitter sense of loss was evident in the voice of the lawyer when he regretfully said, "If I had sold them that time I would have made a 100% gain". The Oceanic shares have dropped to N17.00 per share as at Thursday and the First Bank ones have spiralled to N23.00 per a share, he lamented.

He said though stocks could be a long term investment, it could also come in handy when one is hard pressed for a need. "As an investor, I invest to make profit, I invest to make gain and it has given one cause to worry, though it's a long term investment, you could rush there and grab some units and sell. I can't do that now because I can't gain anything. My plan was let me invest in stocks, maybe at the end of a year, hopefully, I should be able to get 100% returns on my investment and take the interest to build a house. Certainly I can not do that again. All my hopes and aspirations are dashed! It may not be physically telling on me but emotionally I am affected because the purpose for which I was investing in the capital market is defeated, at least for now".

He is very apprehensive that the capital market has failed him woefully. Although stock brokers are assuring him that there is no cause to worry, and that now is even the best time to invest in the market, he said, "I am yet to be convinced".

Another lawyer, Musa Yamta, happens to be a few of those who have invested in the stock market that have fewer worries. Though worried in a different way, he thought that share prices were only jerked up forcefully to promote the value of the company in the eyes of the customers. "Appropriate share pricing ought to be there. I feel that certain share prices are jerked up out of false promotion of a company".

He told Sunday Trust that he didn't buy shares to speculate but he bought to invest in the long term. "I bought 20,000 units of shares with Skye Bank at N3 per unit of shares in the late 1980s. I was buying just to pile my stock when I had excess money. I didn't buy to speculate with it. I was only buying it as an investment, so I never planned to speculate on what I have bought. Just to invest, pile them and whenever there is need, sell them".

And because he didn't buy to speculate, he doesn't even know the value of the stocks at present. "I have never gone there to assess actually", he said. For him, it was a cause for concern when the stocks were going up. "Even when the shares were going up I really wanted to know, what were the indices, why the shares should go up the way they have gone. Is it that the bank has now expanded, or the value of the bank has increased so much that it has to cost this much? But as for me, a layman, I don't have to look into it seriously. But if they say that is the price, well it is good".

However, the pain of losing some money cannot be done away with completely. "When I was imagining that I have shares of 20,000 units costing me about N400,000, and now the price is gone down, invariably I might have lost. But in the actual sense, the lost is not much and I'm not so scared and dumbfounded as if the end of the world has come. In every thing there is risk, there is always the ups and the downs of the business. It is one misfortune that has happened but it will be over", he assured.

The only regret he has for losing whatever money he might have lost in the stock market is seeing his hope of comfortable retirement torn to shreds. "You always think as a human being when you get much older, you always hope to get something to rely on. If therefore the prices have gone down, you will feel bitter about it of course. But under the circumstances, what do you do? As a human being you just have to accept that failure for the time being and sit down and pray that things will improve".

Yamta advised that the stock market should be legalised. "To assess a share to its appropriate price, the indices should definitely be observed. Prices should always be looked into before they are jerked up. Because when you look at certain prices you continue to smile as if you have a lot of money with you but in actual sense, those of us who have spent up to 20 years in the market, we always feel that at times it is not the true price".

For Israel Wave, he has lost over 50% of his investments in the crisis. He had bought the stocks in February while in Lagos, hoping that by the time he got to Abuja, the prices would go up and he would sell them and rent a house. He said, "I bought Mutual Benefit shares for N5.50k, then the Law Union, for N7.50k. My intention was that when I move over to Abuja, I would trade, may be then it might have increased. But when I came, I had no option than to sell what I bought for N7.50k for N4.00. So I have lost almost half of what I have invested within some few months. They are now getting even lower than what I sold".

He is very sceptical about buying stocks again and also seemed to be at a loss on what to do with the one he has. "With what is happening now, I am not buying any shares again. I even wanted to sell but if I sell again the loss will be too much. I don't even look at stock reports again. I don't want to sell and I don't want to buy. I used to buy a lot of stocks but that is useless now. I think the best investment now is property and that's what one should be doing now and not stocks", he said.

In spite of his huge loss, he feels deep sympathy for those who have borrowed money to invest in stocks. "There are some people I know that took loans to buy shares and they are paying interest on the loans today, the shares are not rising, and instead they are coming down". He only hoped that the market would improve soon, at least by next year.

Rep Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, Chairman House Committee on Capital Market believes that the challenge of enforcement and compliance is most daunting.

"The key activities about regulations are enforcement and compliance. Our regulators do not ensure full enforcement and where they ensure enforcement; full compliance is not adhered to. So, what we really need to do is to find ways on how to rejuvenate this market. And rejuvenation of this market cannot be achieved without our regulators standing up to the challenges they have," the lawmaker said.

But in spite of the lamentations of stocks investors, key player in the sector still believes that the future is bright. Michael Daniel Katsit, Managing Director of Kapital Kare Trust and Securities Limited believes that the present crisis would soon usher in a period of prosperity. He advises Nigerians to patronise the market. He is quick to add that money interested in stocks should not be borrowed because of the cost of borrowings.

Dele Odusina, Managing Director Quantum Securities Limited believes that Nigerian stock market would not depreciate further. He says the market is still fundamentally strong and that the initial problem with the market was that of lack of confidence.

He maintains that the market got boosted by inflow of foreign investors and the present global meltdown has affected the capital market. He says that the market would soon bounce back to reckoning. Odusina explains that the market started finding its level as major companies gained on their shares price, other companies such as financial institutions, manufacturing confectionaries would follow.

"The market will come back and we have started seeing that in the appreciation of First Bank and Union Bank shares on Friday and since this has started other companies would follow", he said

Frank Ogiamien of Platform Investment opines that the market would not collapse, adding that Nigerian investors have seen the worse of the market in the last three months. He says a couple of things are being done to bring the market to appreciable level and that by this week; investors would begin to see the reversal of the trend in the market.

Ogiamien said the Chairman of NSE council Oba Otudeko met with Nigeria Economic council in Abuja last week as part of efforts to bring back the market on its feet. He said what further aggravated the problem was the refusal by the federal government to bail out the market. He added that since government had promised it would not intervene, it now rests on the regulators such as the Nigerian Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), CBN to come out with laudable ideas to bail the market.

According to Martin Oluba, President of ValueFronteria Limited, there are series of domestic financial policy faux passes which caused a reversal of inflow of rise in shares prices. The first was the Central Bank of Nigeria's decision to stop the then massive credit expansions which took place through bank lending for equities. The implication of this, according to him, was the endless upward price movement of Nigerian stocks, particularly the equities of the banks which were driven by the bank-credit-backed demand pressure, halted

Banks, according to Oluba, had sustained the equities market boom by using a combination of tactics-direct interventions through lending to stock broking firms primarily to buy their shares to sustain demand pressure on their stocks such that its prices continued to rise without corresponding appreciation on the underlying values.

The camel's back was however broken when JP Morgan, on its 12th May 2008 report, pointed out that more than 56 per cent of the banks are overvalued, while pointing out clearly that bank shares prices have run well ahead of fundamentals and do not incorporate the numerous risks facing the sector from both the operational and macro-perspective. This, Oluba said, triggered an increased drop in the holding of bank shares particularly by the foreign investors who have reckoned that the Nigerian market was indeed headed to experience exactly what other global market were facing. True to that perception, the price slide which started since then has not stopped

Meanwhile as Nigerians continue to lament the present crisis ravaging the stock market, both the Nigerian Stick Exchange and the regulatory agency, Stock Exchange Commission (SEC) have allayed the anxieties of investors, claiming that all measures would be put in place to arrest the problem

SEC, in a statement signed by its head of media, Lanre Oloyi, the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by its Chairman, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma accompanied by the Director-General, Musa Al-Faki and other Executive and Non-Executive Commissioners met with the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to review the situation of the Nigerian capital market.

The meeting, the statement said, was held at the SEC corporate headquarters in Abuja and members of the Council of the Exchange present included its President, Chief Oba Otudeko, the Vice President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Director-General, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and other members of the Council.

"At the end of the meeting, the SEC and the NSE expressed satisfaction with the performance of the companies listed on the Exchange as shown by their various results up to the last quarter", it said.

As Nigerians continue to lament their N3 trillion losses and to expect a quick resolution of the problems confronting the stick market, not a few Nigerians are of the view that it would take a little longer for the stock market to get back on the path of recovery."If they have nothing to hide, why have they refused to honour the EFCC invitation to explain their roles?" the source queried.

Sunday Trust was told by the source that the EFCC had written to the four officials in the first week of October but the top Rivers state government officials have refused to honour the invitation.

When contacted over the issue, the spokesman of the commission, Femi Babafemi, said that he was aware that the letters of invitation were written to some officials of the Rivers state government but said he could not recall the names of the people that were being invited.

It could be recalled that the EFCC had arrested Mr Nyeson Wike, Chief of Staff to Governor Ameachi, and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Magnus Abbe, over the alleged looting of the state treasury running into over N300million. Some of the allegations being investigated by the commission, a source had maintained, included ownership of a massive building in Port Harcourt worth about N150 million. Wike was reported to have told his interrogators that he was building on behalf of Governor Ameachi.

Banco Daycoval S.A.

--Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) affirmed at 'BB-'/Stable Outlook;

--Short-term foreign currency IDR affirmed at 'B';

--Long-term local currency IDR affirmed at 'BB-'/Stable Outlook;

--Short-term local currency IDR affirmed at 'B';

--Individual Rating affirmed at 'C/D';

--Support Rating affirmed at '5';

--Support Rating Floor 'No Floor' assigned;

--National Long-term Rating affirmed at 'A(bra)'/Outlook revised to Stable--National Short-term Rating affirmed at 'F1(bra)'.

Banco Industrial e Comercial S.A. (BicBanco)

--Support Rating affirmed at '5';

--National Long-term Rating affirmed at 'A-(bra)'/Outlook revised to Stable;

--National Short-term Rating affirmed at 'F2(bra)';

Banco Panamericano S.A.

--Support Rating affirmed at '5';

--National Long-term Rating affirmed at 'BBB+(bra)'/Outlook revised to Stable;

--National Short-term Rating affirmed at 'F2(bra)';

Banco Pine S.A.

--Long-term foreign currency IDR affirmed at 'B+'/Outlook revised to Stable;

--Short-term foreign currency IDR affirmed at 'B';

--Long-term local currency IDR affirmed at 'B+'/Outlook revised to Stable;

--Short-term local currency IDR affirmed at 'B';

--Individual Rating affirmed at 'D';

--Support Rating affirmed at '5'

--Support Rating Floor affirmed at 'No floor';

--National Long-term Rating affirmed at 'A-(bra)' (A minus (bra)/Outlook revised to Stable;

--National Short-term Rating affirmed at 'F2(bra)';

Banco Tricury S.A.

--Support Rating affirmed at '5';

--National Long-term Rating affirmed at 'BB(bra)'/Outlook revised to Stable;

--National Short-term Rating affirmed at 'B(bra)'.

Fitch's national ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries where the sovereign's foreign and local currency ratings are below 'AAA'. National ratings are not internationally comparable since the best relative risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. They are signified by the addition of an identifier, for the country concerned, such as 'AAA (bra)' for national ratings in Brazil.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.

SOURCE: Fitch Ratings

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For Dr. Zena Mtajuka, an exhausted warrior on the frontlines of the fight against one of the planet's most devastating diseases, a vaccine cannot come quickly enough.

"Malaria is our number one killer in this district," said Mtajuka in her cramped office at Bagamoyo District Hospital north of Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam.

"The hardest thing is that members of the community come to the hospital too late. It makes them harder to save."

Bagamoyo is one of almost a dozen research sites where scientists are in the final stages of preparing for a large-scale efficacy and safety trial of the "RTS,S" vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

The trial, which is slated to begin in early 2009 and will involve 16,000 children in seven African countries, is the largest ever undertaken on the continent. Its funders, including groups supported by the Gates Foundation, hope it will result in a new and effective strategy against the disease.

Bagamoyo's malaria burden is typical of many places in tropical Africa, home to most of the roughly one million people who die each year because of the mosquito-borne illness.

Public health officials estimate malaria costs Africa $12 billion due to deaths and lost productivity, a twin burden the world's poorest continent cannot afford.

Public health advocates have cited malaria as an emerging global health success story, with new drugs, bed nets and insecticides contributing to sharp drops in infection rates in a number of countries.

Mtajuka said insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor spraying are not universally available here despite campaigns to promote them.

"Some people are using bed nets, but not all of them. Some are simply too poor to afford them," Mtajuka said. "And since I've been here there's been no indoor spraying. I think we had it once, three years ago, but not since then."

Mtajuka, who already manages the hospital's HIV/AIDS clinic, had to learn the malaria job fast. Her predecessor as malaria officer died earlier this year -- of malaria.

MEASURING SUCCESS

Like many African doctors, Mtajuka remains swamped by malaria cases -- which proponents say underscores the need for a vaccine to stop the deadly parasite in its tracks.

"Drugs and nets are going to assist, but I don't think that's a long-term solution," said Dr. Norbert Peshu, director of the KEMRI Centre for Geographic Medicine Research in Kilifi, Kenya, another malaria hotspot.

"The final thing against malaria has to be a vaccine."

Although identified as promising two decades ago, the RTS,S vaccine has only in recent years moved into widespread testing, thanks to funding from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

For vaccinologists, malaria has proved hard to beat. The parasite that causes the disease has a complex life-cycle inside mosquitoes and the human body, which helps it evade the immune system.

RTS,S, named for the antigen it produces, fuses part of a protein from the parasite to the surface of a hepatitis-B viral particle, stimulating the body's immune response. This hobbles the parasite's ability to infect and develop in the liver, its main repository in humans, which gives partial protection against the disease.

The vaccine's largest test so far, in more than 2,000 children in Mozambique starting in 2003, showed it reduced all cases of clinical malaria by 35 percent and the worst cases of the disease by almost 50 percent.

The Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which helps coordinate world malaria vaccine research and development, aims for a vaccine that is at least 50 percent effective by 2015 and a second-generation product to confer 80 percent or more protection against clinical disease by 2025.

"It may not cover all the bases, but it could cover some of them," said Dr. Patricia Njuguna, a Kenyan paediatrician who will be one of the principal investigators for the next series of RTS,S human trials.

"Traditional vaccines give 80 to 90 percent protection. Malaria vaccines give less. But perhaps that is all you need."

NO SINGLE ANSWER

Many medical workers in Africa say that while even a partially effective malaria vaccine would be welcome, it would certainly not be the answer to the continent's health problems.

Stephen Chakaya, a 27-year old medical officer at a rural clinic in Junju outside Kilifi, Kenya, said poverty and hunger were just as destructive as malaria in the community and much harder to address.

"Most of the people around here live on less than $1 per day," Chakaya noted, standing in his basic clinic that serves nearly 6,000 people in the area.

"We don't have a lab here. We don't have a microscope. We don't have slides, so we can never be sure if a case is malaria or something else. We need investment," he said.

But researchers say the vaccine push is bringing this investment, helping to supply equipment and expertise that will eventually benefit the community at large.

In Bagamoyo, where the vaccine trials are being run by Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute along with the district hospital, vaccine money has helped to purchase new ambulances and equip a bright new pediatric ward that now takes care of all cases of children under 5 admitted to the hospital.

Major investment in bed nets and combination therapies with artimisinin-based drugs have added pressure on the parasite, which already appeared to be on the retreat in at least some areas of Africa.

Wendy O'Meara, a U.S. epidemiologist working at the KEMRI/Wellcome Center in Kilifi, said reviews of local hospital data showed the mean age of children admitted with malaria had been rising over the past 10 years, a signal that the parasite was becoming rarer.

She said the changes came before bed nets and combination drug therapies were widely available in Kilifi, indicating other factors were responsible.

"There are very few places on the planet where malaria runs its natural course," she said. "It could be economic development, it could be things we don't have data on, or aren't creative enough to think of yet."

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Sara Ledwith) Keywords: AFRICA MALARIA/VACCINE (For a case study on the trials:)

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"This is the most severe downturn I have experienced in the 40-odd years of my working life. In the past two months the market has really gone downhill and it's likely that we will have to lay off workers," Lord Paul told 'The Sunday Times' in an interview, replying to a specific query on how has the credit crunch affected him.

The Chairman of the 1.5-billion-pound Caparo Group said it was difficult to know at this stage what the longer-term impact would be. "I think we will have a better idea early next year. I don't think we've seen the worse of it yet." "To survive in the manufacturing industry you have to be innovative and improve your technology, which is what my sons have been doing. There is some good news with the weakening pound, though. A lot of the business in Europe is picking up because of the strong euro so export sales there are strong." Asked how much profit he had made last year, Lord Paul, the British Ambassador for Overseas Business, said "I don't have the figure in front of me, but I would say we had a profit of about 40 million pounds to 50 million pounds.

"We were heading for almost 80 million pounds to 90 million pounds until the end of September (this year), though, but things have really nose-dived since then."

Lord Paul said his Group has been investing "quite heavily" in recent years, pointing out that in the past four, it has opened 22 plants in India, bought 22 companies in Britain and expanded in America. "I am in a wonderful position where my sons do the work and I get the glory," he said.

Replying to a question on his financial priority, Lord Paul said it was "to make sure that we come out of this credit crunch stronger." To another query on the most important lesson he has learnt about money, the NRI entrepreneur quipped: "Money comes to you as a blessing - respect it." About his views on tax, the Labour peer said "I am a non-dom (Non-domicile), I've never hidden that fact. I'm happy to pay the 30,000 pounds annual fee - I don't think I have much choice. I think it's a reasonable settlement.

"In my view, the whole non-domicile issue was taken out of proportion and I just hope it doesn't damage UK business. Most of my money - around 65 per cent - is in the UK, but I also have parts of the business in the US, Spain, India and Canada." Answering a question on the pre-budget report to be presented in British Parliament tomorrow, Lord Paul said: "In my view, you have got to be able to bring confidence back to the people, and one way to do this is to lower taxes. I hope this happens.

"Let me just say, though, I think (Prime Minister) Gordon Brown is probably the best man in the world to deal with the issues currently affecting us. I am Labour through and through and a very strong supporter of Gordon Brown, but I genuinely believe this."

Replying to a question on how much money he carried in his wallet, Lord Paul, one of Britain's wealthiest Asians, said "I have about 30 pounds, but I usually take out around 100 pounds at a cash-point. "It's for things like food and cabs and I even take the Tube sometimes - although I have a private chauffeur. I love to ride the bus, but I'm a little bit old so it's not the most convenient thing to do." Asked whether he is a cash or a card person, Lord Paul said "I prefer to use cards when I can. I have a Barclay card and an American Express although I don't really use them very much. To be honest, I live a very frugal life - I've lived in the same flat for over 40 years. I am not one of those who likes to spend money.

"What makes me feel good is that I have a wonderful wife, four lovely children and grand children. That is my wealth, not my money." To a question whether he is a saver or a spender, Lord Paul, Chancellor of Wolverhampton and Westminster Universities, said "I would say I am careful with money and whatever money I make I try to put back into the business. I like to see how the firm progresses rather than spend." Answering another question on how much was in his first pay packet, Lord Paul said "I have always worked for the family business in India. Ever since I could pick up a hammer or tools, I was told to do things for the family. I would be given a few rupees as spending money, but nothing significant.

"Things haven't changed that much in that all the money I have really goes back into the business in one way or another."

(Reopens FGN7) Asked whether he has ever been really hard up in life, Lord Paul said "I couldn't say I was ever badly off although when I first came to this country it wasn't easy to get money from back home. There were certain restrictions that meant I couldn't take money out of India and bring it here." To a question on the property he owned, the Labour peer said "I own my flat in Portman Place in central London where I have lived for 42 years. I rented it in 1966 and then bought in 1972 for 25,000 pounds. It must be worth around 900,000 pounds now. It was constructed in the 1960s and is right opposite BBC Broadcasting House. It has three bedrooms.

"I also bought a country house three-and-a-half years ago in Beaconsfield for approximately 6.5 million pounds. It's a seven-bedroom country house with land. I really bought it because I can't have large family gatherings in the London flat. I have no idea what it is worth now - I'd hate to find out." Asked whether he invested in shares, Lord Paul replied in the negative. "Whatever I invest, I invest in Caparo. I do put money into other companies now and then, but it's usually very small amounts - 5,000 pounds or so, but nothing significant." Answering a question on what is better - property or pension, Lord Paul said "after what has happened in the past three months, I'm not sure. I think you need both. I pay into the Caparo company pension plan."

Asked whether he is financially better off than his parents, the NRI entrepreneur said "You are never better off than your parents - you should always look up to them. In pure financial terms, I would say I was probably better off." About the most extravagant thing he has ever bought, the unassuming Lord Paul said "I don't really buy anything for myself, nothing extravagant anyway. I leave my sons to do that. They've bought me things like a Bentley and a BMW recently. I think they like to make sure I'm okay.

"My sons are involved in developing the Caparo T1 which is a Formula One-type car made out of carbon fibre. It's doing okay - it's a bargain for anyone with a spare 200,000 pounds to 250,000 pounds." Asked to name his worst investment, Lord Paul said "I bought a manufacturing company in 1984 for something like 15 million pounds. I thought it would work well with Caparo, but it turned out to be a disaster.

"It's a long story, but there were lots of irregularities - missing stock and accounts. The dispute went all the way to the House of Lords. We closed it eventually, and lost something like 20 million pounds overall." And his best investment, he said was creating Caparo. "I started my UK business in 1968 with a first-year turnover of 14,000 pounds. This year, we almost reached the 1 billion pounds mark but fell short due to the credit crunch."