The epoch-making event organised by THISDAY Newspaper and sponsored by Oceanic Bank Intern-ational Plc, attracted the creme de la creme in the Nigerian business world and the public sector as well as those from the international finance scene.

Participants at the occasion chaired by Mr. Oba Otudeko, president, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), included Mr. Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury Secretary; Mr. Steve Forbes, chairman/CEO of Forbes Magazine; Mr. Remi Babaola, Minister of State for Finance; Minister of State Energy (Gas), Emmanuel Odusina; president of the Independent Shareholders Association, Sonny Nwosu; Amab-assador Isaac Aluko-Olokun, former Minister of National Planning and member, NEPAD Steering Committee; Dambisa Moyo, Global Economist, Goldman Sachs; Alhaji Aliko Dangote, chairman Dangote Group of Companies; Mr. Fola Adeola, chairman, Eterna Oil and Gas; Mrs Cecilia Ibru, managing director/CEO, Oceanic Bank; Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); director general SEC, Musa Al-Faki, among others.

Soludo believed the problem is not for one regulator or country in the world to solve, explaining the situation is critical enough and requires "a collective action" for all nations to tackle head on.

He said so far the attempts made by various government show that a collaborative response is missing and "what we have are free riders (countries) that are waiting for some to take the hard choices to solve the problems and will ride on the tails of the process.

"But I think more than anything else, what has happened to the global financial system should compel leaders and regulators to evolve a new financial architecture that can respond to crisis like this.

"I am not sure the IMF or the Brettonwoods institutions, as presently structured, have the capacity to do so. Consideration therefore has to be given to a concerted effort to stem the crisis of confidence in our financial systems.

Soludo was of the view that more than anything else, the protracted global crisis which has spread like wildfire across major finance capitals is taking its toll, and should "force the world to think long and hard about evolving a new global financial architecture that will coordinate much more effectively especially even more instruments for reinforcements and monitoring."

The global financial crisis has taken with it, three of the largest investment banks in the world, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, as casualties, among many others in the United Kingdom.

While allaying fears that the collapse of these two major banks will have a negative effect on the position of Nigeria's foreign reserves, Soludo stressed that the reserves are safe, assuring that, even locally, there is enough liquidity to withstand the challenges of crashing stock market without any intervention fund.

"But I must also point out two other lingering threats from Nigeria's point of view; one major threat that people call me to ask about is the safety of our foreign reserve. Whether the failure of these banks threatens our foreign reserve and I want to quickly use this occasion to say our foreign reserve are safe and we have been very prudent in terms of where we put them, the institutions where they are - and I think so far - and I believe given the institutions where they are, our foreign reserve remain safe.

"The other crisis which has not manifested yet and we pray it does not is for this crisis to spill over into a currency crisis. So far the US dollars has still managed not to weaken substantially rather it has in fact strengthened against some other currencies.

"I think that is relatively a good news because were this crisis to become a currency crisis and major countries begin to loose confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency, then we might have a new spiral of some other global financial crisis but thank God we haven't got there," he noted.

Further buttressing his confidence in the Nigerian economy, Soludo said, "our banks are sound, the balance sheets are fine, they are still declaring profits and dividends that is unlike what we find in other countries where banks are collapsing, declaring losses and so on and so forth. So our own response must be different.

Soludo pointed out that when people say "assets prices are crumbling we must think through the response that we make, so that in the process of trying to solve a short term problem, we don't endanger the balance sheet of the banking sector ultimately.

"The banking sector stocks in Nigeria dominate the stock exchange, the banks and several of them of also become heavily exposed to the capital market and we therefore have to have a clear balance and try to think through the medium and the long term.

The governor reminded the audience the CBN had taken several actions in terms of liquidity "and I want to say very specifically that the kind of liquidity that we are allowing into the system today is such that I don't really see what else in terms of liquidity requirements that will be needed to move the market forward.

"Our vaults are open, we are free to lend to the market, our discount windows are open, our liquidity ratios are down, our monetary policy rate is down even the cash requirement reserve is down. So I believe that the market is as liquid as it should be in a time like this."

Throwing more light on the issue, Remi Babalola, said there was no need for any intervention fund to mitigate any negative effect as he asked "what are we going to bail out."

According to him, currently, all the banks and major companies that are on the stock exchange are doing extremely well, "that is what the financial statements are telling me."

Instead of the intervention or stabilization fund, he stated that, "We are actually going to make sure that we scale up on our brain work so that we do not have diminishing assets and we are going to enhance the corporate governance level. That is the direction that we are working on.

He hinted that, before the end of October, "drastic measures" will applied to bolster the economy, to the extent of further giving higher levels of confidence to all the operators in the economy.

Meanwhile, the chairman and publisher of Forbes magazine, Mr Steve Forbes who flew into Abuja yesterday morning with the former US Secretary of the Treasury, Lawrence Summers for the Town Hall meeting, while tracing the genesis of the stock market crisis presently rocking the United States, said the country's Central Bank and the Treasury Department are both culpable for the situation that has sent economic heat-waves across the globe.

Forbes said the two financial institutions made the mistake of ordering the printing of too much money four years ago which may have provoked the current financial crisis in the first place.

"The crisis that we see around the world today, I must say has a historical link with the US financial management. I believe the US may provoke things that brought about this situation. First of all, four years ago, the Federal Reserve made a mistake of printing too much money because they under-estimated the strength of the American family", he said.

He said the resultant excess liquidity which the Federal reserves could not convert made possible the global commodity bubble and also created a housing bubble to disastrous proportions in the US.

"That was the first major error. Another error was a weak dollar policy championed by the US government; the mark to market accounting regime which deals with fair value accounting rules; and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - both government sponsored enterprises created to sell mortgages to the public that were intrinsically guaranteed by both institutions.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac intervened in the housing market initially to provide liquidity for the housing market but they came to dominate the financing of the housing capital mortgage in the US of over $5 trillion"

Another factor that brought about the crisis, according to Forbes was the inability of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US to enforce the rules regulating the sale of stocks through naked short selling, especially of financial stocks, which triggered the downward spiral of their stocks.

The influential magazine publisher, said part of the solution to the crisis lies with the rescue package that was passed by US Congress last night and would enable government to buy up some of the toxic assets in their balance sheets so that banks can start lending once again.

He said the second option is for the US government to do something to reverse its weak bail-out policies and adopt a stronger policy, adding that government should in future take steps to recapitalize the entities whose assets it acquired in the wake of the crisis so that it can recover monies spent on them.

Corroborating the points made by Forbes, Larry Summers who was also once president of Harvard University, said the important question is to understand if the current crisis is a cyclical event, or if there will be a defining failure of the financial system.

Postulating on market economic theories propounded by Milton Keynes, Summers said while in normal times the market has the capacity for equilibration, "there are particular moments when the markets lose their self-sustaining equilibration. That I suspect is what has happened in the current economic crisis."

Also, Cecilia Ibru who spoke on "Staying Calm in Times of Global Financial Crisis," expressed confidence that the Nigerian capital market will surely pick up again. She said the strong fundamentals are pointers to that.

She however said, irrespective of the strong fundamentals, there was the need for the nation to learn from the crisis by setting structures that will safeguard the nation's financial sector.

Ibru advised the CBN and other regulators in the financial services sector to step up regulatory mechanisms to ensure close monitoring of operators' activities.

She added that, regulators should, "invest in human capital development to equip its workforce with updated knowledge on global finance trends; enter collaborative arrangements with regional and global counterparts to enhance knowledge-sharing and efficiency."

Similarly, she also advised regulators and operators to ensure strict compliance with good corporate governance principles, adding: "this should be in force in the selection of boards, consultants, employees and decisions on operational guides for all operators."

Similarly, frontline economist and former Minister of National Planning, Mr. Isaac Aluko-Olokun canvassed for the federal government's intervention in the capital market through the deployment of the nation's Stabilization Fund, saying there is need to revive the middle class through the market.

Making references to the $700 billion bail out plan in the US, he stated "the Stabilization Fund would have been something like a direct intervention that we are witnessing in the US now."

Aluko-Olokun, who is a member of the NEPAD Steering Committee, disagreed with the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Aderemi Babalola that the Nigerian capital market would not require government intervention as is being witnessed in America.

"I think that just as the Congress is trying in the US to pass a direct law bail-out package, we would need a direct bail-out package here too. I think the finance minister should go back and consider; and, perhaps meet with president of the Stock Exchange, vice president of the Stock Exchange and give us Stabilization Fund."

He pointed out that beyond the present package, "There are medium to long term issues we have to look at. I am very happy that the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is here.

"We must realize that the future of the market, the development of the market, the way we want the market to be, will depend critically on the practice of good governance in this country.

"That is a very critical issue: accountability, transparency, sanctity of contracts. We must practise good governance; we must play the game according to the rules; if we do not play the game according to the rules, we are not going to get there.

"So our task should be very, very clear to us, but we must congratulate the Securities and Exchange Commission because they set up a committee now for good governance and for the Capital Market structure; and, I think we are all in the right place but we have to make sure that we remain very consistent and we educate ourselves."

He bemoaned the lack of adequate knowledge on the part of Nigerians about the operations and the potentialities of the capital market, pointing out that the market remains a veritable way to rebuild the liquidated middle class.

"It is unbelievable how you can create a middle class through the capital market; and, in this country, we need to re-invent the middle class. We talk about 2-3 million participants in the capital market in this country."

He continued: "I think that is small. We have a long, long way to go. For instance, the market is still very shallow; and, what happens in the more sophisticated markets is that market capitalization is always a multiple of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP).

"The GDP in Nigeria last year was $166 billion. The highest capitalization we ever had in the history of this country was in March, this year, and it was N11.6 trillion, which translates to $95 billion. So we have still a long way to go.

"Look at South Africa, the GDP of South Africa last year was about $242 billion; the market capitalization was well over $500 billion. So, you can see that the market capitalization here is below the GDP."

He stated that this was contrary to the rule, pointing out, "The rule is that the market capitalization should be in multiples of GDP, be very, very much higher; but that only indicates that the market here is still shallow. We only just have only about 221 (companies) or so before the Stock Exchange started moving out those that were moribund. So, we do not have enough companies listed yet."

Aluko-Olokun also identified the need by the market to develop the nation's Bond Market. His words: "We do not have a Bond Market. The administration's policy and philosophy of the seven-point agenda; of Vision 2020; and of the perspective plan, hinge very critically on Nigeria's Capital Market developing a Bond Market.

"Without a Bond Market, we cannot begin to borrow what we need to borrow to be able to fund government policies. Seventy per cent of the market, in more developed, sophisticated markets, is the Bond Sector; and, in this country, the state governments are trying.

He said the deepening and broadening of the market in order to enable government achieve its objectives through the market was a main challenge to the nation, maintaining that "we must put on our thinking cap and find a way to develop our Bond Market."

However, Aluko's recommendation for the introduction of a Stabilisation Fund was dismissed by the Soludo who said the decision for the government to use resources from the treasury to prop up asset prices was like making a choice between the devil and deep blue sea.

Raising a poser to the audience, Soludo enquired "if the government had one extra naira to spend, would Nigerians rather it spent it keeping asset prices high on the capital market or expend it on infrastructure needs?"

He said given the circumstances, it would be better to spend the resources at government's disposal is sectors such as the power sector where there is a compelling need for investment and not the capital market.

Agreeing with Soludo, Summers advised that it is not the role of governments to prop up asset prices. "It is not right for your nation like mine (the US) because there are several competing priorities.

"The issue of propping up the market is dwarfed in comparison to the provision of infrastructure. If the government starts to buy assets in order to keep up prices, it will cause market distortions and the market initiative will be stifled."

In summarising his take on the Nigerian economic situation, the one-time US treasury secretary, stated that "as one who has visited your country (Nigeria) before and have had the privilege over time to interact with various leaders of your country, I have some knowledge of your country.

"Although an outsider like myself is not in a position to make that kind of judgement for your country, but I feel comfortable to do so for my own country. But I will offer you these thoughts: Your country is blessed with huge oil resources. If one looks at the history of your country, there was a period in the past when oil prices have risen, when the flow of money into your country was more than what most countries ever realised in their existence.

"When one looks at the oil windfall of the earlier periods and now looks at the living standards of the average Nigerian, one does not see the kind of wealth one will expect to see.

"However, the oil windfall of today, presents the country with a once in a half century opportunity to utilise the resources it has today to meaningfully develop the economy through the right policies. It is an opportunity Nigeria should not let pass by."

The company said it was repositioning its operations in response to the competitive challenges in the nation's petroleum industry.

Arising from its technical trading relationship with BP-Castrol, Eterna Oil blends and supplies Castrol marine lubricants to the local fishing and shipping industry.

Eterna Oil entered the Nigerian market in 1991, before securing a part funding package from the International Finance Corporation (IFC)in 1996 to build the first Castrol certified 35,000 metric tones capacity lube blending plant in sub-saharan Africa at Sagamu interchange.

The company became a public limited company (PLC)in 1998, with its shares listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), emerging the leading marine lubricants marketer in Nigeria in 2001.

A major draw back for the company's operations was its involvement between 2001 and 2003 in the controversial acquisition of African Petroleum (AP)together with Sadiq Petroleum as co-core investor. The transaction was a flop, thus throwing it into a financial spin and distress, which claimed its major revenue assets (stations)in Abuja and Lagos There was a ray of hope for the company's recovery when in 2005 it began a restructuring and repositioning of its operations, which led to its winning the prestigious Pearl award in 2006 for achieving the highest turnover growth amongst publicly quoted companies.

During the recent commissioning of the Abuja mega station, Chairman of the company, Ade Ojo, said the retail outfit has been designed as a one-stop shop for the provision of services beyond mere fueling of cars, adding that there is programme to replicate the station in key business areas nationwide.

Managing Director of Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)in charge of marketing and distribution of petroleum products, Reginald Stanley, called on the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory to allocate more prime lines to the territory for the establishment of more filling stations in the area.

According to Stanley, there are only 65 filling stations in Abuja, whereas over 100 stations are required to effectively service the area.

Stanley, who stated this while commissioning the flagship retail complex, declared that without more stations in the FCT, there would be a problem getting products distributed as the territory is according to him under-pumped.

He charged the management of Eterna Oil to ensure zero tolerance on corruption, urging them to maintain the high standard of services already set on ground by ensuring that their stations were not the rickety type.

The PPMC boss stressed that it was only when independent marketers look beyond outdated facilities that they would be able to attract good business to their organisations.

Assuring the Eterna Oil management of his support to facilitate their getting credit facility, Stanley expressed the hope that the company would metamorphose into a major oil company as its operations continue to expand. Managing Director of the company, Ibrahim Boyi, in his address said the company has grown from nil retail outlets to at least 15 distribution outlets spread across the country, with plans to open more outlets before the end of the year.

In addition to its ultra-modern BP-Castrol approved lubricants blending plant, Eterna Oil, according to Boyi, is the owner of 30 metric litres petroleum products storage depot in Lagos as well as an aviation fuel depot in Abuja, among others.

"Our strategy for retail network business is to launch our stations in carefully selected locations and ensure that our stations offer not only fuels, but cater for other customers' conveniences, such as banking services, car care, eatery and supermarkets. We aim to provide a one stop shop for our customer's convenience," he stated.

He explained that the station is equipped with security gadgets to provide additional security for customers and that very soon it would commence 24-hour operations.

LOCAL content polcy, best option for Nigeria -Chief Issac Jolapomo, president, Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria:

To me, there has not been any reform in the oil and gas industry. What we have been getting is a disjointed growth. It is the same problem that is affecting Nigeria that is also affecting the oil and gas industry. If we are able to do things transparently, then we would not have problems. Today there seems to be a boom in the oil industry. But it is a negative boom. The sector is not being run the way it should be run and until such a time we would have the will, we would never make any meaningful progress.

People who for purpose and intent could not make anything have become power brokers and as such are dragging the industry backwards. Everybody knows that if the government hands off completely from oil business and it is not subsidized, then we would begin to make progress. At the moment, the sector is one vital aspect of the economy that needs to be sanitized and that can only be achieved if the government decides to take the bull by the horn.

Total deregulation of the market would go a long way- Amina Maina, executive director, commercial marketing and sales, MRS Oil and Gas Co. Ltd: So, far I think Nigeria is ready for the next big thing. Today we can all see that whatever we do in terms of trading supplying and distribution is actually benchmarked towards the international market. If you look at the market today, internationally, prices are dropping, also locally the same is happening. So, regardless of how you look at it or what you do, the Nigerian market is always benchmarked by the international market.

Market Liberalization is the answer -Adeola O. Adeyanju, chief marketing officer, Eterna Plc:

I think one of the major ways to solve the supply issue in the market is to liberalise it totally. As long as there is price tag and regulations as to what you can sell and how much you can sell it, there would always be supply considerations because nobody would buy products at expensive prices and sell it cheaper than what they brought. That's the simple truth. Yes, there are funds set up to try and make up that difference but to a large extent those funds just go to pay for inefficiencies in the system.

The sector needs equity and fairness to prosper-Mr. Moses Eze, executive director, finance, Dee Jones Petroleum and Gas Limited: Oil and gas down stream sector is a very important aspect of the economy. So, we need to make sure that all the necessary amenities required is being provided for the sector because of its strategic role in the growth of the economy.

He said the investment in the retail outlet was the firm's demonstration of their commitment and support for the call by government, notably the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, to roll out mega filling stations in the nation's capital, adding that the challenge now remains the regular supply of products to the outlet.

Mallam Boyi noted that government's regulation policy at present makes it difficult to achieve the ideal product supply processes as supply is still dominated by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) through the refineries and imports.

He gave kudos to the government's Petroleum support Fund (PSF), a scheme designed to support imports but expressed displeasure over the challenge and difficulty experienced by marketers in making petroleum products available across the country owing to delay in reimbursement of bridging claims by Petroleum Equalisation Fund.

He appealed to the management of the PPMC led by its Managing Director, Mr. Reginald Stanley to re-categorize Eterna Plc by changing it from independent marketer to one of the oil majors because of its strong affiliations with international players like BP- Castrol.

Mallam Boyi hinged his request on the platform that the company is already publicly quoted and owned by about thirty thousand (30,000) Nigerians apart from massive investments to the tune of N10 billion.

He also wants the authorities to increase their product allocation in view of its growing number of outlets, adding that the request is borne out of the desire for government and its agencies to support competent local firms and build capacity to take up enormous challenges of building up the industry and creating wealth for Nigerians.

Earlier, the Chairman of the company, Chief (Dr.) Ade Ojo, in his address at the occasion, gave the breakdown of major milestones recorded by the firm which include securing part funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 1996 to build the first Castrol Certified 35,000MT capacity lube blending plant in sub-Saharan Africa at Sagamu in Ogun State.

He also said that the firm was listed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, and became the leading marine lubricants seller in Nigeria in 2001, stating that in 2006, Eterna won the prestigious Pearl Awards for achieving the highest turnover growth amongst publicly quoted companies even as it acquired in 2008 a 30,000 metric tonnes capacity storage tank farm at Ibafon, Apapa and Aviation tank farm in Abuja.

The highlight of the occasion was the commissioning of the ultra-modern petrol station by the Managing Director of PPMC, Mr. Reginald Stanley, who said that Eterna Plc has hit the prime position in the downstream petroleum sector.

He said the incentives lined up for the firm include credit facilities, adding that Bulk Purchase Agreement would soon be signed by PPMC and Eterna Plc in view of the major facilities at the disposal of Eterna Plc.