ABSTRACT
Investment in securities in Nigeria is, by and large, still a strictly
elitist venture. The highest concentration of investors are in the
urban areas such as Lagos. Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Onitsha, Yola,
Kano and the Federal Capital Territory. Abuja. This perhaps informs
the reason why the Nigerian Stock Exchange has created trading
floors in all these cities to facilitate the business of stock trading in
the Nigerian Capital Market.
Investment in securities is highly dependent on customer confidence .
Just like other sectors of the Nigerian Financial System. Where the
customer lacks confidence in the system there is bound to be paucity
of investment.
Investors get about losing confidence in the system when the market
is fraught with such negative vices as market rigging eloping with
investors fund buying and not having money to pay buying from
investors who have nothing to sell etc. One major question which
this research has sought to find answers to is the level of protection at
the disposal of an innocent investor in securities in the Nigeria
Capital market in the event of loss of his or her hard earned resources
in the course of engaging in legitimate transaction with member of
the market.
It is gratifying to note that there are adequate protection measures by
way of regulation/control of the Market by the Nigerian Stock
Exchange, the Securities Exchange Commission, the Central Bank of
Nigeria the Central Securities clearing system and even the
Commercial Banks through which all the financial transaction in the
market pass.
A sad realization, however, is that about 36% of investors in
securities do not even know that the market offer these protections.
Another 46% invest in securities because it is simply fashionable
doing so. One 35% of investors take keen interest in the market
trends on a day to day basis sell when prices are high and buy when
prices are low.
