Between Forex Traders And Customers

A year ago, the activities of the MBA Forex Trading came to a halt after an alarm was allegedly raised by the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) warning its customers that money deposited with the company was not safe.
A few months to the closure of the company, there were speculations that customers might lose money deposited and at the end of the day, customers of MBA Forex Trading lost millions of naira to the operators. Recall the case of MMM money operators that left many Nigerians poorer all in a bid to make quick money a few years back.
Till now, many have not learnt any lesson from such incident as they are still patronising those who expect them to deposit little money and earn more than that at the end of the day. Many of those forex trading firms advertise their businesses through the media which makes the unsuspecting public believe they are engaged in genuine business.
Since the collapse of MBA last year, some persons who were affected had lost their lives due to the shock of losing their hard-earned money. There were protests in cities where the company had branches and it was also gathered that some aggrieved customers went to summon the chief executive officer of the forex trading firm to “juju”, the African way, to be able to recover their money. But with all the previous experiences and disappointments, people still go into such business.
Some persons have argued that one of the reasons why a lot of Nigerians still patronise those ponzi schemes is due to the attitude and conduct of some deposit money banks. Many commercial bank customers alleged that even when you are an account holder in those banks, one finds it difficult to have access to the money most times.
Beyond that, the allegation of money deposited in the banks not appreciating from month to month also poses problems to depositors. It calls for concern that a customer deposits money in a bank for a period of time without reasonable interest accruable to it.
Years ago, a lot of interests accrued to such deposits and this encouraged the depositors.  Nowadays, the rate of bank charges like SMS, stamp duties, alert just to mention but a few, make people look elsewhere to deposit money. Some view it as a venture to make money for the banks instead of encouraging depositors who feel that when they deposit N20,000 as savings in the bank, after one or two months, by the time the customer returns, such money remains the same or even reduces.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should as a matter of fact look into the reasons why unsuspecting publics are reluctant in depositing money in the banks and prefer to patronise quacks. The Federal Government should make Nigerian citizens to be confident in depositing their money in the banks instead of depositing in investment companies that will disappoint them.
Financial institutions should be regulated by CBN and NSE and their activities checked from time to time to monitor their operations.   The issue of floating financial institutions that collapse now and then should be checked by relevant authorities as that has caused so much disaffection to the citizens.
It should be surprising that one will be invited for certain businesses where he or she is expected to deposit an amount of money which capital will triple within the shortest possible time.
Although people want their money to yield some profits so as to attend to their needs but have also complained of how much they have lost to the operation of the forex trading firms because of ‘quick money’. The level of poverty and hardship can compel people to get involved in such expensive businesses. They should be discouraged from taking advantage of the situation in the country to dupe others when their businesses are not genuine.
Let the Federal Government take the responsibility of creating jobs and enabling environment for businesses to thrive in Nigeria so as to curb further occurrences. It is pathetic to see people lose millions of naira because they want to make money to cater for the need of their families.
There are arguments from different quarters that those agencies advertise their services through the media which should be able to identify fake business operations. But it behooves the customers to patronise such and not after series of inquiries. Investors should make adequate inquiries before depositing their money into forex trading companies. It is not wrong to get ideas about a worthwhile business while making a living, but it is to be able to identify which is real or fake and then take a firm decision responsibly.
An adult should have a second thought when invited to claim a reward that is far beyond what you invested within a period  as the person is not the CBN neither does the person print money. That will go a long way in preventing people from falling victim.
Nigerians should stop being gullible and be wise. Is freezing the account of the investors which has affected the income of the patronisers the best option?  If putting in money into genuine business is good then nothing is wrong with that; after all, one does not get enough interest from the banks.
Anti-graft agencies are the ones that have the right to carry out investigations and scrutinise erring investment firms. Most of them failing unsuspecting public are registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). If some of the licensed companies are not genuine, why are they issued licenses to operate?
Those who lose money deposited with forex trading firms should not blame the investment companies; after all, they were not compelled to invest.

By: Eunice Choko-Kayode