The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for continued public enlightenment and value reorientation to prevent Nigerians from falling victim to Ponzi schemes.

The President and Chairman of the Council of LCCI, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, made the call on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Idahosa spoke with NAN on the sidelines of the hybrid Lagos Future Conference and Awards 2025, organised by DigiVation Global Network and convened in Victoria Island. NAN reports that new Ponzi schemes are springing up despite warnings from regulators and efforts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to curb their activities.

NAN recalls that months after Nigerians lost over a trillion Naira to CryptoBridge eXchange (CBEX), the Ponzi scheme returned to the market with new tricks.

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also issued a series of fresh alerts against unregistered Ponzi platforms posing as listed companies in the capital market to deceive the public.

For example, on June 5, SEC issued a public warning against investing in Property World Africa Network (PWAN) and its affiliate, PWAN MAX. Speaking on the development, Idahosa emphasised that Nigerians were falling for Ponzi traps due to a combination of ignorance and greed.

He said that in spite of huge media advocacy on television, radio, and in newspapers, a lot of people do not get the information from these available access points. He added that such a class of people who were not informed about happenings in society were usually easy prey.

The LCCI boss stated that another set of Nigerians were aware but got attracted because they had made money from previous Ponzi schemes. He added that those who had made money from previous Ponzi schemes usually exploited the gullibility of new entrants to make money and exit before the scheme collapses.

According to Idahosa, some unfortunate ones usually do not escape a second time and so they lose their investments. He called for value reorientation in the nation to change the psyche of youths from seeking quick wealth to embracing the principle of hard work to grow investments.