₦airaland Forum

A man has gone viral after claiming that his ₦20,000 investment in Fidelity Bank shares made about 18 years ago has left him with just ₦5,332.

In a video shared on X by @steasyautos, the man is seen holding Fidelity Bank documents while expressing his frustration and regret over the investment. He said he had not checked on the shares for years but was reminded of them after hearing about the ongoing buzz surrounding Dangote Refinery’s share offering.

According to him, after checking the investment, he was shocked by what he found and began wondering if he would have been better off investing the money in land instead.

The story has attracted significant attention online, with many Nigerians discussing the risks and rewards of leaving investments untouched for many years.

However, the ₦5,332 figure has not been independently verified. The actual value of an old shareholding can depend on factors such as the original purchase price, number of shares bought, dividends, bonus shares, rights issues, corporate actions and whether any dividends remained unclaimed.

The man's story has nevertheless sparked a familiar question among Nigerians: if you invested ₦20,000 nearly two decades ago, what would it be worth today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FhHNF1CwSs?si=stnzl7CGcm3oLIlp

Using the documented 2007 public offer as the best proxy for "~20 years ago" (Fidelity's earliest listing in May 2005 was via bank merger, not a cash public offer — the first real public offer was Sept–Nov 2007 at ₦8 per share):
Units bought:
₦20,000 ÷ ₦8 = 2,500 shares
Value today (using recent trading levels around ₦19–20.50/share):
2,500 × ₦19.20 ≈ ₦48,000
2,500 × ₦20.50 ≈ ₦51,250
So a straightforward, no-dilution, no-dividend-reinvestment estimate puts the raw share value today at roughly ₦48,000–₦51,000 — call it ₦50,000 as a round number.


What's not adding up?

When he was chopping from it, he didn’t tell anybody. He should get out.

Dangote shareholders right now Even opay self would have tripled your money.

That’s a big lie!

The maths is not mathing.

Una go shed tears for Dangote IPO.

dgitrader:
Using the documented 2007 public offer as the best proxy for "~20 years ago" (Fidelity's earliest listing in May 2005 was via bank merger, not a cash public offer — the first real public offer was Sept–Nov 2007 at ₦8 per share):
Units bought:
₦20,000 ÷ ₦8 = 2,500 shares
Value today (using recent trading levels around ₦19–20.50/share):
2,500 × ₦19.20 ≈ ₦48,000
2,500 × ₦20.50 ≈ ₦51,250
So a straightforward, no-dilution, no-dividend-reinvestment estimate puts the raw share value today at roughly ₦48,000–₦51,000 — call it ₦50,000 as a round number.


What's not adding up?

Thanks for this detailed analysis.

Infation tinz..so crazy chai

Stay away from shares, put your money in Mutual Funds or Commercial Papers.

Dangote shareholders will give us their tale soon.

I can easily use use that 10k from inside that 20k play 2 odds betnaija a
monthly accumulatively to make 40 million at leat in a year.

If he had bought Bitcoin that time with 20k, he would worth billions of naira naira now but who knew

dgitrader:
Using the documented 2007 public offer as the best proxy for "~20 years ago" (Fidelity's earliest listing in May 2005 was via bank merger, not a cash public offer — the first real public offer was Sept–Nov 2007 at ₦8 per share):
Units bought:
₦20,000 ÷ ₦8 = 2,500 shares
Value today (using recent trading levels around ₦19–20.50/share):
2,500 × ₦19.20 ≈ ₦48,000
2,500 × ₦20.50 ≈ ₦51,250
So a straightforward, no-dilution, no-dividend-reinvestment estimate puts the raw share value today at roughly ₦48,000–₦51,000 — call it ₦50,000 as a round number.


What's not adding up?

In social media space very few people are ok.

Don't talk too much oo
I just invested over 1.5 million naira less than an hour ago in Dangote shares.
Why u no talk em since?

This is very unlikely. They might not make so much money though.

Banks are a dime a dozen. How many refineries do you see in Nigeria... in West Africa?

Tooreda:
Dangote shareholders will give us their tale soon.

Rocky247:
If had bought Bitcoin that time with 20k, he would worth billions of naira naira now but who knew

You for no leave am till today Na, you for don sell at 30k na

Good one from Peter Obi bank

He's lucky, many shares became zero in 2008 world economy meltdown. Then 2016 under Buhari bad economic policies, 2020 Covid-19 wiped many shares to zero.


B kiaful ooooo

That's definitely not what the man said...

The 5k plus is the profit after 18 years. So 20k shares is now worth 25k plus. I don't know if you people intentionally twist things or you just lack the ability to comprehend.

Tooreda:
Dangote shareholders will give us their tale soon.

5yrs from now them go update us, na so intercontinental bank deceive many that year

meobizy:
When he was chopping from it, he didn’t tell anybody. He should get out.

Who said he profited or chopped? He didn't gain anything

Rocky247:
Good one from Peter Obi bank

I guess you are being sarcastic

I bought shares in ADC Airlines in 1994.

ADC Airlines have since gone under, what happened to my shares with them?

Who do I hold responsible for my investment?

Banks shares are a worst form of investment in Nigeria Shebi zenith, fidelity and gtbank still dey pay small dividends. For some years now, first bank only sends me AGM notices. I've not received any dividend. Oando is the worst stock i ever considered in life. I've not received a single dividend for over 20 years

I bought mine from Ecobank Transnational in 2006. I bought 2000 units for #70k.

Just two years ago I wanted to sell but it wasn’t up to #50k

dgitrader:
Using the documented 2007 public offer as the best proxy for "~20 years ago" (Fidelity's earliest listing in May 2005 was via bank merger, not a cash public offer — the first real public offer was Sept–Nov 2007 at ₦8 per share):
Units bought:
₦20,000 ÷ ₦8 = 2,500 shares
Value today (using recent trading levels around ₦19–20.50/share):
2,500 × ₦19.20 ≈ ₦48,000
2,500 × ₦20.50 ≈ ₦51,250
So a straightforward, no-dilution, no-dividend-reinvestment estimate puts the raw share value today at roughly ₦48,000–₦51,000 — call it ₦50,000 as a round number.


What's not adding up?

Thanks for this analysis.

Who does not know that the red agama lizard was untruth?

Except, of course the gullible Mumu on the social media who can never do a simple research.
By their berret,you shallk know them.

Dangote is gonna be worst than fidelity bank .

Anything goes in Nigeria.

dgitrader:
Using the documented 2007 public offer as the best proxy for "~20 years ago" (Fidelity's earliest listing in May 2005 was via bank merger, not a cash public offer — the first real public offer was Sept–Nov 2007 at ₦8 per share):
Units bought:
₦20,000 ÷ ₦8 = 2,500 shares
Value today (using recent trading levels around ₦19–20.50/share):
2,500 × ₦19.20 ≈ ₦48,000
2,500 × ₦20.50 ≈ ₦51,250
So a straightforward, no-dilution, no-dividend-reinvestment estimate puts the raw share value today at roughly ₦48,000–₦51,000 — call it ₦50,000 as a round number.


What's not adding up?

They want to force a narrative that Obi's connection with the Bank is a draw back.

That man's video is everywhere right now — and that ₦5,332 is what is making people angry, but that number alone doesn't tell the full story.

*Why ₦5,332 can show up:*

If he bought in 2007/2008, that was Fidelity's big public offer era. Many people paid around ₦5 - ₦8 per share. Let's say he got ∼2,500 to 4,000 shares for ₦20,000.

The market crashed in 2008/2009. Fidelity Bank that was trading around ₦13.23 in January 2008 fell to below ₦1 at some point — it touched ₦0.76 in November 2016.

If he never checked CSCS, never updated his registrar, and never took up rights issues, what the bank statement shows him might be:

1. *Only the residual shares* after corporate actions he missed
2. *Only unclaimed dividend warrant* value that the registrar is holding, not the total portfolio value
3. He is looking at an old dividend account, not his actual share balance in CSCS.

Because today Fidelity is *₦19.10 as of Sept 21, 2026*, up from ₦1.68 in May 2019 to ₦10.20 in May 2024. So on price alone, that old investment should be worth more than 2008, not less.

If he had 3,000 shares and held till now, capital value alone would be about:
3,000 x ₦19.10 = *₦57,300* — before bonuses and dividends.

And Fidelity has actually been one of the best performing bank stocks — *507% gain in 5 years* from 2019-2024, beating the whole NGX All Share Index.

*What anyone in that situation should check:*

- *CSCS statement* — how many units do you really have? Not what a paper share certificate says.
- *Registrar (First Registrars & Investor Services)* — any bonus shares? Fidelity did several bonuses. Unclaimed dividends?
- *Did you pay for rights issues?* If you ignored rights, your percentage holding was diluted.
- *Dividends over 18 years* — Fidelity has paid dividends every year since listing in 2005. Those dividends, if you claimed and reinvested, change everything.

So would land have been better? If he bought land in 2008 in a good location for ₦20k — yes, land would have beaten shares by far in Naira terms. But if you compare shares to shares, Fidelity didn't wipe his ₦20k to ₦5k. That ₦5,332 is likely just one piece — probably one unclaimed dividend cheque — not his total investment value.

If you know someone in this position, tell them to go to their stockbroker with their CHN number and check CSCS, not just the old paper document.

Rocky247:
If he had bought Bitcoin that time with 20k, he would worth billions of naira naira now but who knew

Why didn't you buy then?

Nairaland billionaire.