Abstract: The global economic meltdown which started like a child’s play late 2007 has done no small damage to the economies of the world. Worst hit in Nigeria are government revenue profile, the financial sector, manufacturing sector and the capital market. The Nigerian capital market lost nothing <60% of its capitalisation. The major stakeholders on the market have hewed all blames on the global financial crises. Whereas, there were inherent problems ravaging the market behind the curtain which would have busted sooner or latter, the global financial crisis only acted as catalyst. The main thrust of this study is to find explanations for the crash outside the global crisis. It is discovered that there was inherent risk in the market induced by lack of discipline, unethical practices, lopsidedness in capitalisation and weak supervisory role. The study did a comparison of the fluctuations in capitalisation and all shares index of the Johannesburg stock exchange and Nigeria stock exchange over 2001-2009 and discovered that is higher level of risk on the Nigerian capital market. Recommendations aimed at curtailing future plunge in the market include discipline, enforcement of ethical practices and diversification to the alternative market.