Business
Customs Comptroller Flays Cargo Inspection Method
Comptroller of Apapa Area I Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Idris Suleiman, says the one-stop-shop cargo examination system at the port is not working.
Suleiman disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the command in Lagos.
“We should own up that we have failed in the one-stop-shop cargo examination exercise and go back to the drawing board,” he said.
Suleiman said there were complaints that some security agencies attached to the examination points were not showing up and that delay in releasing goods had added to the cost of cargo clearance.
He said that the service would henceforth release goods even if any of the security agencies refused to show up for the examination.
Suleiman urged customs officials in charge of cargo examination to always report any security official that failed to show up for the cargo examination.
“There is need for customs to overrule any security agency not at the examination point because customs has been taking the blame,’’ he said.
Suleiman said that there would be a meeting of all security agencies within the next two weeks to discuss extensively the one- stop- shop cargo examination.
Mr John Ofobike, Chairman of Apapa Area 1 Chapter of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), said that the agents were reluctant to take examination forms to the security agencies for signatures.
Chief Boniface Aniebonam, Founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said “whenever it is time for examination, any security agency not there should be overruled’’.
A senior official of the State Security Service (SSS) who pleaded anonymity, called for the co-operation of all stakeholders.
An official of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who pleaded anonymity, had earlier alleged that containers were being released without signatures of relevant security agencies on customs examination.
“Sometimes containers were released without the signatures of all the relevant security agencies, ‘’he alleged.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.