Business
NAMA To Implement New Salary Structure For Workers
The management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has said that it will implement a new salary structure for its staff soon.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja recently by Mr Supo Atobatele, NAMA General Manager, Public Affairs.
The statement is a reaction to a threat by National President of Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN), Mr Benjamin Okewu, on February 20 that the unions would embark on a one-day warning strike on February 22 over the non-implementation of an enhanced salary package.
The other unions are National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) .
According to the statement, the management of NAMA attributed the delay in the implementation of the new salary structure to some critical omissions in the document approved by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
It claimed that the omission were of serious concern to the union leaders who implored NAMA management to alert the commission for necessary correction.
“Having studied the approved salary structure, we observe that GL 01- GL 14 are at variance with what was negotiated as it fell short of figures of each of the grade levels.
“ In comparison with the salary structure of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) the approved salary structure of NAMA fell short to that of FAAN which was approved in 2011,’’ NAMA stated
The statement said that the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, one of the unions, wrote a letter to the management on how the differentials would undermine salary parity between FAAN and NAMA.
NAMA stated that the union leaders agreed to back out from the proposed warning strike pending the implementation.
“In a response to this request, the management officially notified the Wages Commission to take a second look at our request in respect of the proposed salary table so that the concerns being raised are properly addressed and put to rest.
“Amidst of this, the union leaders took a dramatic u-turn, asking the management to jettison the earlier request and implement what was approved by the commission.
“Engr. Nnamdi Udoh, NAMA Managing Director, has therefore reaffirmed his commitment to the welfare of the work force, but that due process would be followed,’’ it stated.
Okewu confirmed in a telephone conversation with the our correspondent that the strike had been suspended for now.
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.
