Business
A’ Ibom Constructs 402 Roads In 3 Years
Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom says his administration has constructed 402 new roads in the state within the last three years.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) Peoples’ Forum, Akpabio said that 188 federal roads were also reconstructed within the period.
According to reports, the NUJ initiated the forum to bring public office holders to give account of their stewardshipp to the people.
Akpabio added that 862 villages and communities were also connected to electricity within the period while a robust plan had been made to connect others.
He told the panelist that his administration was in a hurry to develop the state, which he said, was referred to as a pedestrian state for more than 50 years.
“Our dream is to make the state a destination to heaven where Nigerians would want to come for holiday as an alternative to travelling abroad.
“We are building a state not for people to praise us, but to prove that with the right political will, government can work in this country.
“We want to show the people that the dividends of democracy can indeed be delivered to them if the government so desires.
“I am a promises keeper, all the things I promised my people, I have done and even more,” Akpabio said.
He noted that a government could either move a state forward or backward, adding that his administration collected a monthly allocation of between N7 billion and N10 billion from the federal account.
The governor said that his administration was the only one in the country with 82 per cent capital budget and 18 per cent recurrent expenditure.
Akpabio said that though his administration inherited a state without necessary infrastructure, he would not blame his predecessors for it because they might have their own priorities.
“I will not blame the past governments of the state for the neglect of some developmental issues in the state because every government has its own priority,” the governor said.
He said that his administration since its inception had made deliberate efforts to revamp the health and education sectors, adding that while new health facilities were built, existing ones were upgraded and equipped.
Akpabio said that free medical treatment had been put in place for women, children and the aged in the state.
On education, the governor said that several schools that were dilapidated had been renovated while new ones were also being built and equipped with science laboratories.
Akpabio added that his administration had also put in place a deliberate policy to train indigenous students on professional courses abroad.
“As I speak to you, 245 indigenous students are currently studying aviation technology abroad under the state government’s scholarship arrangement to enhance effective management of Ibom Airport.
“We have also introduced free and compulsory education from primary to secondary school levels. This has changed the story of the state known before for giving children out as domestic servants.
“Our children now go to school and we are building them to take up future challenges,” the governor said.
Akpabio said that his administration had also established a state university to absorb students that would be turned out from the various secondary schools, adding that some indigenes were being trained abroad as its academic staff.
Speaking on the negative media perception of his administration, Akpabio said that it was the handiwork of his opposition.
The governor said: “I want to be judged by what I have on ground and I will not be distracted by what my opposition is saying.”
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.
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