Business
Veterinarian Calls For Better Meat Handling
The Director and Head of Department, Livestock and Veterinary Services in the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Allswell Emejuru, has warned members of the public against the consumption of meat handled by illegal operators of slaughter slabs in the state.
Emejuru who spoke to our special correspondent recently in an exclusive interview in his office in Port Harcourt explained that such illegally handled meat was not safe for human consumption.
He said that most of the meat being handled by these criminals were either stolen or scavenged from sick or dead cattle.
On efforts put in place by his department to check the menace, Dr. Emejuru said they were in partnership with the police, explaining that “the police have always cooperated with us each time we report such cases to them.”
On the manner in which butchered meat was transported into the various markets across the state, Dr. Emejuru acknowledged the possibility of meat being contaminated during transit explaining that measures were in place to ensure proper handling.
He said that there are about 31 registered slaughter slabs across the state with qualified staff attached to them to inspect the meat before and after slaughtering in order to certify them wholesome and safe for human consumption.
The Director further explained that veterinary personnel were made to undergo medical checkup every year to determine the state of their physical and medical fitness with assistance from the State Ministry of Health.
However on the state of health of cattle brought from the northern part of the country to the state, the Director explained that his department was involved in the monitoring of live stock as soon as they arrives the state.
“From the North, we have our staff that monitor the cattle to make sure the meat entering the state is safe and do not transmit diseases to our own animals.
“So we make sure that as it enters the state beginning from the slaughter and movement to the market we follow up” he explained.
According to him, some of the registered slabs were located at Rumuodomaya, Rumuokrushe, Ogbogoro, Eastern by-pass, Trans Amadi, Bori, Choba, Ahoada among others, adding that each of the slabs were equipped with god water source.
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.
