Business
RSG Warns Land Developers, Traders Over Encroachment … Insists On Plan Approval From Ministry
The Rivers State Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Dr T. W. Danagogo has warned property developers and street traders in Port Harcourt, particularly those within the zoo and Trans-Amadi area to restrict themselves to areas designated for such purposes and desist from converting every available space for market and construction of shanties.
Dr Danagogo who handed down the warning, Tuesday, when his ministry and the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council carried out a massive joint operation at the precincts of the Port Harcourt zoo at Trans Amadi said the operation was to recover and sanitise the precincts of the zoo and the entire Slaughter area by getting rid of the shanties, and petty traders that have over-taken the whole environment.
He said “prior to this exercise, the illegal occupants have been given over one year notice, and government cannot allow the growing ugly trend and nuisance in the area to continue unabated.”
The commissioner also insisted that all developers must obtain approval for their building plans from the Ministry of Urban Development or Greater Port Harcourt Development Authority for areas within the new city.
Danagogo further said that government has earmarked the recovered area for gardens and private car parking lot while work on the project would commence immediately in partnership with the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council. He said that a situation whereby traders store and display wares right inside the zoo premises was unacceptable and that zoo facilities all over the world serves as conservation and tourist destination.
The operation which lasted over eight hours was jointly supervised by the commissioner and the Mayor of Port Harcourt City Council, Mr Chimbiko Akarolo.
Mr Akarolo remarked that the joint operation was basically aimed at joining forces with the urban development ministry in line with the urban renewal and transformation agenda of Governor Amaechi’s administration.
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.
