Business
Eid el-Kabir: Abuja Recreation Centres Record Low Patronage
As Muslims celebrate the
Eid-el-Kabir, operators of recreation centres in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have expressed frustration over low patronage of their services.
A check by The Tide source at some recreation centres showed that there was not much happening at the facilities.
At Magicland Amusement Park, few families, friends and children were seen playing indoor games because of the wet weather arising from the early morning rain in the city.
Similarly, few people were at Silverbird Entertainment, Monaliza and Millennium Parks and operators blamed the situation on the hard economic situation and the rain.
In spite of the complaints, families said the occasion was one for which they must be thankful to God.
Mrs Abike Ahmed, a banker, said although prices of goods and services went up and the country was going through hardship , there was a need to still celebrate.
“I believe Allah is the one taking care of me and my family so in spite of what is happening in Nigeria now I know we will survive.
“The economic and social challenges in the world now will not deter me.
“I am among the categories of people that have made it a matter of priority to trust in this country, Nigeria,;; she said.
Ahmed urged Nigerians to give President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration the opportunity to take Nigeria to the promise land.
Mr Babatunde Ishola, an engineer, said he came with his family to Magicland to celebrate because he could not travel to his hometown because of the economic crunch Nigeria is passing through.
“I came here because I do want to be stranded either on the way or at home due to cash squeeze.
Malam Idris Abdu, a civil servant, said he was thankful for the life that Allah gave to him and his family.
“I am a civil servant and I do not have much money.
“However, I still managed to make my children and wives happy so life goes on whether economic recession or not,’’ Abdu said.
Meanwhile, Mr Paul Oko, Personnel Manager of Magicland, said that the park made adequate preparations to satisfy customers but that the low patronage was discouraging.
“The rain that fell this early morning contributed to the low patronage even though a lot of people have complained of economic crunch.
“ In order to attract more customers, we made arrangement for varieties of fun packages: We have packages that will attract both young and old.
“We did not increase our prices, whether it is festive period or not.
“However, it is possible to have some dishonest elements in the business who may take advantage of the festivity to exploit unsuspecting fun seekers,’’ Oko said.
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.
