Business
Yuletide: Stakeholder Charges Motorists On Safety
As the Yuletide season comes to a resounding climax, motorists, especially commercial drivers have been charged to be safety conscious and obey traffic rules and regulations.
A stakeholder in road transport business and Team Manager of ACE Center Driving School, Port Harcourt, Mr Nduka Ejoh who gave the charge in a chat with our correspondent in his office, further cautioned drivers not to be in a hurry.
Ejoh said drivers should carry out safety checks of their vehicles before they embark on any journey, adding that their tyres, lights, bricks, jack, recovery and breakdown tools like wheel, spanner, spare tyre, triangle reflector, fire extinguisher, jack handle among others should always be available and in good condition.
According to him, as the hazy weather condition sets in soon, they should make sure their windscreen, wipers, side-mirrors, break-lights, trafficating lights and others are functional, pointing out that drivers should understand that they are responsible for the safety of their lives and their passengers.
He noted that commuters have the right to caution drivers on dangerous driving, as this can result to accident and death.
He enjoined the drivers to obey road traffic signs and speed limit by not exceeding the maximum limit of 100km per hour adding the need to avoid night journey because of the bad and deplorable condition of most roads in the society.
Ejoh opined that excess alcohol consumption and drugs should also be avoided during the period as it will affect the ability of the drivers to concentrate and have sound judgment of safe driving, stressing that they should be mindful and careful of other road users who might also be in the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The Team Manager noted that with holiday makers in town, some drivers might not understand the dynamics of the road and such could increase road accidents, stressing the need for caution and carefulness.
“The year 2018 is ending and people should look forward to the New Year, try and do things right and differently by being safety conscious, look side mirrors to know who is behind you and obey all road traffic regulations”, Mr Ejoh posited.
Collins Barasimeye
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.
