Business
‘Land Use Act, Embarrassment To Nigeria’
Youths of the Niger
Delta region have called on the presidency and both arms of the National Assembly to expunge the Land Use Act from the constitution for fairness, equity and justice.
Niger Delta Youth Coalition (NDYC) made the call Friday, after an emergency executive council meeting of the group held in Port Harcourt.
The National Co-ordinator of NDYC, Prince Emmanuel Ogba, who addressed the press said the act is the major impendiment bedevelling the socio-economic development of oil-producing states of the nation.
“The Act is unjust, unfair, and was borne out of prejudice and I wonder why democrats have allowed such an act to remain particularly at this stage of the nation’s democracy”, he said.
Describing the act as an embarrassment, NDYC called on President Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate President, David Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambunwal, to save Nigeria from the embarrassment by appropriately amending the Act, insisting it is the mother of wickedness and embarrassment to Nigeria.
“Land Use Act is modern day stealing of what belongs to the people and this present administration would be writing its name in gold if it expunges that act,” he insisted.
The group equally called for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to enable oil producing communities as well as oil-bearing communities enjoy their due benefits from the oil proceed.
The co-ordinator explained that a good PIB would address the much imbalances in the sector and would engender a new dawn not only for the oil producing states but the entire nation, as well as the oil companies.
Ogba noted the enthusiasm that ushered in the bill in the house amidst great expectations from Nigerians but remarked that the continued delay is suspicious.
Chris Oluoh
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.
