Business
Investment: Chancellor Decries Heavy Taxation By States, LGs
The Chancellor of Gregory
University, Uturu, Abia State, Dr Gregory Ibe, has described heavy taxation as a hindrance to private investment in the South-East region of the country.
Ibe said this in an interview with newsmen during the unveiling of the symbol of the World Igbo Summit Group by the Igbo Renaissance Centre of the University.
He said that the taxation imposed by states and local governments need to be harmonised to encourage and support the development of private sector investors into the region’s economy.
The chancellor said that levies and taxes imposed on the University by the Abia Government and Isuikwuato Local Government Council, for instance, were taking a big toll on the finances of the institution.
“Abia state and local governments want to stifle life out of us. If you are running at a loss, not making profit, and you need to pay taxes and levies that you can use to pay salaries, it does not encourage development at all.
“We are in a state of dilemma and we are not happy. We need government to look at these challenges and help us for the overall economic development of the state and council,” he said.
Ibe called for the encouragement of investors in terms of tax exemptions, adding that this will “encourage Igbo people at home and the Diaspora to come back home and invest”.
The chancellor pointed out that the educational sector of the region has taken a nose dive due to concentration on art and humanity studies instead of engineering and technology.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to U.S., Prof. George Obiozor, called on the Igbo people to rekindle their ‘think-home philosophy’ and self-help spirit in order to develop their area.
Obiozor urged prominent sons and daughters of Igboland to return home and invest and stop lamenting of marginalisation by the Federal Government.
“No more lamentation, come back to base and develop your land. Nigeria should stop talking about peace but should talk about justice,” he said.
Obiozor urged the Federal Government to implement the report of the National Conference in order to curb the agitation for a referendum.
Also speaking, former Minister of Education, Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike, charged the Igbos on upholding the Igbo Language to save it from extinction.
Madubuike urged the people to be conscious that Igbo Language remained their “mother tongue” and should constitute their major means of communication with their children and wards.
The Director-General of the summit group, Dr Ifedi Okwenna, described the three-day summit, slated for October 27 to 30, as a “50-year visioning assignment”.
Okwenna said: “It is a platform for continuous dialogue aimed at strategising and developing a roadmap in all sectors and monitoring the growth and development, using determined benchmark.’’
NAN reports that the unveiling ceremony was attended by the former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Josephine Aninih, representatives of different Igbo groups and associations, as well as student associations, among others.
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.