The Organised Private Sector Exporters Association (OPEXA) has appealed to the National Assembly (NASS) to urgently ratify the approval of the N375 billion Export Expansion Grants (EEG) for exporters.
The N375 billion represents the backlog of the EEG from 2017 to 2020, whose payment was delayed due to budgetary constraints.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved the disbursement in form of Promissory Notes, which will become effective after the ratification by NASS.
Mr Jaiyeola Olanrewaju, the Executive Secretary of OPEXA in a statement on Saturday urged the lawmakers to expedite action on the ratification process to boost the country’s export sector.
“We sincerely appreciate the gesture shown by Mr President and the Vice President to support the non-oil export sector.
“We also commend the intervention of both the Ministers of Finance and Industry, Trade and Investment, who tabled the issue of the EEG backlog at the cabinet.
“We now appeal to both the houses of the NASS to expedite the ratification of the approval given by the Federal Executive Council to provide relief to the exporters who have been starved of liquidity.
“This appeal becomes more urgent in view of the fact that the ratification will be the beginning of another long process,” he said.
He said after the ratification, imput of other relevant stakeholders like the Debt Management Office, International Auditors (Peat Marwick) and the Nigeria Export Promotion Council would be required.
“No doubt, this process takes a while,” he said.
According to Olanrewaju, it will be pertinent to note that the Presidential Committee on Continuous Audit (PICA) had earlier carried out a validation exercise on the claims.
He said that the exercise included physical inspection of the facilities of beneficiary companies.
He commended effort by the government to reform the EEG policy, adding that actual implementation of the policy was most desirable.
“It was the report by PICA that the Ministry of Finance presented via a memo to the FEC for approval.
“It is the same report that is now before the National Assembly for ratification.
“A timely disbursement will help millions of Nigerian farmers who rely on the export sector for funds through the planting and harvest season for 2022.
“OPEXA notes that reform of the EEG policy is commendable, however, what is needed now is its actual implementation.
“The government needs to show sincerity and commitment to generate confidence in its policies,” he said.
The executive secretary said the exporters embraced the new policy in good faith by investing in export processing factories and made commitments to foreign buyers.
He said that the non-oil export sector had agro-allied linkages and supports the livelihood of over 11 million Nigerians directly and indirectly.
“It is vital for diversification of Nigerian economy and revenue base,” he said.
President Joe Biden rarely mentions his predecessor by name. But as he spoke to a nation processing a seismic shift in the rights of women, he couldn’t ignore Donald Trump’s legacy.
“It was three justices named by one president — Donald Trump — who were the core of today’s decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country,” Biden said Friday after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling from 1973 that provided constitutional protections for women seeking abortions.
The abortion decision marked the apex in a week that reinforced the former president’s ongoing impact in Washington more than a year and a half after he exited the White House.
Explorers have found the deepest shipwreck ever identified, a US navy destroyer escort sunk during WWII.
The USS Samuel B Roberts went down during the Battle Off Samar in the Philippine Sea in October 1944. It lies in 6,895m (22,621ft) of water.
Texan financier and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who owns a deep-diving submersible, discovered the “Sammy B” battered but largely intact.
The vessel is famed for a heroic final stand against the Japanese.
The USS Samuel B Robert before it sank: It went up against much more heavily armed opponents
Outnumbered and outgunned, it managed to contain and frustrate several enemy ships before eventually going down.
Of the Samuel B Roberts’ 224-man crew, 89 were killed. The 120 survivors clung to life rafts for 50 hours awaiting rescue.
Mr Vescovo, a navy reservist in his time, said it was an extraordinary honour to locate the lost ship and by doing so have the chance to retell its amazing story of heroism and duty.
“We like to say that steel doesn’t lie and that the wrecks of these vessels are the last witnesses to the battles that they fought,” he siad.
“The Sammy B engaged the Japanese heavy cruisers at point blank range and fired so rapidly it exhausted its ammunition; it was down to shooting smoke shells and illumination rounds just to try to set fires on the Japanese ships, and it kept firing. It was just an extraordinary act of heroism. Those men – on both sides – were fighting to the death.”
In the imagery captured by the adventurer’s sub, the Limiting Factor, it’s possible to see the hull structure, guns and torpedo tubes.
The Sammy B has puncture holes from Japanese shells and there is evidence in the stern quarter of one massive hit.
From its crumpled appearance, it appears the vessel impacted the seafloor bow first.
To give a sense of how deep the resting place is, 98% of the world’s ocean bottom is less than 6,000m deep. Only a few places in the great tectonic trenches go beyond 6,000m.
Lake Piso, which is also known as Lake Pisu and Fisherman’s Lake is a saltwater lake that has an open connection to the Atlantic Ocean, thus making it an oblong tidal lagoon, located in the southern part of the Grand Cape Mount County within the Republic of Liberia.
The nearest town to Lake Piso is Robertsport which is located exactly at the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and the lake itself.
With a total area of 103 square km (40 square mi), it is the largest lake in the West African country that is fed not just from the Atlantic, but from Maffa, Moffe and Mawua rivers too.
The basin has gained international and national interest for the richness of its biodiversity, its diverse ecosystems and its natural beauty, which was designated as the first “wetland of international importance” under the Ramsar Convention (June 2003).
There is the humid forest, wetlands and coast, brackish lake and the dry land that comprise this unique ecosystem, which is rich in flora and fauna.
In the past, the area served as an important military base for the Allied seaplanes during the Second World War, and also at least twice overflowed its banks.
The people living in the vicinity of the lake are the Vai, nevertheless, the importance to them is that they are dependent from the lake due to the fishing and also the high-quality diamonds that have been mined from the rivers that discharge into Lake Piso.
Even though the small country still struggles with the conflicts and epidemics that occurring all the time, there are not a lot of people who would like to visit it as tourists, so as soon as the situation improves, the Government of Liberia can start promoting the area as one of a kind African scenery.
Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is an outdoor garden which is located in the North Side District of the Grand Cayman Island, forming the autonomous British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Sea, the Cayman Islands.
Being one of the main attractions on the island, this tranquil place is certainly one that would offer quite the Cayman experience, as one would be able to see the pristine flora, in addition to the wildlife which is kept also here.
This 26 hectares (65 acres) large park is owned partly by the Government of the Cayman Islands and the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, whose purpose aims to preserve sites of artistic and architectural interest in the islands.
Officially opened in 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II, the park includes the Visitor’s Centre, the Floral Garden, and the Heritage Garden, in addition to the lake, orchid boardwalk exhibit and the most important habitat for the now endangered Grand Cayman Blue Iguana.
The Visitor’s Centre is certainly an interesting one, since it tries to show the historical Caribbean architecture, with its impressive wooden shutters, wide verandas and amazing courtyard.
While enjoying the leisurely walk through the magnificent gardens, the Floral Garden is one of the most spectacular ones as it has a gravel pathway which leads through large stands of wooded areas containing native trees along with open grassy spaces, gazebos, and arbors.
The garden is organized with colorful order, and as the visitors stroll down the path, they will see the amazing change of colors in order from pink, red, orange, yellow, white, blue, purple, and lavender.
When the visitors pass the Floral Garden, they are right away at the lake which is approximately 1.21 hectares (3 acres) in size, and tries to show the natural wetland which was part of the mangrove shrub, also known as Buttonwood.
Even though it is not a real swampland, the developers decided to create a lake which would in turn serve also as an aquatic bird habitat for several species along with the threatened West Indian Whistling Duck.
From the Heritage Garden, a grand jewel represents the Rankine Home, originating from 20 century and also owned by the East End settler, Julius Rankine.
Representing the traditional Cayman culture, this house is considered to be a historic symbol of the family homes throughout the islands, and with some successful restorative work, the park was able to recreate a porch, cook room that features caboose which is a homemade oven made out of wood, cistern, natural well, as well as the most significant and very recognizable feature from the Caribbean region, a native coral stone fences and pathways lined with conch shells.
Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is considered to be among the most impressive works of the Caribbean area, and as it tries to protect the flora and fauna, it also gives an extravagant experience to all those willing enough to enjoy in a small paradise which will make them feel like they are in another world.
Reigning Africa Games and African Athletics Championships shot put champion, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi has set a new 21.25m personal season’s best to successfully defend the Shot Put title he first won last year.
The mark is an improvement on his 21.20m season’s best which he set early this month at the 22nd African Athletics Championships in Mauritius to successfully defend the Shot Put title he won in 2018.
Enekwechi is among the athletes who have booked automatic tickets to the Oregon World Athletics Championships and has now confirmed his place with the successful defence of his National Shot Put title.
The African Games record holder will be hoping to make history in Oregon as the first Nigerian to make the podium in the event.
He will also be hoping to turn to gold, the silver medal he won four years ago in Gold Coast-Australia in Birmingham, United Kingdom when the Commonwealth Games start immediately after the World Athletics Championships in Oregon
The Super Falcons have been training in Abuja in the past few days and would be departing for Morocco on Monday.
Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has declared full support for the national women’s team, the Super Falcons, as they head to Morocco for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON.
The Super Falcons have been training in Abuja in the past few days and would be departing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for Morocco on Monday as they eye an astonishing 10th continental title.
Already, the Super Falcons coach, Randy Waldrums has named what many believe is a decent squad with an interesting mix of the old guard and new blood, with veterans.
Mikel, commended the unity and commitment the Super Falcons players have shown in the past years and also enjoined them to keep working hard as they look forward to conquering the continent again.
“All I can say is that I know they are doing really well. I haven’t watched them a lot lately but the few that I’ve watched I can see that they are doing well and I’m impressed with their character and behaviour on the pitch,”Mikel stated.
“The discipline that I see, the cohesion that they have. They are always together and their relationship is nice to see. They should continue doing exactly what they are doing, keep playing and training hard and believe they are the best and they can do it.
“I will support them and watch them.”
The Super Falcons will confront South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in their first match of the tournament on July 4 before other games against Botswana (July 7) and Burundi (July 10).
The 12th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will take place in Morocco, July 2 to 23, 2022.
All four semi-finalists at the championship in Morocco will qualify to represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
At the height of summer with its surfeit of so-called transfer sagas, you would do well to find a player whose next move has fuelled speculation as long as Gareth Bale.
The Wales captain spent nine trophy-laden years at Real Madrid, yet about half of that time was set to the backdrop of perpetual conjecture about his future.
Even scoring one of the greatest goals in Champions League history did not stem the tides of gossip. Moments after his stunning overhead kick helped Real beat Liverpool in the 2018 final, he said in an interview on the pitch that he would be speaking to his agent to discuss his options.
It was a complicated relationship, Bale and Madrid. There were five Champions League winners’ medals, three La Liga titles and more than 100 goals for the 32-year-old, but injuries and inconsistent form – and the subsequent backlash from fans and Spanish media – gradually pushed Bale to the periphery.
With his £600,000-per-week contract expiring at the end of this month, there was no doubt Bale would be leaving Madrid. The only question mark concerned his next destination.
He was linked with a return to Tottenham and, implausible as it may have sounded, his representatives did. hold talks with championship side Cardif his home-city club.
Bale’s agent cautioned at the time that they were still negotiating with “plenty of other clubs” and, with a move to the United States a long-standing option, they eventually chose Los Angeles FC
Now the epic decision-making process is over, Bale can look forward to the next – and possibly final – chapter of his glittering club career.
Why Bale chose LAFC
A move to Los Angeles carries obvious attractions, from the Californian lifestyle to the financial rewards of joining an LAFC side flying at the top of the Major League Soccer Western Conference.
Bale has publicly stated he enjoys spending time on the American West Coast, having played there in pre-season competitions and been back on holiday with his family.
And while the Wales forward and his representatives have fielded offers from all parts of the world – he was close to joining Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning in 2019 – the MLS has long been earmarked as an ideal destination for the twilight years of his club career.
Bale may no longer be the explosive winger who cost Real Madrid a then world-record fee of £85m in 2013 and went on to terrorise defences across Europe with his searing pace – but he is still capable of producing match-winning moments when they matter most.
He proved as much when he scored two spectacular goals in Wales’ World Cup play-off semi-final win over Austria in March, before following it up with the free-kick which led to the only goal in their momentous final victory against Ukraine earlier this month.
Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini will be team-mates in California
Bale did so despite barely featuring for Real Madrid; he had played only 20 minutes for the Spanish and European champions in the three months between those two Wales matches.
That lack of consistent action at club level is something Bale will want to correct at LAFC, where he can expect a more prominent role than he had at the end of his time in Spain.
Bale makes no secret or apology about the most important reason for his desire to play regularly: to be fit for Wales’ first World Cup since 1958.
Nothing means more to him than representing the country and, having achieved everything he could with Real Madrid and led Wales to back-to-back European Championships, Bale had targeted a World Cup as his greatest remaining ambition.
Wales’ 64-year wait will end when they face the United States in their opening World Cup fixture on 21 November so, until then, the tournament in Qatar will have a bearing on everything Bale does.
That is why LAFC are a good fit. The MLS regular season runs from February to October, followed by the play-offs and the MLS Cup final on 5 November.
As LAFC are top of their conference, they are well placed to reach that final and offer Bale a run of games before the World Cup, with the bonus of a brief period of rest before the US encounter.
If Bale arrives in Qatar in peak physical condition, the move to LA will have been worth it.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.16/iframe.htmlGareth Bale needs regular games next season, says Wales boss Robert Page
Bale’s future beyond the World Cup
The World Cup looms so significantly for Bale, there is a risk of forgetting about his future beyond Qatar.
There was speculation that he would have retired had Wales failed to qualify, while Bale himself did not rule out the possibility of retirement after last year’s delayed Euro 2020.
It is a subject Wales fans do not want to confront; the conclusion of Bale’s career would mark the end of an era for Welsh football.
He has been the icon of Wales’ golden generation. From an all-time low of 117th in the world rankings 11 years ago to a historic run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and now qualification for a third major tournament from four, Wales have become a footballing nation transformed with Bale as their leading light.
The World Cup might seem a natural final act for Bale given all the retirement talk, but he has signed a one-year contract with LAFC, with potential for an extension.
That would raise the possibility of Bale staying around until Euro 2024, a tantalising prospect for Wales and not unrealistic when you consider he would be 34 years old when the tournament starts in Germany.
For now, that can wait. Bale and Wales have a World Cup to consider first, and LAFC can look forward to having a generational talent join their ranks for the rest of this season.
The first match Bale will be eligible to play in will be next month’s Los Angeles derby against LA Galaxy, once the MLS transfer window opens on 7 July.
The man who once lit up El Clasico could be about to do the same for El Trafico.
Serena Williams says a big motivating factor behind her Wimbledon return was not wanting last year’s tearful injury retirement to be her final SW19 memory.
Seven-time champion Williams is set to make her singles comeback at the Grand Slam event, which starts on Monday.
The 40-year-old American tore her hamstring when she slipped during her first-round match almost a year ago.
“It was a lot of motivation, to be honest,” said Williams, who will play France’s Harmony Tan on Tuesday.
Asked about her expectations at Wimbledon, the world number 1,204 said: “I have high goals, but also I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Williams made her return to the WTA Tour at Eastbourne earlier this week, playing in the doubles alongside Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
She has not played singles since waving a tearful farewell to Centre Court last year after slipping in the match against Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
“It was always something since the match ended that was always on my mind,” she said. “So it was a tremendous amount of motivation for that.
“You never want any match to end like that. It’s really unfortunate.
“But it was definitely something that’s always been on the top of my mind.”
Williams practised with her team on Centre Court on Friday
Williams is one major title short of Australian player Margaret Court’s record 24 Grand Slam singles wins.
Until a few weeks ago, when she announced her intention to play Wimbledon, many wondered whether one of the greatest players of all time might have slipped quietly into retirement.
Following her comeback in Eastbourne, Williams said it would be “dishonest” to say she did not have doubts over whether she would play top-level tennis again.
“I didn’t retire. I just needed to heal physically, mentally,” she said at the All England Club on Saturday.
“I had no plans, to be honest. I just didn’t know when I would come back. I didn’t know how I would come back.
“Obviously Wimbledon is such a great place to be, and it just kind of worked out.”
Williams was among the players who hit on Centre Court this week, following a change of tradition from the All England Club to allow the show court to be used for practice sessions.
She said Friday’s practice with her team was an opportunity to move on mentally from last year’s experience.
“It was good for me to get that out of my system because the last moment I had on Centre Court was probably not my best moment,” she said.
Andy Murray says he was turned down by a “lot of coaches” before reuniting for a third spell with Ivan Lendl in March.
The partnership previously yielded all of Murray’s major wins – two Wimbledon titles, a US Open and two Olympic golds – before his long-running hip issues.
The Scot, 35, is “grateful” Lendl still believes in him and is optimistic of being fit for his Wimbledon opener on Monday after an abdominal strain.
“Obviously having Ivan in my team helps,” said Murray.
“We’ve had a lot of success in the past, we know each other well and he still believes in me. There’s not loads of coaches and people out there that have done over this last period, but he has.
“For the most part in my career, when I had conversations with potential coaches it came off most of the time.
“Whereas this time round, I got turned down by a lot of coaches so that was obviously difficult to deal with.
“I don’t know how many you’d say were really top level, who would be able to help you win the major events.
“So that’s also why I’m grateful Ivan has come back to work with me and help me try and achieve what I want to achieve.”
Murray missed Queen’s after suffering an abdominal strain in his ATP Stuttgart final loss to Matteo Berrettini a fortnight ago and his participation at Wimbledon had been in doubt as he was not able to practice his full repertoire of shots.
Those fears have now receded significantly, though, after Murray revealed recent practice sessions were much more positive, including a hit with British number two Dan Evans.
The former Wimbledon champion is taking confidence from his run in Germany where he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios on his way to the final.
“I think I showed a couple of weeks ago that there’s still good tennis left in me,” he added.
“I beat a guy [Tsitispas] in the top five in the world and I was neck and neck, before the injury, with Berrettini who’s one of the best grass court players in the world.
“I’ve been doing pretty well in practices so I know the tennis is in there. I just need to bring it out during the event now.”
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