Supermarkets and sport groups in the United Kingdom are showcasing the valuable support they give to disadvantaged children and families in their communities, including through the government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi who met with representatives from UK businesses and the Cost of Living Business chief, David Buttress, encouraged organisations to boost their support for the holiday scheme, which supported thousands of children last summer after it was expanded to run nationally.
The call to arms for more support comes as the government announced it will also increase the per-pupil funding rate for universal infant free school meals.
Approximately £18 million of new funding for universal infant free school meals will help schools provide for the 1.25 million children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 with a free, healthy and nutritious lunch, in recognition of the rising cost of living.
The meeting celebrated the successes of the Holiday Activities and Food programme since its expansion in last year’s spending review and the way in which organisations are already providing community support and facilitating partnerships.
The roundtable discussion also covered wider possibilities for how costs for families can be reduced, including on school uniform.
New government statutory guidance published last year requires schools to make sure families get value for money on school uniform and PE kit, including by limiting branded items – which can be more expensive – and allowing families to buy most items from high street retail options, including from supermarkets.
Support from external organisations builds on Government investment in the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, which is backed by over £200 million each year to 2025, to support disadvantaged children in every area across the country in major school holidays.
Over 600,000 children attended HAF clubs last summer, benefitting from nutritious meals and enriching activities, which are targeted towards those who are eligible for free school meals.
The roundtable, chaired by the Education Secretary, included representatives from the Department for Education, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Other attendees included the Government’s new Cost of Living Business head David Buttress, and representatives from Morrisons, Co-Op, the John Lewis Partnership (including Waitrose and John Lewis), M&S, the English Football League Trust, Daily Mile, Swim England, Dallaglio Rugby Works, Lawn Tennis Association, Sport England, StreetGames, and Football Association.
Schools will receive the uplifted universal infant free school meals funding, backdated to 1 April 2022 which is expected to raise the rate per meal to £2.41.
New Government Funding To Boost Activities, Food Pledged To Support Children In UK
Maritime Industry: Presidential Task Team Reduces Ship Waiting Time From 6 Hours To 90 Minutes
The intervention by the Presidential Task Team, PTT, in streamlining port operations has reduced vessels waiting time at the anchorage to 90 minutes from 6 hours, a development that has consequently reduced the total Ship Turnaround Time, STT.
The intervention by the Presidential Task Team, PTT, in streamlining port operations has reduced vessels waiting time at the anchorage to 90 minutes from 6 hours, a development that has consequently reduced the total Ship Turnaround Time, STT.
The STT, which had been at about 28 days, has now dropped to an average seven days.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, coordinator of the Team, Mr. Moses Fadipe, said that before the intervention of the team, it takes an average of seven to ten days to resolve issues adding that it now takes hours to handle issues concerning ship captains and their vessels.
Recall that about 20 years ago the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, MACN, based in Denmark, petitioned Nigeria’s government to say that Nigeria had one of the most corrupt port systems in the world after Argentina and India.
It was based on the petition that the government directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to carry out an investigation and came out with damning report on operations at the ports.
Fadipe explained that the intervention of the Commission gave rise to the setting up of Standard Operating Procedures, SOP, for government agencies operating in the port and the Port Operation Manual, POM, was established bringing all the agencies on the same operational platform.
He stated: “The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, MACN, wrote this petition to the Nigerian government saying Nigeria is one of the most corrupt maritime nations in the world alongside Argentina and India as at 2012. “And when the government got that petition, it did not take it lightly because it was highly indicting. The government now pushed that petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, for investigation.
“So in 2013 ICPC came out with a report which they called Corruption Risk Assessment Report, visa-avis the petition and their findings. And their findings revealed that actually Nigerian ports were one of the most corrupt in the world.
“So the government now asked ICPC to do a search light on the Nigerian maritime sector and we had to partner with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and all other agencies operating at the ports, to look at the entire system, what were the challenges and how do we improve on them.”
A Video Recap Of Nigeria’s Two-Digit Score Line Against Sao Tome
It may mot have offered the best spectacle in terms of excitement. But it will easily hit global attention as double digit score lines are rare in international football matches.
It is 63 years since Nigeria last scored 10 goals in a match. Sao Tome and Principe have now oblitrated the 10-1 Nigerian defeat of Benin Republic in 1959.
The highlights of the 10-0 thrashing of Sao Tome is presented below:
All Hail Nigeria’s Trio Of ‘Hattrick-Plus-One’ Heroes
A two-digit scoreline is uncommon in competitive international matches. The Super Eagles achieved that in the 10-0 defeat of Sao Tome and Principe.
Also, scoring hattrick in a full international is an enviable feat. Yet, it is not a common phenomenon for an individual to score three goals in a match for Nigeria. The number of players to have achieved the feat in 73 years of Nigeria national team is still under 10.
To raise the bar by scoring four goals or more is even a rarity. Only three players belong to the class of hattrick plus one. They are Elkanah Onyeali, Rashidi Yekini and Victor Osimhen. Although Oghenekaro Etebo scored four against Japan at the football event of Rio 2016 Olympics, the match does not fall within the category of Grade A, being an U23 game.
Onyeali scored four against Benin Republic (then Dahomey); Rashidi put in four against Burkina Faso and now Victor Osimhen has joined the ‘Hattrick Plus One’ club.
Onyeali who achieved the feat first has been the only Nigerian player to have a 100 per cent goalscoring record in just a little over five caps.
Then a player of the Port Harcourt township team, he burst into reckoning in his first appearance for Nigeria, scoring in an Olympic Games qualifier with Ghana on 10 October 1959. He did not only score two goals in his first match, he extended his scoring to eight goals in five matches.
He later ventured abroad, playing for the third division Transmere Rovers in the UK.
As if by geometric intention, there appears to be a regular intervals of such. Consider this: El Kanah Onyeali scored four in 10-1 demolition of Benin Republic (then known as Dahomey) in the contest for the newly introduced Kwame Nkrumah Cup in the West African Football Federation (WAFF) – founded in Ghana in March 1959 and later went moribund to be refounded on 7 Septemebr 1975 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire as West African Football Union (WAFU). WAFU was later split into two by CAF on 16 May 2011.
After Centre forward Onyeali’s four-goal feat, it took another 32 years before another player, also a centre forward, Rashidi Yekini equalled the feat. That was in the 21 July 1991 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match with Burkina Faso in Lagos.
Yekini scored four in the 7-1 victory by the Super Eagles. Now 31 years later, another centre forward, Victor Osimhen has equaled the feat, scoring four times in a single match.
Grenfell Tower Fire: Church Service Marking 5th Anniversary Holds In Westminster Abbey
The names of the 72 people who perished in the United Kingdom’s worst residential fire since World War II were read out on Tuesday at a church service marking the fifth anniversary of the blaze.
Survivors and families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire gathered at Westminster Abbey for the first of a day of events to remember the tragedy.
The fire started in a faulty freezer and ripped through the 24-storey block in west London in an inferno that was visible across the British capital.
An official report blamed highly combustible cladding fixed to the exterior of the high-rise as the “principal reason” the fire spread.
But despite a costly ongoing public inquiry, the government has been accused of failing to implement urgent safety changes to prevent a similar tragedy.
Also on Tuesday, attendees observed a 72-second silence and laid flowers at the foot of the tower, which is still shrouded in tarpaulin.
Five years on, emotions remain raw about the treatment of survivors and the bereaved, some of whom are yet to be permanently rehoused.
The local Anglican Bishop of Kensington, Graham Tomlin, said in the years before the fire, Grenfell had become a “tinderbox” and a tragedy was inevitable.
FIFA Prepares To Name 2026 World Cup Host Cities
The countdown to World Cup 2026 kicks off in earnest on Thursday, as soccer fans across Canada, Mexico and the United States learn whether their cities made the coveted cut to host the 48-team tournament.
Four years after FIFA selected the tri-country North American bid, world football’s governing body will announce the host cities after a lengthy process shrouded in mystery.
With 22 host cities still in the running this week, according to FIFA, many expect the United States to see 10 of its candidates chosen with Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto in contention to the north.
In Mexico, where soccer is less a sport than a religion, three candidate cities – Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey – are all but assured the gig.
Of course, anything can happen ahead of Thursday’s media spectacle in New York City.
“Some of the cities understood probably from the beginning they were a longer shot than others … Five or six cities, almost anybody in the world would say, ‘Well, clearly they’re part of the package’,” former U.S. Soccer President Alan Rothenberg, now chairman of Playfly Premier Partnerships, told Reuters
“So the scramble in many ways is for the other slots.”
Los Angeles, with its glitzy new $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium is widely considered an obvious candidate, as is global hub New York, whose joint bid with New Jersey is anchored on the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium.
Other contenders include former 1994 World Cup host cities Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Orlando and Washington, D.C., which combined its bid with Baltimore this year.
“There’s an awful lot of pent up excitement because then we start the four year sprint to the (games),” said Rothenberg, who served as CEO of the 1994 World Cup.
‘A LEGACY’
There is a potential financial windfall on the line for bid cities: A 2018 U.S. Soccer study said the tournament could generate more than $5 billion in economic activity for North America.
Also at stake is the pride of taking part in North American soccer history.
The 1994 World Cup preceded an explosion of popularity in the sport across the United States with Major League Soccer (MLS) launching its first season two years later.
“We’ve all seen so much progress in the growth of soccer over the course of 20 plus years,” said Chris Canetti, president of the Houston World Cup bid committee, who previously had a 19-season career in MLS.
“The platform that (hosting) will provide to really take the sport to even much greater heights is incredible and very exciting as well.”
Canetti pointed to Houston’s size and proximity to Central and South America among its advantages for the global tournament, but added he did not expect any advance notice from FIFA.
“There really hasn’t been a lot of direct feedback to help you feel confident to say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re definitely in’,” he said. “I think our chances are very, very strong.”
Dan Hilferty, the chair of Philadelphia’s bid, said there were plans to build fields not only to host practice facilities for the World Cup but to “create a legacy” in the city, should they be selected.
“I just see this as the final straw in placing soccer among the other top sports,” he told Reuters. “And there will be no turning back.”
Qatar Plans 1000 ‘Bedouin Tents’ To House World Cup Fans
Night scene of the skyline of Doha with towers are seen at Al Dafna Area in Doha, Qatar, October 20, 2019.
Qatar plans to pitch 1,000 “Bedouin style” tents in the desert for World Cup soccer fans, organisers said on Tuesday, as the state hopes to attract 1.2 million visitors, nearly half of its population, for the 28-day tournament in November and December.
Tents will spring up on the stark desert landscapes surrounding Doha, to offer visitors an authentic taste of Qatari camping, said Omar Al-Jaber, head of accommodation at tournament organiser the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
“We will give the opportunity for fans to live in a desert,” Al-Jaber said, adding that 200 tents will be luxurious, commanding “expensive” nightly fees.
Qatar has fewer than 30,000 hotel rooms, according to the most recent estimates by Qatar Tourism, and 80% of those rooms are currently allocated to FIFA’s guests, Al-Jaber said.
FIFA will release rooms that teams, referees, media and other officials don’t need as the tournament draws closer, a spokesperson told Reuters.
Qatar has had to boost its non-hotel accommodation and two cruise ships moored in Doha port and shared villas and apartments will provide at least 69,000 rooms, most of them to be managed by Accor, Europe’s largest hotel operator.
There are also plans to install pre-fabricated fan-villages on empty plots, Al-Jaber said.
“In total we have more than 100,000 rooms and still there are some new options,” he said, assuring there would be enough accommodation for everyone, even at the end of November, when visitor numbers will be at their highest during the tournament’s group stage.
Nevertheless, current lodging options are scant and expensive – Qatar’s official accommodation website on Tuesday offered two-bedroom apartments on the outskirts of Doha for $390 a night and a suite aboard a moored cruise ship for $1650 a night at the end of November.
Many visitors won’t stay overnight because Qatar has invited regional airlines to operate more than 180 daily shuttle flights, allowing fans to fly in from nearby cities for the day, easing accommodation pressure in Doha.
Over 2 Million Open Educational Resources Domiciled In 153 Universities ― NUC
The management of National Universities Commission (NUC) says its Open Educational Resources (OER) repository established in 2017, currently has over two million resources in form of courseware, lecture notes, textbooks, videos, maps, podcasts, and conference presentations, and journals.
According to the Commission, the OER repository was established as part of efforts to revitalise the academic content of the nation’s Universities as well as improve the quality of teaching and learning.
Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, at a two-day high-level Sensitization Workshop on mainstreaming OER in higher education in Nigeria, organised by the commission in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).
Rasheed who was represented by NUC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, said the facility which is maintained by the Commission is currently held by 153 Nigerian universities.
He further revealed that the commission established the repository and named it the Nigerian University System Open Educational Resources, NUSOER, in its bid to fully encourage the institutionalisation of the use of OER.
He said the repository is maintained by the Commission to serve as a gateway to Open Resources which have been held by 153 universities in Nigeria since 2017, adding that in the course of the workshop, the National OER Repository will be formally unveiled and presented among other functions.
He said NUC, in its effort to galvanize the universities and assess their full commitment to the OER movement, will continue to evaluate and rank Nigerian Higher Education Institutions, HEIs, as part of efforts to give them visibility and place them on the world OER map.
He said the workshop was conceived and carefully designed to bring to the fore, the benefits of OER in Higher Education.
Rasheed expressed NUC’s readiness to always organize capacity programmes to improve the executive capacities of top university leaders and ensure that all higher education institutions are seen to be operating at full strength with some considerable reputational capital.
He added that the Commission would do this in collaboration with relevant agencies.
Nigerian Exporters Urged To Invest More As Made-in-Nigeria Goods Grows In Demand In Morocco
The African Network Centre Sarl Ltd., an organisation established to promote integration and networking among African countries, says Nigerian products are massively in demand in Morocco.
Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Mr Ahmed Gombe, disclosed this in an interview in Rabat, Morocco.
Gombe listed a good number of Made-in-Nigeria products with huge market potential in Morocco and other parts of Africa.
He, therefore, called on Nigerian exporters and entrepreneurs to invest and promote Nigerian indigenous products around the world to boost Nigeria’s economy and create employment.
“Nigerian products are massively in demand; if you go from Seme to Cotonou in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, you see Nigerian products, food, drinks, beverages, so also in Morocco.
“In Morocco, you see Nigerian soft drinks, our brands of malt drinks; a tuber of yam is about 70 dirham, that is about 7 dollars.
“Nigeria beans, seasoning, stockfish, egusi and crayfish. Ogbonno go for about 10 dollars per kilo.
“Our indigenous bathing soaps, yam, plantain and cassava flour, garri- the white and red one, red oil; all these are Nigerian products with big market potential here in Morocco.
“Nigerians have not discovered Morocco yet and I’m sure that by the time they discover Morocco, it is going to be mutually beneficial for the two countries.
“Even in terms of distance, from Lagos to Morocco it’s just about 4 hours 20 minutes by flight,” he said.
He said export of Nigerian goods would play a major role in diversifying the Nigeria’s economy from its dependence on crude oil.
Gombe also said that certain afro-centric policies initiated by the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, to promote integration of African countries, would facilitate trade and export between Nigeria and Morocco.
“We are trying to key into these policies and utilise it and also trying how to find the regulatory polices to see how the import export business can thrive.
“One of the initiatives is for us to set up the corridor initiative so that a lot of products from Nigeria that are being consumed here in Morocco, get the required market.
“We are trying to formalise the market; we are creating the Nigeria Import Export Corridor Initiative which should be launched before the end of the year,” he said.
He said the initiative would collaborate with Air Maroc, the Moroccan Airline, for concessions while also partnering with the Nigerian Export-Import Bank for the optimal benefit of entrepreneurs.
Awer Mabil: Sudanese Refugee Says His Penalty Is ‘ Thank You To Australia’
Awer Mabil said his crucial sudden-death penalty for Australia was a thank you to the country that took his family in after they fled Sudan.
The 26-year-old scored Australia’s sixth spot-kick in a shootout against Peru before watching goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne heroically save the South Americans’ final penalty.
The win in Qatar saw Australia qualify for a fifth straight World Cup and Mabil complete a remarkable journey from a Kenyan refugee camp to football’s global showpiece.
“I knew I was going to score. It was the only way to say thank you to Australia on behalf of my family,” the winger said.
Mabil was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after his parents fled conflict in Sudan, surviving on one meal a day as a child and kicking a ball around to pass the time.
After being resettled in Australia in 2006, he developed his football enough to join Adelaide United as a teenager and then moved to Denmark’s FC Midtjylland.
He is currently on loan to Turkish club Kasimpasa.
“I was born in a hut, a little hut. My hotel room here is definitely bigger than the hut, the room we had as a family in that refugee camp,” he said.
“For Australia to take us in and resettle us, it gave me and my siblings and my whole family a chance at life.
“That’s what I mean by thanking Australia for that chance of life, that chance of opportunity they allowed my family.”
Mabil has been a regular for the Socceroos under coach Graham Arnold and said he hoped what he had achieved would inspire other refugees.
“I scored, a lot of my team-mates scored, everybody played a part and maybe that refugee kid played a big part,” he said.
Mabil’s brother Awer Bul told the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper his family was overwhelmed with excitement.
“To be a boy who was born in a refugee camp, it was quite a moving moment for our community,” he said.
“Just to see him walk out there for the Australian team gives us a good feeling.”
