The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has issued a stern warning that individuals found guilty of forging its discharge or exemption certificates could face imprisonment, fines, or both as penalties.

The Director of Legal Services, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, delivered this message during the 2023 Legal Officers’ Capacity Building Training held in Abuja.

The training centred around the theme “The Role of the Legal Officer in the Defence of the Public Service in Nigeria.” Ibrahim emphasized that all the infractions related to the NYSC Act should be well-known. “The infractions are many, like forging the NYSC certificates,” he stated.

Ibrahim further explained that some individuals who are required to participate in the youth service fail to do so, while others abandon the service before completion. These actions are in direct violation of the NYSC Act, which clearly outlines the appropriate measures to be taken in such cases.

The Director of Legal Services also highlighted instances where individuals attempt to attend orientation camps with forged documents. Once caught, they are arrested by the police and face prosecution. While there are ongoing cases related to such offences, the exact number of incidents cannot be determined at this time.

“The punishment, first of all, is to arrest them. The police will now charge them to court, and it is now left for the courts to decide if it is imprisonment or fine,” Ibrahim explained. He further added that the court has the discretion to determine the length of imprisonment, ranging from two years to three years, or the option of a fine, or both.

Regarding the involvement of Corps Producing Institutions (CPIs) in these infractions, Ibrahim stated that if such institutions submit names of unqualified corps members, they are considered guilty and will be taken to court. The court, in its discretion, will determine the appropriate punishment for the institutions involved.

However, Ibrahim clarified that delisting the institutions is not the immediate action taken. The institutions are still allowed to submit the names of their intending corps members for mobilization. He expressed concern about the rising frequency of such infractions, which continue to occur on a daily basis.

The primary objective of the training, according to Ibrahim, was to ensure that members of the public have a clear understanding of the provisions of the NYSC Act. He emphasized the importance of promoting compliance and educating individuals about their rights and responsibilities.

Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, the Director-General of NYSC, conveyed his policy thrust of enhancing capacity building to stimulate efficiency and higher corporate performance within the scheme. Represented by Ibrahim, he stated that the training aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of legal officers in the defence of the Public Service in Nigeria.

Ahmed acknowledged the significant contributions of the Legal Unit in providing quality legal advice to the NYSC management and effectively handling cases involving the scheme in various courts. He expressed confidence that the training would further strengthen the values of the scheme and contribute to the professional growth of legal officers.

Granit Xhaka’s move to Bayer Leverkusen is ‘edging closer’ and it has been reported Arsenal will receive over £20million for the midfielder’s services.

It was reported before the 2022/23 season ended that Xhaka would be leaving the Gunners to return to Germany.

He spent four years there as a Borussia Monchengladbach player, becoming captain in 2015 before agreeing a £34m move to Arsenal in the summer of 2016.

Amazingly, Arsenal failed to finish inside the top four during Xhaka’s time at the club, until last term, when they finished second.

And after falling out with the fans on a number of occasions, the Switzerland captain looks like he will leave north London on great terms with everyone associated with the club.

He enjoyed a tremendous 22/23 campaign, scoring seven goals and providing seven assists in 37 Premier League appearances, while only picking up four yellow cards.

Fabrizio Romano said in May that Xhaka would leave Arsenal in the summer transfer window with a €15million fee being discussed.

The transfer expert says personal terms have been reached over a contract until 2027 and a transfer was expected to be completed before the summer window opened.

It has not happened yet and it has recently emerged that the 30-year-old will be sold after Mikel Arteta brings in a new midfielder, with a deal to sign West Ham’s Declan Rice almost complete.

Although Romano said the fee would be €15m, a fresh report from Football London says Arsenal will receive €25m.

The report states: ‘Reports had previously suggested that the Swiss international was set join Leverkusen for a fee in the region of £13m.

‘Now though, it is thought that the two clubs are thought to have agreed a €25m fee that will see the 30-year-old secure a return to the Bundesliga.’

Xhaka wanted to leave Arsenal at the time of Arteta’s appointment. He fell out with the club’s supporters after throwing his shirt to the ground and telling the Emirates fans where to go.

Arteta convinced the Swiss midfielder to stay and made him a crucial part of his team.

Xhaka stepped up into a box-to-box role in 2022, which suited him very well. Beforehand, he was often used as a defensive midfielder.

The change in position gave the player more freedom to attack and in turn, helped his disciplinary issues.

Xhaka has always been criticised for being a hot-head on the pitch, something that is quite harshly labeled alongside him.

As mentioned prior, he only picked up four bookings in the Premier League last season, which was by far his best season for the Gunners in that regard.

[football365]

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham has offered his first public comments on the impending signing of Lionel Messi, saying that the Argentine superstar joining is a “massive moment” for the club.

Messi announced his intention to join Inter Miami last month, though the club has not officially confirmed the signing yet.

Beckham said that he was caught off guard when the former Barcelona and PSG star made the announcement, though the surprise was more in the timing than the message itself.

“A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to about a million messages on my phone. I was thinking, ‘What’s gone off? I don’t usually get this many messages’. All of a sudden, I hear Leo has come out and announced he’s coming to Miami. Obviously, it wasn’t a surprise to me,” Beckham said at a  “Lessons In Leadership” event for the Lira Winston Fellowships in London.

In terms of its impact on MLS, Messi’s signing has been compared to Beckham joining the LA Galaxy in 2007 — a deal that included an option to purchase a MLS team for just $25 million.

Having taken up that option with Inter Miami, Beckham is relishing the chance to make the club a flagship in MLS.

“I have always said, from the word go, that if I had the opportunity to bring the best players in the game to Miami, at whatever time of their careers, I would do that. I have always made that commitment to our fans,” Beckham added.

“So when I hear that one of the best players — if not the best player — who has won everything in the game, who is still a great player, still young and still doing what he’s doing, wants to play for my team, it’s a massive moment for us.”

[prosoccerwire]

Kanu Nwankwo, a former Super Eagles footballer, and his wife, Amara, celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary today, July 3.

This was posted via his wife, Amara verified Instagram page, celebrating their significant accomplishment.

In the video, the footballer serves her wine while fawning over her as he refers to her as the mother of his beautiful children.

See the video below:

Daniel Levy has been warned that Mauricio Pochettino could lure Harry Kane to Chelsea despite his reluctance to sell the Tottenham captain. The 29-year-old faces an increasingly uncertain future at Tottenham, with his contract set to expire at the end of next season.

Prior to the departure of Fabio Paratici in April, football.london understood that the Italian had been in conversation with Kane's representatives to discuss a new deal. It's said that the England international is open to discussing an extension but, as it stands, he's yet to commit his long-term future to the Lilywhites.

Kane is expected to seek pastures new, either this summer or next, and Bayern Munich have been mooted as a potential destination. However, despite having already signed Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea remain a dark horse in the race to sign the Englishman now that Pochettino's appointment as been officially confirmed.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Tony Cascarino believes that Kane's fantastic relationship with the former Spurs boss could swing the transfer race in the Blues' favour. The 60-year-old said: "Managers who have worked with players who they have loved and had a great, they love to bring them in.

"They've worked with them before. They love them as professionals. They love what they can deliver. Now you talked about the 'bromance' – I don't think there's been anyone bigger than Poch and Harry because Harry's respect for Poch was extraordinary.

"They've done brilliantly together," Cascarino added. "Would Poch want him? Absolutely! If they thought they could get him they'd go after him.

"The problem is whether Tottenham would sell to Chelsea. Now, Chelsea could fund it... Would Harry go? Well, we never know because he's never been asked a question but the Poch lure is a big one."

[football.london]

Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl has agreed to mutually terminate her contract with Swedish club Djurgarden following an ongoing feud with a number of fans.

She was pictured signing a rare Sweden goalkeeper shirt for a Hammarby fan.

Lindahl says she has experienced "harassment" a number of times.

The former Chelsea goalkeeper has questioned the safety of some women's games and wants them to become more inclusive in order to bring in new supporters - and says this is why she interacts with rival fans.

There was allegedly fan unrest in a 4-1 defeat to Linkoping in June, where supporters wore intimidating masks and threw pyrotechnics on to the pitch. In May, there were reports of four cases of assault at a subway station after a 1-0 loss to Hammarby, with Lindahl saying "we should not have violence here".

Lindahl has expressed strong views on social media, questioning violent events and the safety of other fans at women's games, while welcoming positive support for the club.

But her views have not always been well received. A banner brought to a game read: "We are unwanted gangs in the Lindahl league. Hedvig, you will never make us become quiet."

Lindahl told BBC Sport: "I'm disappointed that it wasn't possible to help the team reach a better place. I really wanted to come in and be a positive force to help develop the team.

"That makes me obviously a bit sad that it didn't turn out that way. I had an idea of a future at the club but I was afraid I would have to adapt a lot of myself to make it happen.

"I hoped I could maybe turn things around with the supporters but we never really got there."

'I'm trying to add value to the whole game'

Lindahl won two Women's Super League titles with Chelsea and reached the Olympic final twice with Sweden, as well as coming runner-up in the 2003 Women's World Cup.

She has played for some of Europe's top clubs including Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid but experienced different fan cultures there than in Djurgarden, where a lot of the men's teams' supporters have come across to the women's game.

"I think it was a culture clash for sure. I should have informed myself a little bit better on what I could have expected at a very big club," said Lindahl.

"I really like that people come up to us and say 'I love the atmosphere surrounding everything in the women's games, I feel totally safe going with my small children and I feel represented'.

"The safety, the inclusion and the happiness are the very strong values that I really, truly appreciate. It's not up to me what the women's game will be. I just know that I have reacted very strongly if there's been anything that is not like that. That's what I have tried to say."

Lindahl says she "appreciates so many people in the world love the men's game for what it is" but there are possibilities to "make both versions of the game better".

The ex-Sweden international says she can "see the beauty" of the men's game and is only questioning the elements of it which are unsafe and have started to creep into the women's game.

"I'm not trying to take away from the men's game but to add value to the whole game," she added.

"I think sometimes I have unintentionally stepped on people's toes. Maybe it has been when I say people want safety around the games and those that do feel safe in the men's game obviously feel offended by that."

Lindahl believes she has received great support from match-going fans, her team-mates and staff at the club despite "a feeling of not being wanted" at times.

She is now contemplating retirement but hopes to have an opportunity to end her career "on a more positive note".

"I feel like I really had [my team-mates and staff] through this drama. They have been champions and they deserve so much support," said Lindahl.

"I really hope now I'm out of the picture that people can really come and support them. If I was a reason for them not coming to support, then go now."

[BBC]

West Ham want to sign Union Berlin defender Danilho Doekhi, but face competition from Serie A champions Napoli according to VI.

The Hammers lost Craig Dawson to Wolves in January and didn’t replace him, leaving them with Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna as their only senior central defensive options.

That has led them in the direction of 25-year-old Doekhi, but Napoli and Jose Mourinho’s Roma are also interested in the Dutchman.

“Whether Doekhi will enter the billion dollar ball with Union Berlin remains to be seen, because he has put himself in the spotlight,” they wrote (3 July). 

“From Italy there is interest from champion Napoli, who will lose Min-jae Kim to Bayern Munich and is looking for a possible replacement. AS Roma and the English West Ham are also interested.”

Depth

This is going to be a busy summer transfer window for West Ham at the London Stadium, with incoming and outgoings expected.

Declan Rice is obviously leaving and that £105m will go towards the transfer budget for the summer with plenty of interest in attackers and other players.

Defensively the team needs additions to improve the depth, and while Thilo Kehrer is also capable of playing at centre-back it’s quite clear he is better as a full-back.

There has been some talk the German could look to leave too however, while Ben Johnson’s future is unclear as it stands also.

Doekhi would come in for a relatively low fee and provide solid competition for a starting place, but with no Champions League football it could prove hard to convince him to come to London ahead of Naples or even staying in Berlin for another season.

[westhamzone]

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control(NAFDAC) has refuted the claim that semolina contains plastic materials adding that scientific analysis of the food product showed that the woman’s claim in a video is not true.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye in a statement on Monday said the attention of the Agency has been drawn to a social media video showing a woman washing Golden Penny Semovita in a sieve using cold water.

“The woman claimed that the residue she got after sieving was plastic. A similar video was shown in 2020 and that led to a Press Release similar to this.”

“Upon receiving the alerts from various quarters in the community in 2020, the Director General immediately gave a directive to conduct emergency post-marketing analysis using different brands of Semolina.”

“The Agency investigated this claim by conducting appropriate analytical testing in her internationally accredited laboratories. The results showed that there was no plastic or any similar harmful contaminants in Golden Penny Semovita.”

“It contained the expected components plus the required Vitamin A. NAFDAC, therefore, wishes to inform the general public that the claim in the social media video assertions is misleading.”

“The alleged Golden Penny Semovita is a brand of semolina, a very popular flour made from wheat and consumed in several parts of the world. Semolina contains mainly water, carbohydrates and about 13% of gluten-forming proteins.”

“Gluten is made up of two classes of proteins – glutenin and gliadin, which upon addition of water combine to form gluten, a protein that gives nutritive value and imparts other characteristic properties to the product.”

“Glutenin normally gives a bread dough the ability to rise during baking while gliadin gives it the viscous and elastic (viscoelastic) properties, or it simply makes it extensible and elastic.”

“This latter property is the rubbery/plastic-like appearance that was exhibited in the said video. Semolina has no plastic content in it; it only exhibits viscous and elastic properties. The rubbery-like material that was observed in the video after many washings with water is the gluten that formed after the gluten-forming proteins get mixed with water.”

“Golden Penny Semovita is manufactured by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., a registered company which has been granted marketing authorization by NAFDAC to manufacture the product and offer it for sale in Nigeria.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that banks’ total assets from April 2022 to April 2023 rose by N16.65 representing a 25.88 per cent adding that Industry credit also increased by N4.54 trillion during the period under review.

The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, Aisha Ahmad, and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN, Adeola Adenikinju disclosed this in their personal statements at the CBN MPC meeting held in May.

They added that Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) ratio declined to 4.4 per cent in April 2023 from 4.5 per cent in March 2022, which is further below the regulatory benchmark of 5 per cent.

According to Adenikinju, “Total Assets of the banking industry grew by N16.65 trillion or 25.88 per cent between April 2022 and April 2023. Industry credit increased by N4.54 trillion or 17.40 per cent between end April 2022 and end-April 2023. Gross credit has been on an upward trajectory since 2019. Total industry deposits increased by N8.84 trillion or 21.4 per cent between the end of April 2022 and April 2023.”

He added that the stress tests conducted on the industry show that it can weather the major risks and vulnerabilities in the system.

He noted that the financial soundness indicators remain positive and that the banking system remains strong, sound, and resilient.

“The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 12.8 per cent in April 2023, still within the prudential requirement of between 10 per cent – 15 per cent. Non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio declined from 4.5 per cent in March 2023 to 4.4 per cent in April 2023.

“Liquidity ratio (LR) rose to 45.3 per cent in April 2023, from 43.8 per cent in March 2023. This is above the minimum 30 per cent recommended by the prudential requirement, ”he said.

However, he warned that cost to operating income declined marginally from 70.6 per cent to 70.5 per cent between March and April 2023 urging it be addressed as in other climes, “the ratio is 23.5 per cent in Turkey, 50.6 per cent in Brazil, 41.0 per cent in Malaysia, 62.0 per cent in South Africa, 43.2 per cent in Angola, 35.2 per cent in Egypt, Kenya is 45.2 per cent and Ghana, 46.1 per cent.”

On her part, Ahmad stated: “Industry credit increased by N4.54 trillion between end-April 2022 and 2023 with significant portions of the credit granted to output elastic sectors (manufacturing, general commerce, agriculture, information, and communication), and has been in an upward trajectory since 2019, yet the monthly trend in credit growth declined from 1.31per cent in March 2023 to 0.05 per cent in April 2023. Lending rates also remain high in response to the contractionary monetary policy stance. These developments point to the importance of balanced actions in the pursuit of the price stability mandate.

“Industry soundness indicators also remain strong as of April 2023, with capital adequacy ratio at 12.8 per cent, non-performing loans ratio at 4.4 per cent from 5.3 per cent in April 2022 and liquidity ratio at 45.3 per cent above the 30.0 per cent minimum even as credit to the real sector continued to grow.”

She also added that stress test results showed that industry solvency and liquidity positions could withstand mild to moderate shocks in the short to medium term.

“Nonetheless, the sector must continue to build adequate capital buffers – ongoing implementation of the Basel III capital standards (which prescribes additional capital buffers) are relevant in this regard,” she added.

On his part, the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr. Kingsley Obiora stated: “The continuous decline in NPL was attributable to write-offs, restructuring of facilities, Global Standing Instruction (GSI) and sound credit risk management. Consequently, total gross credit increased by N4.54 trillion, representing an increase of 19.71 per cent between the end of April 2022 and the end of April 2023, from N26.10 trillion to N30.64 trillion, due to the increase in the industry funding base, the CBN’s directive on Loan-to-Deposit Ratio (LDR), and business strategy and competition. The credit growth was largely recorded in key sectors of the economy, including oil and gas, manufacturing, general commerce, and government.”

The management of Innoson Automobile Company has finally broken silence on the N3 million scholarship awarded to Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme, saying the scholarship will stand if the latter found to be innocent of the allegation by JAMB of result manipulation.

Mr Cornel Osigwe, Head of Corporate Communications at Innoson Group, stated this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Onitsha.

NAN reports that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), had accused Ejikeme of using a software to manipulate her score to 362 as against 249.

According to Osigwe, it is strange to hear from JAMB that Ejikeme manipulated her result.

“It is strange to us because we did our independent verification and found out that Mmesoma Ejikeme actually scored 362, when we printed her result.

“When it was claimed that she was the highest, we waited for JAMB to come and clarify it, but they did not and the media was publishing that she was the highest.

“We also waited to see if there was going to be a counter claim, but since there was no counter claim, we awarded her the scholarship as the highest scorer.

“On Sunday, it was reported that JAMB claimed that she manipulated her result. We are doing our independent investigation as we speak to know if she actually manipulated her result or the fault was from JAMB.

“If we find out that the girl actually manipulated her result for obvious reasons, we will withdraw the scholarship.

“But if we find out that the mistake was actually from JAMB; that they were the ones that awarded her the score, or probably did a review and found out that her actual score was 249, then our scholarship will still stand.”