The National Youth Service Corps has stated that Lagos corps member Ushie Rita Uguamaye, popularly known as Raye, is among 131 members whose certificates of national service were withheld for valid disciplinary reasons, including failure to attend the April 2025 biometric clearance.
The scheme’s clarification came amid allegations by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, that the action was political retaliation for Raye’s criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies.
Raye drew widespread online attention after a viral TikTok video in which she criticised the government over worsening economic hardship and labelled President Tinubu “a terrible leader.”
Uguamaye had, in the viral video shared on her TikTok account, @talktoraye, expressed frustration over Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, lamenting the high inflation and economic hardship.
Uguamaye had also criticised the President by describing him as a “terrible leader” while questioning the government’s efforts to alleviate the hardship faced by the citizens.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana described the move as “a cheap demonstration of over-zealousness” and “illegal,” arguing that no competent court had authorised the seizure of the certificate.
He likened it to the 1988 case of the late human rights activist, Bamidele Aturu, whose NYSC certificate was confiscated after he refused to shake hands with a military governor.
Falana said, “Indeed, it is a sad reminder of the confiscation of the NYSC discharge certificate of Bamidele Aturu (of blessed memory) in 1988 by the NYSC management for rejecting the best ‘Corper Award’ on the ground that he did not want to shake hands with the Military Governor of Niger State, Lt Col Lawan Gwadabe.
“That was under the Ibrahim Babangida military junta, when human rights were put in abeyance.
“Since Nigeria is under a democratic government, Rita Uguamayei’s fundamental right to criticise the government is guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
“It is pertinent to remind the NYSC authorities of the Democracy Day speech of President Bola Tinubu, wherein public officers were cautioned against suppressing dissent and that silencing critical voices could lead to unrest and undermine democracy.
“The President declared, ‘While slander and libel must not go unaddressed, no one should suffer injustice for simply writing a negative report about me or calling me names.’
“In line with the commitment of the President to encourage Nigerians to criticise the government, the management of the National Youth Service Corps should release the NYSC discharge certificate of Rita Uguamaye without any further delay.”
Clearing the air on the certificate, NYSC, in a statement signed by the Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, said the disciplinary action was “a standard procedure” under its bye-laws and not unique to Raye’s case.
punch
