Lagos youth corps member Ushie Rita Uguamaye, also known as “Raye”, has accused the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) of withholding her discharge certificate in alleged retaliation for her comments against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Uguamaye made headlines earlier in the year following her viral TikTok video in which she criticised President Tinubu’s government and described Lagos as “smelling” She alleged in a fresh video that her Local Government Inspector (LGI) refused to clear her for April despite her being present on the scheduled date. In the viral video clip she shared on Instagram on Saturday, she claimed she was repeatedly told to “go to the back” until the official eventually seized her file, refused to attend to her, and ordered her to leave. The corps member said she was later informed she would not receive her certificate because she missed April clearance, which she insists is untrue.
“I genuinely wish I were not a Lagos State corps member because it is a waste of my time,” she wrote on social media, adding that she had decided to close the chapter and move on. Meanwhile, Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, accused the NYSC of punishing Uguamaye for her criticism of the Tinubu administration. It is with deep sadness and renewed outrage that I address the ongoing injustice against Raye,” he said in a post on his Facebook page on Saturday.
“We will not stop until we achieve victory not just for her, but for every Nigerian denied their rights by an oppressive system.” Sowore noted that Uguamaye’s activism allegedly pressured authorities to increase corps members’ monthly allowance to N77,000, describing her certificate denial as “an injustice of the highest order.”
Recall in March, Sowore accused the Eti-Osa LGI of abandoning her office after summoning Uguamaye. He said he accompanied her with lawyers, but the official failed to appear throughout their visit. The summons followed Uguamaye’s viral video in which she lamented economic hardship, high inflation, and poor living conditions under Tinubu’s government. She claimed she began receiving threats from NYSC officials pressuring her to delete the content and feared for her safety, noting that the officials had her details. The case drew national attention, which made former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, warn against silencing critics in the country.
