Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has called on the National Youth Service Corps to immediately release the discharge certificate of a Lagos corps member, Ushie Uguamayei, also known as Raye, accusing the agency of punishing her for criticising the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana described the action of the NYSC management as “a cheap demonstration of overzealousness,” insisting that the seizure of the certificate was illegal because it had not been ordered by any court.
He linked the incident to a similar case in 1988 when the NYSC confiscated the certificate of Bamidele Aturu after he refused to accept the Best Corper Award because he did not want to shake hands with the military governor of Niger State at the time. “That was under the Ibrahim Babangida military junta when human rights were put in abeyance,” he said.
Falana argued that Uguamayei’s right to speak freely was protected by Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution. He also reminded the NYSC of President Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech, where the president warned public officials against suppressing dissent. “While slander and libel must not go unaddressed, no one should suffer injustice for simply writing a negative report about me or calling me,” the president had said.
“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,” Falana stated.
Raye drew national attention after posting a viral video on her TikTok page, @talktoraye, where she complained about worsening economic conditions, high inflation and hardship. She also called the president “a terrible leader” and questioned the government’s ability to address the suffering of Nigerians.
