Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, has criticised the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for withholding the discharge certificate of Lagos-based corps member Ushie Uguamaye, popularly called Raye, allegedly in retaliation for her criticism of the Bola Tinubu administration’s economic policies.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Falana described the NYSC’s action as “a cheap demonstration of overzealousness,” stressing that the seizure of her certificate was unlawful since it had no backing from a competent court.
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“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.’ 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.”
Raye rose to prominence after posting videos online criticising the administration and lamenting worsening economic hardship in the country.
In one viral TikTok video on her account, @talktoraye, she described President Tinubu as a “terrible leader” while questioning the government’s measures to address the economic crisis.
 for withholding the discharge certificate of Lagos-based corps member Ushie Uguamaye, popularly called Raye, allegedly in retaliation for her criticism of the Bola Tinubu administration’s economic policies.){kind=link}