The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has denied claims that it extended the service year of Lagos corps member Rita Uguamaye, popularly known as Raye, as punishment for her criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
As reported by the media outlet, Raye gained online attention after publicly criticising the current administration, which she blamed for the country’s deteriorating economic situation.
In a widely circulated video posted to her TikTok account, @talktoraye, Uguamaye voiced her discontent with Nigeria’s deepening economic struggles, pointing to rising inflation and hardship.
She further referred to President Tinubu as a “terrible leader” and questioned what the government was doing to ease the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
In addition, Uguamaye described Lagos State as a “smelling state” and expressed dismay over what she called its “poor living conditions.”
After the video spread across social media, she released another video on her TikTok account alleging that she was being intimidated by NYSC officials, though the agency did not respond to her claims.
She alleged that certain NYSC personnel had asked her to delete the video, but she stood by her statements, asserting that she was only speaking the truth about the state of the nation.
Her claims drew the attention of several public figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and human rights advocate Omoyele Sowore, who condemned the alleged threats against her.
On Tuesday, Sowore reacted to a circulating news headline that read, “NYSC punitively extends Raye’s service year by 2 months for criticising Tinubu’s administration over hardship,” and vowed to demonstrate at the NYSC passing-out ceremony.
Sowore wrote, “This Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu regime might go down with Rita Raye’s National Youth Service Corps matter.”
“This is not acceptable, we will mobilise down to the Passing Out Parade except Rita is allowed to complete her NYSC national service without let or hindrance.”
When asked for clarification on Tuesday, the NYSC’s Acting Director of Press and Public Relations, Carol Embu, explained that decisions on extending a corps member’s service year are only made at the point of their passing out.
She clarified that specific guidelines govern such decisions.
“Who is Sowore? Does he work with the NYSC? So, how come you are listening to him? I don’t understand how she will get an extension if she is still serving.
“NYSC is not an irresponsible organisation; we work with rules and regulations. She is still serving; if she has any issues, we will wait and see,” Embu said.
As of the time of filing this report, our correspondent was unable to independently confirm whether Uguamaye’s service year had actually been extended. She also had not posted any updates regarding such a development on her social media pages.
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