AMID complaints of Nigerians over the negative reaction by the Federal government over the criticism of a National Youth Corps (NYSC) member, Miss Ushie Rita Uguamaye, also known simply as Raye over the poor economic state of Nigeria, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi has called for the immediate expulsion of the corps member from the NYSC programme.
Ajayi, in a statement recently, emphasised the importance of upholding the nation’s long-cherished values of dignity, discipline, and mutual respect among citizens.
The call of the presidential aide is coming on the heels of an invitation of Raye to appear before the NYSC Local Government Inspector (LGI), at 10: am on Monday, the 17th day of March, 2025. Though the lady honoured the invitation along with the publisher of the Sahara Reporters and human rights activist, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, none of the officials in the LGI’s office showed up with a view to meeting the corps member and her entourage. They waited in vain before they departed. Sowore’s empathy for her probably arose from the preasure being mounted on her to apologise to the federal government.
In our view, the harassment of the corps member is needless. In the first place, she never said anything different from what many Nigerians, including political big wigs like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi and others have said about the president of Nigeria, though in different ways.
Nigeria’s constitution of 1999 as amended guarantees the lady, a right to freedom of expression. She has not gone outside that right. And her case is coming up few weeks after another lady, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was sanctioned by the Senate over what the leadership of the red chamber viewed as an act of disrespect for the legislators while speaking out her mind concerning proceedings in the senate.
If adequate precaution is not taken, the case of Raye may soon become another one to be seen as being targeted at undermining the rights of women in Nigeria.
When the NYSC scheme was established by General Gowon on the 22nd of May, 1973, the aim was, among others, to help in fostering unity among Nigerians. Members were paid allowances that ensured that their parents were momentarily relieved of the financial burden posed by such young Nigerian graduates from tertiary institutions across the world. The narratives have since changed.
Presently, the corps members earn about N70,000 per month. And for people like Uguamaye who are posted to serve in expensive cities like Lagos, it is extremely difficult to avoid the temptation to act the way she did. The frustrations that confronts her in an attempt to live a responsible life as a girl-child willing to avoid what many of her peers do in order to meet up with their economic challenges may not be ruled out as a compelling factor responsible for her actions.
More so, the hardship occasioned by the high rate of inflation may have equally acted as a reminder of the untimely death of her father who passed on as a result of the injustice meted out to him when the government forcefully acquired his land in Cross River State at the time she (Rita) was 19 years old.
Going forward, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must appreciate the fact that healthy oppositions to unfriendly government policies are some of the most valuable ingredients required for democratic governance.
In this light, critics such as the young lady deserve appreciative acknowledgement from the federal government. They are bold enough to voice out what opposition political parties’ leaders are failing to offer Nigerians.
The best thing to do in the face of criticisms is to confirm the validity or otherwise of such negative comments. The findings derived from the opinion of sincere critics such as Raye can go a long way in repositioning the government being criticized in the interest of the governed.
