Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, on Sunday criticised the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for withholding the discharge certificate of Lagos-based corps member Ushie Uguamayei, popularly known as RayeRaye, allegedly in retaliation for her criticism of the economic policies of the Bola Tinubu administration.

 

Falana, in a statement, described the move as “a cheap demonstration of overzealousness”, stressing that the seizure of the certificate was illegal as it had not been authorised by any competent court.

 

He recalled a similar incident in 1988, when the NYSC confiscated the discharge certificate of the late Bamidele Aturu for rejecting the Best Corper Award because he refused to shake hands with then military governor of Niger State, Lt. Col. Lawan Gwadabe. At the time, Falana noted, Nigeria was under the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida, when human rights were severely curtailed.

 

“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,” Falana stated.

 

He reminded the NYSC of President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech, in which the president cautioned public officers against suppressing dissent, warning that silencing critical voices could trigger unrest.

 

 

“While slander and libel must not go unaddressed, no one should suffer injustice for simply writing a negative report about me or calling me names.”

 

 

 

Falana urged the NYSC management to immediately release Uguamayei’s discharge certificate in line with the president’s stated commitment to encouraging citizens to criticise the government without fear of retaliation.

 

Raye gained public attention after a viral video on her TikTok account, @talktoraye, in which she openly criticised the Tinubu administration, accusing it of worsening economic hardship through poor policies. She lamented the rising inflation and the difficult living conditions, describing the president as a “terrible leader” while questioning his government’s efforts to alleviate citizens’ suffering.