The Trade Union Congress has supported Ushie Uguamaye, also known as Raye, a member of the National Youth Service Corps from Lagos who said he was threatened for opposing President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The corps member spoke out of exasperation, according to TUC President Festus Osifo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. He advised the government to be tolerant of critics rather than pursue her.
However, the head of the TUC recommended critics always critique the administration within the conventional bounds and with a certain amount of decorum.
He said, “They (government) have to develop this resilience to understand that people are frustrated, people are hungry, people are tired. So, if they decide to vent, I strongly believe that the government should not personalise it and come after such individuals.
“Imagine a young lady carrying out her NYSC function, what does she have to do to bring down the government? So, it is about personal frustration that she has aired.
“So, I think that the government has to persevere much more, they have to be more tolerant, and they have to have this deep level of patience with Nigerians because people are passing through a lot as it stands today.
Following the widespread popularity of a video she uploaded critiquing government policies, Raye, a corps member stationed in Lagos, recently made headlines.
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She then stated that she was under pressure to remove the video and that she had received threats, allegedly from NYSC authorities.
Raye expressed her dissatisfaction with Nigeria’s worsening economic circumstances in the video that was uploaded on her TikTok account #talktoraye on Saturday. She bemoaned the fact that hard labour no longer ensures financial security.
She called Tinubu a “terrible leader” and lambasted his leadership, raising doubts about the government’s will to alleviate the suffering of its people.
The NYSC hasn’t yet issued a formal statement on the matter.
