Human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, said on Monday that the youth corps member Ushie Uguamaye who criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over hardship is under tremendous pressure to apologise.
Sowore, who accompanied the corps member to the NYSC Local Government Inspector’s office in Lagos alongside a team of lawyers, said government officials, including ministers, had been reaching out to pressure Uguamaye to apologise.
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday night, Sowore insisted that the corps members committed no crime by exercising their freedom of expression in criticising Tinubu’s administration.
In a now-viral TikTok video, a Lagos-based corp member, Uguamaye, on Saturday criticised President Bola Tinubu’s government, expressing frustration over Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, lamenting the high inflation and economic hardship.
She also criticised the President by describing him as a “terrible leader” while questioning the government’s efforts to alleviate the hardship faced by the citizens.
The corp member complained, “I am coming from a supermarket where I went to get foodstuff, and everything has gone up again. It’s just like every single week, prices keep increasing.
“I want to know, what is the government doing about this increase? If a lot of Nigerians come out and start speaking about what we are going through, maybe changes will be made in the government.
“I don’t know if there is any other president that is as terrible as you (Mr Tinubu). But you (Mr Tinubu) are such a terrible president.”
She later alleged that she had received threats over her comments, sparking widespread debate on free speech and political dissent in Nigeria.
She also shared a screenshot of an invitation from the NYSC, summoning her to appear before the LGI office at Eti Osa 3 on Monday at 10:00 a.m
On Monday, Sowore, in a video shared on X on Monday, revealed that he had met with Uguamaye in Lagos and would be accompanying her to the NYSC Local Government Inspector’s office alongside a team of attorneys.
“The journey with youth corper, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, has commenced in Lagos.
“She is scheduled to appear before the LGI (Local Government Inspector) today and we will escort her to their offices. We are all en route with attorneys,” Sowore captioned the video.
Giving an update later, the activist wrote: “We arrived at Eti-Osa LGI offices of the National Youth Service Corps with youth corper, Ushie Rita Uguamaye in Lagos. She was scheduled to appear before the LGI today and we escorted her to their offices with attorneys, Festus Ogun, Adeyinka Oyesomi and Ojienoh Justice but LGI officials had absconded failing to show up throughout our stay. We will be back! #RevolutionNow #tinubuisaterriblepresident.”
Meanwhile, another activist, and journalist, Agba Jalingo, urged Nigerians and authorities to show Uguamaye empathy and support instead of condemning her for the viral video.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Jalingo said Uguamaye experienced personal tragedy linked to poor government policies when her father, Raphael Ushie, a Chief Inspector of the Nigeria Immigration Service, died in May 2019 after protesting the demolition of his palm plantation for the Obudu International Airport project.
Jalingo explained, “There was a protest by youths and women of the Ukambi community over the demolition of their community farmlands for the Obudu International cargo and passenger airport.
“According to a CrossRiverWatch report, her dad, Ushie, who was also the younger brother of Governor Ayade’s physician, Dr Vincent Ushie, died after he was rushed from a hospital in Obudu to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, having participated in the protest.”
He recounted that Ushie, who was approaching retirement, had invested his life savings in a palm plantation in Ukambi.
Upon hearing that demolitions had begun in neighbouring communities and were nearing Ukambi, he hurried home to protect his land.
“He arrived and went straight to the farm in his uniform and met the bulldozer nearing his plantation. He faced the operator and tried to prevent him from encroaching on his land before other community members joined him.
“He participated fully in the day’s protest, and the demolition collapsed afterwards. He was rushed to a hospital in Obudu. The matter couldn’t be handled there, and he was moved to UCTH in Calabar, where he passed on,” Jalingo recounted.
Jalingo revealed that despite losing her father and their farm, Uguamaye’s family received no compensation, leaving her mother to struggle with her education.
“And this young girl goes to the market and comes back to complain about what everyone in the country, including the President’s supporters, are grumbling about, and some persons are calling for her head?” Jalingo questioned.
“If you were in her shoes—you live in a country where the system kills your dad for no reason when you are only 19, your mother suffers to see you through school, and when you try to express your frustrations publicly, the same nation that killed your father threatens to kill you too—so where is the freedom of expression?” he added.
Jalingo urged Nigerians to show empathy rather than condemn her.
He stated, “I think that rather than pushing this young girl into additional complications, well-meaning Nigerians should rather sympathise with her ordeal and rise up to support her and the family to regain the missing gaps in their lives.”
Meanwhile, 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.
Ajayi, in a statement on Monday, emphasised the importance of upholding the nation’s long-cherished values of dignity, discipline, and mutual respect among citizens.
“I suggested that blatant disregard for NYSC by-laws and established protocols should be met with the full weight of NYSC disciplinary measures, particularly in light of a corps member’s recent act of imprudence,” Ajayi stated.
He added, “It is well established that the maximum penalty under NYSC regulations is expulsion—nothing beyond the existing rules and guidelines has been suggested or implied.
“The NYSC scheme is a historic and valued national programme that should not be undermined by acts of indiscipline. It stands as a testament to our victory over division and our continued efforts to build a stronger, united nation.”
