Ms. Rita Ushie, also known as Raye on Instagram, has had her service year extended by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) by two months
after she went viral criticizing President Bola Tinubu’s government and Nigeria’s economic woes.
With only one month left in her required service, Raye gained widespread attention in March when she shared a video of herself sobbing
as she talked about the hardships of living on the NYSC allowance and the growing cost of living.
In the same video, she labelled the Tinubu administration as “terrible”
and questioned what the government was doing to address the worsening economic crisis.
Raye further claimed that after the video, she got threatening calls from NYSC officials telling her to remove the material and quit criticizing the government.
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Meanwhile, Nigerians and civil rights organizations expressed their outrage over the incident, accusing the NYSC of trying to stifle her right to free speech.
Why Corp Member, Raye, Is Serving Extra Months In NYSC
The official who had originally summoned her to the Eti-Osa Local Government office was reportedly not present
when she arrived with legal representatives and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
The matter then resurfaced on Wednesday, June 18, when Raye was summoned again—
this time to the NYSC orientation camp in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos—to appear before a disciplinary panel.
According to Jonathan Ugbal, South-South Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement,
the process was riddled with delays and a lack of formal communication.
“Upon her arrival last Wednesday, without any official letter, she was told to return later.
She eventually met with the officials, apologised for any perceived harm, but was later informed that her service year would be extended by two months,” Ugbal told CrossRiverWatch.
“Her mother called me crying, saying Raye was in tears and emotionally distressed.”
The original video that triggered the controversy was posted on TikTok via her handle @talktoraye,
where Raye spoke candidly about inflation, unaffordable food prices, and the general cost of living as a corps member in Lagos.
Meanwhile the NYSC is yet to officially state if this is indeed true or not
and if true, why Raye is spending extra 2months in her service year