Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and 2023 African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, has announced plans to lead a protest on Tuesday against the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for withholding the discharge certificate of Rita Uguamaye, a corps member and content creator popularly known as Raye.
In March, Uguamaye posted a video criticising the federal government’s policies and commitment to fixing the harsh economy.
She would go on to describe Tinubu as a “terrible leader”.
She criticised Lagos’ “poor living conditions” and called the NYSC scheme “not beneficial”, eliciting mixed reactions. Uguamaye later apologised, explaining that her remarks on Lagos were misunderstood.
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Last week, the corps member said the NYSC management withheld her discharge certificate, claiming officials accused her of missing clearance, which she blamed on her local government inspector’s refusal to sign April’s attendance.
However, on Sunday, the NYSC authorities said her service year had been extended by two months “for failing to attend the April 2025 biometric clearance”, adding that she was among 131 corps members penalised.
Speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, on Monday, Sowore called on Nigerians to join the protest in support of the corps member.
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“I want to use this opportunity to invite people to another protest tomorrow on behalf of the youth corps lady who was denied her discharge certificate,” he said.
“She is the only one who spoke up against the president who denied her certificate. We have a clear nexus between what she said and her punishment.”
Addressing claims that the corps member failed to complete the mandatory one-month clearance, Sowore said she has evidence proving she attempted to complete the clearance but was refused.
“[For] the people who said she didn’t do one month clearance, she has been able to make a case that she went there to do the clearance, but they refused that,” he added.
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