A NATIONAL Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member in Lagos State has raised concerns about her safety after allegedly receiving threats following a viral video in which she criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over rising inflation and hardship faced by Nigerians.
In the widely circulated video posted on her Instagram page, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, @iamraye__, voiced her frustration over the worsening cost of living in Nigeria, claiming she couldn’t afford basic needs with the N33,000 she got monthly as an allowance from the NYSC.
While questioning what Tinubu government was doing to ease the suffering faced by Nigerians, she dubbed Tinubu as a ‘terrible’ president.
“If a lot of Nigerians come out and start speaking about what they are going through, maybe changes will be made in the government. I just want to say to our president, I don’t know if there is any other president that is as terrible as you, but you are such a terrible president,” she said.
She lamented how prices of goods and services continued to soar, recalling that a crate of eggs, which she once bought for N800, now costs N6,500.
She also highlighted the financial burden of electricity and security bills, the high cost of transportation, and the deteriorating living conditions in the country.
“So, 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? Is there going to be a particular time when prices will stop going up? Why am I going to get a crate of eggs and I’m told it costs N6,500? It doesn’t make any sense that eggs would cost that much. I literally remember when eggs cost N800. I am so overwhelmed because this is the first time I’ve stayed out of my family house.
“After I left the supermarket, I got home, and the security and NEPA (electricity ) bills have skyrocketed, doubling in price. It is insane. I can’t keep up with these bills. Every single penny I make, I am using it to pay bills. The crazy thing is, you want to go out with your friend, and Uber is N25,000. Why are things so expensive?,” the young lady said.
The ICIR reports that since assuming office in May 2023, President Tinubu has embarked on a series of economic reforms aimed at stabilising the nation’s economy.
These measures, which include the removal of subsidy from petrol, exchange rate unification, and increased reliance on food importation to lower consumer prices, have been highly criticised as inflation, food prices and cost of living remained high.
Despite signing the new minimum wage of N70,000 into law in June 2024, which is expected to be reflected in the allowances of serving corps members, the Tinubu government has yet to begin its implementation for the NYSC.
Corps members across the country has continued to live on N33,000 they receive monthly as allowance from the Federal Government, except for lucky ones who get additional allowances in the states where they serve and their places of primary assignment.
The threat
Following the video’s widespread circulation, the corps member in a new video posted on her Instagram @iamraye__, claimed she had received threats, allegedly from NYSC officials.
Backing up her claim, she posted another video where she appeared to be receiving a phone call from an official.
In the recording, a voice could be heard sternly instructing her to bring down the video where she criticised the president.
The official could be heard saying, “Are you normal? Keep quiet and bring down the video you posted.”
She also shared screenshots of messages she claimed to have received, where she was warned to delete the video.
She insisted that she would not delete the video, arguing that doing so would only make her more vulnerable to attack.
“Deleting this content is of no use because they already know me. However, deleting it means whatever they do to me nobody would know.
“If they decide to give me a hefty punishment, nobody will know because I used my own hands to cover it by deleting what I started.”
She also accused NYSC officials of trying to track her down, questioning why she was being treated like a criminal for merely expressing her frustration in her fatherland.
She insisted she had only exercised her right to freedom of speech and had not made any malicious claims against the government.
“Dear NYSC, if you say a corper has faulted you, wouldn’t treat them like this and scare them! You are scaring me for my dear life. Please leave me alone. You told me to report to the office on Monday. Okay!
“What else? Why are you looking for me? I just exercised my right to use the “freedom of speech. This is the right of every citizen. Except they tell me being an NYSC corper removes me from being a citizen,” she added.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the NYSC proved abortive, as calls to the Service’s Director of Press and Public Relations Eddy Megwa, were not going through, and SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to his phone line were not responded to as of press time.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M