Corps Member Apologizes for Outburst: “Sorry If You Felt Offended

Ushie Uguamaye, commonly known as Raye, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos, has apologized for “talking down” about Lagos after becoming viral for criticizing President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The Corps member apologized for her language choice and admitted that her remarks might have upset Lagos people in an Instagram post on Monday.
She stressed that her goal was to offer her candid observations as a guest, not to disparage individuals who live in Lagos.

She clarified that the contentious statement was a component of a larger campaign, a 30-day rant challenge designed to draw attention to urgent problems in Nigeria.

She stated, “I want to start by saying that if anything I said offends anyone who was born and raised in Lagos State, I sincerely apologize.” I apologize.

However, as a tourist, I could see that the air quality and atmosphere here differed. I apologize if the way I phrased it made you feel anything or made you adore your native state. I didn’t mean to disparage your place of birth.

She continued by saying that her original goal was to publish 20 movies that addressed different societal issues in the hopes of igniting discussion by the twentieth day.

But the first video went viral almost instantly, connecting with a lot of Nigerians who were frustrated like her.

“I stated at the beginning of the 30-day rant challenge that all I wanted was to be heard. People would start to listen to me and join me in speaking to the authorities, I thought, if I made it to DAY-20.

“I wanted to complain in at least 20 videos until I got attention.” Fortunately for me, Day 1 of the challenge was sufficient to persuade people to join me, so I didn’t even need to make it to Day 2 because many of us were genuinely furious.

“I want to improve myself. I hope you do as well. Regardless of the “lifestyle” you believe I lead, the grievances I raised are legitimate.

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I should be able to afford to spend every weekend with my friends because I work more than forty-five hours a week. But I can’t. However, what percentage of us can truly afford to spend time with our friends? In practice, how many people can afford that? You can’t even feel alive on the weekends after working all week,” she said.

She stressed that her goal was to offer her candid observations as a guest, not to disparage individuals who live in Lagos.

She clarified that the contentious statement was a component of a larger campaign, a 30-day rant challenge designed to draw attention to urgent problems in Nigeria.