At a Renewed Hope Initiative Health Programme in the capital of Delta State three days ago, six states benefited from a federal government-led effort seeking to improve midwifery welfare with 10,000 branded professional kits, which an anonymous donor had sponsored. But, after all that input, a trainee received the most attention over her TikTok clip that rejected the idea of First Lady of Nigeria Remi Tinubu as a mother.

The video in question was recorded by Nurse Osato Edobor, according to whom the Delta State College of Nursing and Sciences, Agbor, had addressed in a query seeking an explanation for what the school now deemed as transgressing against a rule in the students’ handbook.

In a letter sent to the trainee yesterday by the institution’s provost, Edobor had been accused of divulging unauthorised online publication by projecting the First Lady’s official visit to Asaba, the capital on Tuesday 25 March 2025 through a prism that suggests that there is no love lost between Nigerians and the guest and it could be the difficult economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration rubbing off on the wife.

The TikTok clip was Osato Edobor trying out amateur voice-over production, as she admitted, and it involved running commentaries as the stage anchor or presenter sought a moment of interaction with the audience area.

Over in the audience area, midwifery trainees were in their seats, and then there was the chorus from the crowd that refused to accept Mrs. Tinubu as their mother, not even symbolically.

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From the stage, the presenter had started a tune to eulogise the First Lady: Na mama be this, we no get another one, and instead of re-echoing in the affirmative, a reply na your mama be this came from the audience; this is the input that has led to the student being questioned.

The branded kits – easy crocs footwear and on-duty scrubs – when they must have been distributed to the six states, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers, will go to the frontline health workers there, even midwives.

For being found to be engaging in the malicious act of recording/singing and posting unofficial response to song during the arrival of the First Lady (found on your TikTok page), the trainee being queried was asked to explain in writing in triplicate copies within 24hours of receipt of this letter why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for this act, and this has also caused an upset.

In the middle of March, a National Youth Service Corps member, Ushie Uguamaye, described Bola Tinubu as terrible, and she reportedly got threats from an administrator of the scheme for her action, so Nigerians are taking the midwifery trainee’s query as another example of stifling free thinking.

Critics joined 2023 Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, to condemn the letter the Agbor-based Delta State College of Nursing and Sciences had sent.  The activist’s X profile says he has a radical agenda to pull Nigeria out of the doldrums and had posted today in criticism of the query, the same way he offered a shoulder to the corps member when the threat of service extension was getting to her.

In Sowore’s post, it had read that the audacious nursing school students who suitably rejected @officialabat’s wife, Senator Remi Tinubu, in that “Na Your Mama Be This” song ought to be celebrated, but as is characteristic of this Tinubu repressive era, one of them is being targeted for sharing this charming rendition on her TikTok page.

As with Ushie Uguamaye, the post says we will be providing backing to this lady with all our physical and legal might to ensure the authorities at Delta State College of Nursing Sciences do not perpetrate this egregious act of injustice, as an injury to one is an injury to all.

Beyond Sowore’s critique, reactions have varied. Some Nigerians have questioned the appropriateness of the trainee’s actions, arguing that public figures like the First Lady deserve respect, regardless of political affiliations.

Others have highlighted the irony of the situation, pointing out that the branded kits distributed during the event were meant to uplift midwives, yet the trainee’s creative expression led to punitive measures.

The incident has also reignited discussions about the role of social media in shaping public discourse.

Edobor’s TikTok video, initially intended as a lighthearted commentary, has become a flashpoint for debates on governance, freedom of speech, and the intersection of politics and healthcare.

Critics argue that the query issued to Edobor reflects a growing trend of intolerance toward dissenting voices, drawing parallels to the earlier case of Ushie Uguamaye, and it is on this course that Nigeria’s democracy continues.

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If the pendulum will eventually strike the right balance for free thought, it is yet to be seen. Fortunately, the Delta State government has waded in, ordering the school to withdraw the query and leave the young school of nursing student.

The Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, had directed this according to a subsequent letter addressed to the trainee today.

In the content, it says that the recipient should deliver the query notice to the provost’s office, as the school regrets any inconvenience this must have caused the state.

Meiza Nigeria