MY NYSC CAMP EXPERIENCE (2)
Continued from the last post. Please check.
We had to wake up at 3:30am the next day to have our baths and prepare for the morning prayer and parade. There were bathrooms in the hostels, but for some reasons, they were always flooded and overflowing to the corridors. The toilets were messed up too. Anyway, by 4:30am, we had female soldiers enter into the rooms and chase us out to the parade ground (if you attended a boarding school like myself, this routine shouldn't be new, but it was for me, because boarding school was a long time ago and I was so done with that kind of life in 201*). With sleep still in our eyes, we walked down until we heard some more soldiers (how many do they deploy to camps again? They were so many!) scream at the top of their voices for us to jog down to the parade ground. By 4:30am oh. Where are we rushing to for heaven's sake? Is this life not slow and steady again? Shouldn't we be in the comfort of our beds at the time? Can't we sleep anymore? All of these just kept flooding my mind. I love my sleep, so I was always heartbroken to be disturbed so early in the morning.
Prayers and the exercise on the parade grounds were interesting. I mean, who wouldn't pray for the torture to be over? So I loved to pray and I loved to lose some weight. I could cope with that. Fast forward the time to 8am when we'll have breakfast or something like that. Bread and tea (which seemed like it was every morning except Sundays). I can count how many times I went to the dining hall, the few times I did, it was for jollof rice and chicken, white rice and fish, porridge...the rest like eba, beans and co, nah. This was not because I had so much money to throw around, but because I was really angry with everything happening, eating good food was to console myself. Mami market was a good alternative, and I explored the option well. The seminars by 9am were always enlightening, some even had the ability of making one ''radical for change''. The skill acquisition and entrepreneurship programme were also very educative. These were some of the good sides of the camp. And then, some break before we head back to the parade ground. Parade was just annoying. March, march and march. We were always doing that. The platoon commander chose the best ''marchers'' for parade on the last day in camp. I couldn't care much jare. This is the routine for three whole weeks of your life. Very boring. Did I mention how we always had to wear white on white on white tennis shoes everywhere??? I mean everywhere. I hated the dress code like crazy. So very boring. Lol. Some fun part though, the extra curricular activities like Miss NYSC, Mr Macho, Drama and Dances and other side attractions and of course, Wande Coal rendered his hit song ''Baby Hello'' on suya night (I hope that's what it is called).
On the bright side though, I met new people and made new friends from the North, South, East and West. That's the overall benefit which government sought to achieve. Mix with people from different background and culture. I know a few people who met their better halves on the parade ground and got married years later. Cool stuff. If you come from a family were your Dad calls to tell you at the beginning of camp that you are ''on your own'' (O.Y.O) from the moment you enter camp, then, you'll also be nice enough to tell yourself that you have to make everything work and be independent as you have become a ''government pikin''. After all, some corps members all through their undergraduate years didn't have near 19,800 every month. You also had the opportunity to acquire some skills such as bead making, hat making, make up, gele tying, baking and the likes for free. Also, you can register for professional courses e.g Project Management at subsidized rates in camp too. These are some benefits you will not want to miss out on. I missed the activities. For reasons beyond my control though. I had to shuttle between camp and Law School to get screened for call to bar later in the year. I really wished I was able to acquire some skills.
Some readers might beg to disagree with me, you are allowed. Share your sweet experience in the comment section, but please don't give us fictitious stories thereby deceiving would-be corps members. Say it as it is. Say NO to ''fairy tale'' camp experiences.
In all, the truth is, whether I tell you my camp experience was good or bad, you don't really have a choice especially if you haven't served Nigeria, (unless of course, you will be exempted on special grounds), you must serve your country and be a part of nation building! I would not give that up for anything. I love to serve my country, under the sun or in the rain...
Proudly Nigerian,
Barby.
We had to wake up at 3:30am the next day to have our baths and prepare for the morning prayer and parade. There were bathrooms in the hostels, but for some reasons, they were always flooded and overflowing to the corridors. The toilets were messed up too. Anyway, by 4:30am, we had female soldiers enter into the rooms and chase us out to the parade ground (if you attended a boarding school like myself, this routine shouldn't be new, but it was for me, because boarding school was a long time ago and I was so done with that kind of life in 201*). With sleep still in our eyes, we walked down until we heard some more soldiers (how many do they deploy to camps again? They were so many!) scream at the top of their voices for us to jog down to the parade ground. By 4:30am oh. Where are we rushing to for heaven's sake? Is this life not slow and steady again? Shouldn't we be in the comfort of our beds at the time? Can't we sleep anymore? All of these just kept flooding my mind. I love my sleep, so I was always heartbroken to be disturbed so early in the morning.
Prayers and the exercise on the parade grounds were interesting. I mean, who wouldn't pray for the torture to be over? So I loved to pray and I loved to lose some weight. I could cope with that. Fast forward the time to 8am when we'll have breakfast or something like that. Bread and tea (which seemed like it was every morning except Sundays). I can count how many times I went to the dining hall, the few times I did, it was for jollof rice and chicken, white rice and fish, porridge...the rest like eba, beans and co, nah. This was not because I had so much money to throw around, but because I was really angry with everything happening, eating good food was to console myself. Mami market was a good alternative, and I explored the option well. The seminars by 9am were always enlightening, some even had the ability of making one ''radical for change''. The skill acquisition and entrepreneurship programme were also very educative. These were some of the good sides of the camp. And then, some break before we head back to the parade ground. Parade was just annoying. March, march and march. We were always doing that. The platoon commander chose the best ''marchers'' for parade on the last day in camp. I couldn't care much jare. This is the routine for three whole weeks of your life. Very boring. Did I mention how we always had to wear white on white on white tennis shoes everywhere??? I mean everywhere. I hated the dress code like crazy. So very boring. Lol. Some fun part though, the extra curricular activities like Miss NYSC, Mr Macho, Drama and Dances and other side attractions and of course, Wande Coal rendered his hit song ''Baby Hello'' on suya night (I hope that's what it is called).
On the bright side though, I met new people and made new friends from the North, South, East and West. That's the overall benefit which government sought to achieve. Mix with people from different background and culture. I know a few people who met their better halves on the parade ground and got married years later. Cool stuff. If you come from a family were your Dad calls to tell you at the beginning of camp that you are ''on your own'' (O.Y.O) from the moment you enter camp, then, you'll also be nice enough to tell yourself that you have to make everything work and be independent as you have become a ''government pikin''. After all, some corps members all through their undergraduate years didn't have near 19,800 every month. You also had the opportunity to acquire some skills such as bead making, hat making, make up, gele tying, baking and the likes for free. Also, you can register for professional courses e.g Project Management at subsidized rates in camp too. These are some benefits you will not want to miss out on. I missed the activities. For reasons beyond my control though. I had to shuttle between camp and Law School to get screened for call to bar later in the year. I really wished I was able to acquire some skills.
Some readers might beg to disagree with me, you are allowed. Share your sweet experience in the comment section, but please don't give us fictitious stories thereby deceiving would-be corps members. Say it as it is. Say NO to ''fairy tale'' camp experiences.
In all, the truth is, whether I tell you my camp experience was good or bad, you don't really have a choice especially if you haven't served Nigeria, (unless of course, you will be exempted on special grounds), you must serve your country and be a part of nation building! I would not give that up for anything. I love to serve my country, under the sun or in the rain...
Proudly Nigerian,
Barby.
Hehe...so my time at camp left me sunburned black! that's the effect of the "under the sun and in the rain"
ReplyDeleteI was mighty inspired though and had the ideas for my project, biz and all from camp...
Long story sha, I blogged about it here
http://www.imperfectlyperfectlives.com/chronicles-of-my-first-two-weeks-as-an-ajuwaya/