As a young Nigerian citizen, the term “White Fowl or Otondo” might not sound meaningful to you, but when you hear them say “Corper,” you have that touch in your heart and would actually take an astonishing look at whosoever is addressed with that title.
We have the understanding that anyone who could survive the Nigerian educational system, despite how rough it appeared to be, and then get to the level of serving their father land. Such a soul deserves some respect, accolades, and appreciation. With that, they are always treated special for the time they still happen to have those uniforms on them.
While we were in elementary school, there was a song we sang called “I must wear Khaki,” which describes how eager we were to someday put on the corps khaki uniform.
But for White Fowl? You will only get to know what it means when you get to that stage or beyond.
The reason being that the Corper title is for the rest of your service year at your place of primary assignment, and that's when you are officially assigned those duties, get allowances, and fully registered as a Corper member of the country. That’s when people get to know you and the picture that's painted on the face of everyone.
However, a three-week orientation takes place before the final acknowledgement as a corps member. These three weeks of orientation happens in a camp where all of the candidates are to be in white uniforms throughout their stay in the camp. So this brought about the title White Fowl. Once the camp experience is over then no one will actually address you as such.
This is why only those who experienced it know what it takes to pass through those three weeks of exercise.
In 2016, my brother was preparing to serve his country. We were so happy for him. He was actually the first among us to experience such. He registered for the three-week camp, and then he was deployed to a state for the experience.
It happened like a flash to me, just like yesterday when you bade goodbye for Osun state, now you are done with camping? “Was it that fast and interesting??” I questioned
“Hmmmm…” he sighed.
“It’s so much fun.” He added.
I could feel the look of someone with mixed emotions on his face.
“But, you will only enjoy the fun when you are done.” He cut the silence
“Tell me more, bro,” I was so eager to listen.
“You know what? Just be prepared, your time will actually come, and you will enjoy all the fun.” He smiled as the conversation took another turn.
In the year 2021, I registered for the camping exercise. While registering, I kept calling my brother for guidance, but it happened that a lot had changed during those years. So he just tried the little he could. I had to face the rest all by myself.
From the registration, I have begun to feel remorseful for myself. I knew it wouldn't be an easy one.
“Bro, you didn’t tell me it's like this ooo,” I expressed myself on a call.
He smiled and responded, “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
That's when I knew what I was about to face. I tried to summon courage and faced my fears.
The camp journey kicked off, and I traveled the longest routes I've ever taken in my life. We journeyed for about 20 hours and even spent the night at a car park. It was fun, but I could feel the stress and inconvenience piling up.
Then the camp experience arrived, and that’s when it dawned on me.
We got our first day as a welcome break, and after that day onwards, I could count the hours I had a peaceful sleep, or had a normal bath for the day.
Early in the morning, I will have to wake as early as possible to take my bath before others are awake, but despite how early I try to wake ahead of them, I will meet a long queue at the bathroom door.
We slept late about 12 am, and we get the wake-up Trumpet call around 4 am again. There was no rest till nighttime.
When it's time for meals, the struggle actually continues; that’s the worst queue I will ever have to wait for. The single line will be so long that you might have already lost your appetite for the food before it even gets to your turn. In the end, the food served might not even have a nice taste as you anticipated. But hunger might not leave you a choice.
Yeah, it was one of the worst weeks I have experienced so far in my life. But here was some fun part of it. I met with new friends during those days, we created bonds and memories, but all of them disappeared like fireworks the moment our camping days were over.
I really wished I could have another chance to experience it again, but it was a once in a lifetime experience. It came and left its impact on me. I cherished and embraced both the fun and stressful parts of it. We were indeed White Fowls…
