I’ve been away up to so many things and the highlight of them all is that I registered and resumed at the NYSC camp and I’ll be talking about a bit of the experience I had the few days I spent.
If you’re not familiar with what NYSC means, it’s known as National Youth Service Corps and it’s an initiative that was introduced for graduates from different parts of Nigeria . The purpose of this program is to promote integration and foster a sense of national shared identity. After registration, people get posted to different states in the country, mostly states they’ve never visited to know what it’s like.
At the nysc camp, you get to meet thousands of people, connect with them and build solid friendships. I hear some people also leave with life partners😆.
I purposely delayed during the registration process because i wasn’t mentally prepared to be away in a new city for 3 weeks, but my parents insisted I went . I got posted to Kaduna and i didn’t like that at all. I’ve heard about the security situation mostly in the north and I was ready to decline but somehow, I just wanted to get the program over with. I’ll write on my experience at Kaduna State in another article.
I had just a few days to prepare after I got my posting letter so i started shopping for things to take to camp.
Mufti’s aren’t allowed, most of the time it’s mandated to dress sporty in no other color but white. I packed enough white tees and shorts, as well as shoes.
My trip to Kaduna was a smooth one and I took the train for the first time. Locating the camp area wasn’t so stressful because I met other corp members on the train who were also new to Kaduna and we all just found our way.
The registration process was the part I hated the most, took me two days to complete. Immediately I regretted my decision of even going in the first place. The moment I got into camp, I barely had any rest until I left.
I waited to get registered for hours and hours, it’s one of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced in my life.
After registering, we opened bank accounts, got our kits and immediately joined a part of the drill.
Our daily routine is always this way: The soldiers blow a whistle as early as 4:30am to wake everyone up for the devotion and it’s done at the parade ground. It’s one of the reasons I had to exit camp because the cold was unbearable. -
From 7am, it’s breakfast time and then once it’s 9am, a 6 hours lecture starts and it’s mandatory to pay attention. Most people use this opportunity to sleep properly during the class but if caught by soldiers , you’ll be punished severely.
By 2pm, the whistle goes off again indicating the close of lecture and lunch time. Using their meal ticket, everyone is entitled to three meals per day from the government. Personally, I don’t eat the meals from the kitchen because they’re not the best quality.
There’s a rest time until 3:30pm where the whistle goes off again for drills, parades and games. I always escaped the parades as i didn’t have the strength for anything.
By 6pm, the whistle is blown for dinner and a bit of rest time and then at 7:30pm, everyone comes out for social night. Activities like fashion parades, singing competitions, dance , drama, cultural representations are displayed. This is easily the most fun part of camp.
Lights out starts at 10pm and everyone is required to sleep immediately and prepare to be up really early for the same routine.
I applied for an exeat after a few days because I couldn’t bear the routine anymore plus the weather gave me a constant cold. Though my experience was short lived, i still enjoyed a bit of my stay there. I made lots of friends, got to experience different kinds of people, the lectures are also educating. There are many opportunities to explore including skill acquisitions.
The soldiers can also be very mean but very friendly, it’s an experience that you have to actually prepare for mentally and physically.
I don’t think I’ll go through this experience another time even if I’m paid to, but I’m grateful I got to travel to a city I’ve never been before and I met amazing people.
NYSC wasn’t so bad after all.-
