In Nigeria, National Youth Service is as important to a graduate as the years of experience is to all these corporate companies. It’s simple, without serving the mandatory one year in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as a graduate, you have successfully reduced your chances of being employed by about 90%.
This was what took me to Akwa-Ibom (not by choice) a little over a year ago. Akwa-Ibom is a state in the south-southern part of the country, a part of the country I had never been to. But then I had to live there for a whole year amongst people of different culture and language. Terrifying, I know.
The service year started in an orientation camp manned by military personnel that had to give us a crash course and prepare us for paramilitary operations in all of three weeks!
As challenging as that might seem, it was really fun because I got to meet other graduates from all around the country and found some with whom I could share ideas and thoughts. But that was not all, despite the confining of people from different tribes in one place which alone could spark conflict, the Nigerian Army went above and beyond to make the camp peaceful and fun.
After camp, I was posted to Onna Local Government where the occupation of the inhabitants revolved around farming, fishing, small-scale trading and any other little thing they could lay hands on to make ends meet. Life wasn’t like this where I came from: people rushed out of their homes every day to go to schools, insurance companies, audit firms, IT companies or banks from morning till late in the evening. That was not the case in Onna L.G. Those people were living meagre lives, barely affording their daily needs or children’s education.
But something touched me about the people of Onna. They didn’t allow that to dampen their spirit or take away their generosity towards strangers. They showed overwhelming love to me and my colleagues and welcomed us to the community.
We were also able to show our sign of concern and generosity to the community by donating aprons to the market women under the umbrella of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), one of the Community Development Service (CDS) groups mandated by the NYSC scheme. This is to enhance their cleanliness in dispensation of their services.
On the streets, you would see children thin and half-clad running around playing with each other, with genuine happiness written on their faces.
While they didn’t have lots of tarred roads, the youths managed to keep the roads neat and well-levelled even in rainy seasons and kept the environment clean. I noticed that cleanliness was a priority for them despite having little to help them stay clean. It was challenging.
Onna people were not restricted to working or keeping their environment clean. When it was time to party, boy, did they throw the best carnivals!
They would come out in their colourful attires and unique dance steps with alluring smiles on all their faces.
In no time, the one year was over. But I left Akwa-Ibom with one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and with an insight into human relations and what gives true happiness, thanks to the people of Onna Local Government.