Taking Part in the Nationwide Sanitation Day

It was on Thursday, this week that we got a message notification from our Local Government Inspector (LGI), the one coordinating the corp members in the LGA in one of the western regions, that there would be a nationwide sanitation day on the 1st of June, 2024. As we were being told, the order was from the Director General for NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), a programme mandatory for Nigerian Graduates below thirty (30) years old.

For each state with 774 LGA, all corpers were to partake in this programme and as supposed, everyone did their best. June 1st fell on Saturday which is today and also the beginning of a new month, we were told that all corpers in my state and LGA should be present on the day by 7 am so we can help serve our country and humanity. I was annoyed at such a meeting because I had plan resting after the stressful work during the week. I planned to sleep all through the day and of course, eat too.

This was something I couldn't escape from as it was also included that our monthly clearance would be done after the sanitation. This was just a trick to lure every corper to the said venue because, if not for the clearance, the majority of us, yes, I included myself, would not get out of our homes.

I dragged myself to the venue which was the biggest market in the town where we would be helping out to sweep and make the environment clean for the traders. The sanitation was supposed to begin at 7 am as told but we started at 8 am after our LGI had given his speech, dividing each of us and assigning a particular location for each group where we would make it clean and do our best.

_{This is our LGI giving his speech}

We all converged differently to our assigned duties and did all we could. Everyone in the market including the elderly ones appreciated our efforts, prayed for us and were happy that we helped out with the process. At first, the whole thing was kind of boring but a colleague in my group spiced things up with his humorous behaviour and words. We laughed while sweeping, those with rakes raking, those holding the dustbins for us to pack the dirt inside, we all enjoyed the fun of it.

After the whole stuff, we met at another different spot where the LGI ordered us to write our names down as attendance and then go home. We knew the clearance was just to make every one of us come for sanitation because we weren't daft to understand that such biometrics process cannot be done in the market thereby disturbing the market sellers from selling their goods. Besides, there was no space allocated for us to do those things, still, we came, enjoyed the fun and went back home. I used the opportunity to get some ingredients to make my meal the following day which is on Sunday so I don't run out of them when I need them for my delicious meal 😋.