MY N.Y.S.C EXPERIENCE IN JIGAWA STATE
BY
CHINEDU ECHIANU

This is Dutse, you can call it whatever you like but we are here to stay, as long as our service year lasts (some say its December others say its January).
Dutse is a place you would despise coming from Metropolitan cities like Lagos or Port Harcourt, infact most Corp members here stated that they were confused and agitated when they saw their posting from their various schools.
For me my first reaction was to look at the map for the location of Jigawa state.
In any case, Corp members in Dutse are sure lucky to be here because it would have been worse, considering the fact that there are other corp. members in places like; Sule T, Gwaram, Maigatari, Jahun, Birnin kudu, Roni, Ringim etc.
The irony of the whole episode is that while Corp members in Dutse are complaining of the lack of basic amenities such as pipe borne water and incessant power cuts, Corp members in the above mentioned places which are obscure parts of Jigawa state are enjoying themselves with a more steady power supply and potable water. The only advantage therefore for Corp members in Dutse is that they are residing in the state ‘capital’, at least it is not as lonely and boring as the other places.
Dutse is a case of a rejected state capital; it is quite underdeveloped and can never in any way be compared to state capitals in other states of the country except perhaps for the low or almost non-existence of crime.
The media houses here are in a state of stagnation, information is vital to human existence especially for me because of my constant quest to be updated on global events, but the situation in Dutse is not encouraging at all. My little transistor radio which I use to get in tune with events through the BBC is no longer serving that purpose here because the state owned Hausa-language based Radio Jigawa has the notoriety of interfering in the short wave bands of the radio set. The television station, NTA Dutse is a write off, their only source of programmes being the network service. The station begins transmission by 4:00 pm sometimes 5:00 pm and shuts down by 10:00 pm. Sometimes; the station goes off air for days and suddenly resumes transmission without any explanation by the authorities. The other radio station here is called “New World FM”, but I can assure you that there is nothing new as far as the station is concerned. Presenters speak smattering English, it’s only the Corp members posted to the station that have good command of the English language. If you want to relax with some music, then you are welcome to New World FM because they got lots of it in the absence of any other meaningful programme. The absence of relaxation spots in the city is also noteworthy, not even a single fast food outlet can be found here. Meanwhile, the restaurants available are nothing to write home about. The only Hotel here that is worthy of note is the Jigawa Three (3) Star Hotel.
Jigawa State, which has Dutse as its capital, is where we (Batch A 2006 Corp members) are. For most of us including myself, this is our first visit to Northern Nigeria.
Before coming to Dutse, our first port of call was the N.Y.S.C Orientation Camp, which opened in Gumel on the 14th of February 2006.
Gumel is one of the five Emirate Councils in Jigawa State, others are: Dutse, Kazaure, Hadejia and Ringim. An Emir heads each Emirate.
On getting to Gumel for the Orientation Camp, I was completely dumb-founded considering the difference of environment in the North and down South. It was that time of the year when there was so much heat and dryness, leaving the environment drained of vegetation.
I left Port Harcourt on the evening of the 13th of February not knowing exactly what to expect, but one thing was for sure, I was thrilled by the opportunity of visiting the North for the first time. The journey was a very long one stretching over 17 hours to Kano, which was the first stop over en route Jigawa (formerly under Kano State).
On arrival in Kano, we (Corp members from Port-Harcourt) were received by a group of serving Corp members who had been on ground before our arrival; they helped us to get a taxi, which took us to a park where we got a mini bus to Gumel.
Life in the Orientation camp was fun and exciting, but the rigorous drills we went through infuriated some corp members, but I enjoyed it because I had been looking forward to a bit of adventure. The death of a female corp members sent shivers down my spine because I was an eyewitness on the day of the tragic event.
It was on one fateful afternoon and the platoons in which the Corp members were divided were out on the parade ground for the usual drills co-ordinated by a group of Army personnel in preparation for the match past.
One particular platoon as was the case throughout the duration of the camp was out for the usual man-o-war activities, which involved Inter alia several steps of rope climbing. The female Corp member was on a small rope bridge between two trees, Infact she had successfully crossed the bridge and was about to descend when she slipped and fell headlong to the ground. She was rushed to a Hospital in Kano, but gave up the ghost some weeks later as a result of fatal injuries she sustained.
One of the high points of the Orientation camp was on the day of passing out. We were visited by the executive governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji (Dr.) Saminu Turaki who inspected a guard of honour mounted by Corp members. Before leaving the camp with his entourage, he made a donation of N 10,000 to each Corp member which drew a huge uproar from joyous Corp members. Everybody was in high spirit in anticipation of the mouth-watering amount, which was later paid into the various accounts of Corp members after speculations, that the money might be tampered with.
When the time came for Corp members to disperse to their various places of primary assignment, the camp was flooded with mini buses, which came from various local government areas to pick up Corp members posted to their areas. It was also a time of confusion because Corp members who had made friends in camp had to leave them and move on, hoping to see them again after settling down at their various locations.
I was posted to Government Day Junior Secondary School, Shuwarin in Kiyawa local government area. I had to take up residency in Dutse due to its closeness to Shuwarin. Staying in Dutse would also make it easier for me to get bits of Information from the Cyber cafe as well as sending e-mails and checking up my e-mail account for mails.
I teach English language, and this I must confess is a herculean task because of the poor foundation of the language in Primary and Secondary schools here. Hausa is the common language spoken, with little emphasis on English.
The school lacks some basic structures necessary for the enhancement of learning; there is no library, toilet facilities and the students don’t even have the required textbooks for the study of English language.
As part of my Community Development Service (C.D.S) under the N.Y.S.C programme, I have decided to provide the school with classroom furniture which are in a state of disrepair especially in the J.S.S I class where the students have to write holding their books by the hand instead of placing them on their desks, because the furniture available is like a bench without table, {but unfortunately, due to the logistics of soliciting for funds for the project ,I couldn’t carry it out}
Meanwhile, I will continue to do my best in imparting the knowledge I have gained to my students, because I ought to in the service to my country.