i was posted from yabatech precisely to Niger state,at first i was not disappointed,but on getting to the camp for the first day all my expectation change from that of hope to hopelessness.we had to fight tooth and nail for everything in the camp,it was a case that the minister of inter-governmental affair describe as worse than that of the refugees,no water,poor electricity supply,shortage of accommodation,useless and undeserving punishment by the sop called"military camp officials" and to worsen the situation the feeding was best fit for the dogs.
After surviving the camp orientation,i was posted in the first place to my area of specialisation,unfortunately for me,the company tactically rejected me hiding under the guise that they are doing some re-organization,with the only hope been trying the Federal university of Minna,but the person that was to help ,asked me for my grade and i told him that i had an upper credit,that was when tr he second disappointment occured that they cannot accept a polytechnic graduate.
At the end of the day,i had to accept serving with a secondary school,where you are not paid for your labour,couple with the fact that you are not provided a decent accommodation.The only benefit i have derive from my stay for the last four months is to browse for as long as six hours daily.

Well I'm currently serving in Ebonyi State, and i must tell you i am not finding it easy. I refused to work my posting because i didn't want to be bleeped up, you know how it is you pay and it doesn't come through.
Well camp was fun, depends on what you define as fun. You get your Allowi and you use it to work on your Khaki, because they never fit. At the beginning i was eating from Mami. When money Finish Dem no tell me before i start to eat Kitchen food . God the tea sucked was like a big drum of hot water 1 cube of sugar and 1 Cowbell milk you can imagine how that would taste. I Caught some sick stuff on my ass that i just got rid off. Skin infection i got from the pit toilet .
I ll say the whole thing is a challenge. If you think you are a conquerer, then come and conquer. Some of the remote villages could be fun and some of the big cities could be hell. You can imagine corpers walk the streets of Lagos looking for a place of primary assignment while in some villages they have nothing to do just launging.
Sista think about it. You could actually work it to a more developed location say PH, Abuja or Lagos, Enugu, etc there you might not be too shocked. For me I'm still in Ebonyi State i just started 3 months ago, and its not fun but i think i can make it. If people have made it in worse situations, then i don't think i have an excuse. Or you can just come for camp have fun then arrange the rest. thats also possible.
One thing you should put into consideration is that there is always a good and bad side to every situation, for the camp experience you might have to part with something, but you will also gain something. Yeah we know that people make money from the experience, thats Nigeria. Everybody uses his or her office the right way share the money .
i think you might have already made your decision before this post comes. but any how you decide i wish you the best. Come lets make Nigeria a better place.
Here is a pic of me from camp. the guy with the the white canvas on. feet were to big for the jungle boots.

@schibaba
For suffering folks you guys sure look well fed Talking seriously,after going through the various posts of woe (with the exception of Alheri),
I couldnt help but laugh. However, I suppose we had particular mindsets about what the service year should be and where they were not
met, disappointment set in. Perhaps, if we but had a paradigm shift (apologies to Stephen Covey), it could have been fun.

When I did my service (in 1980) it was fun. It's not as if there was regular power, clean water, etc. Many of us were posted to the villages
where cars only come around once in a week (meaning you cannot go anywhere except you timed your movement to when the vehicle
would be around in the week). For my primary assignment, I was initially rejected and had to make do with teaching mathematics in a 'local'
school.

But then, our expectations were not high - we knew our country - and we were only too glad to be part of serving the community and 'tasting'
first hand, what others were going through. That made me appreciate life better. Perhaps our easy adaptability was helped in no small measure by
the fave attitude in those times, Socialism. Which many of us read, talked about and wanted to 'foist' on our society. ('Comrades ' loved to mix(?)
with the proletariat, etc).

What are you expecting from the NYSC assignment? The easy life? 'Juicy' posting? opportunity to showcase your 'engineering skills'?
Make a paradigm shift. Prepare for the worst. Expect nothing. See yourself as a peace corps member (set up by John F Kennedy) to
reach out to the lowly of the world. These li'l folks have nothing and live in worse conditions than what many of the posters enumerated.
And that doesnt make them any less humans or think yourself better than them. Living among them, would actually make you appreciate life better.
DIDN'T MISSIONARIES OF YORE LEAVE THEIR FINE ENVIRONMENTS TO BRING CHRISTIANITY TO MOSQUITO INFESTED AND DISEASE RIDDEN AREAS?
WE ARE NO BETTER THAN THE MISSIONARIES. WHAT'S MORE? IT IS MY COUNTRY FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!

In 1983 , I had an opportunity to visit for 3 weeks, a corper in Joinkrama-Isua (a.k.a JK 2) in the then, but now Bayelsa State. There was no water or electricity in the 4 villages that make up Joinkrama. Yet, oil was being pumped from that place and the oil company was flaring gas and polluting their
environment. Everyone took his bath, eased themselves, washed their clothes and fetched drinking water from the same river running through
the villages. Were the corpers suffering? They didn't see it that way. What they saw was a folksy people that needed to be enlightened
about hygiene, education, etc. That fired them up. Their specialist qualifications were set aside as they responded to the challenges facing
them and the community. I had completed my service years earlier but I joined in. Three weeks after, when I had to leave for my place of work in Lagos
(yes, I was on leave), I had made numerous friends from the village and among the corpers - and I was teary eyed when I was leaving them.

The National Youth Service Scheme - what a great time for fun and adventure for young ones wanting to get away from stereotypes and experience
the real life. It's for those that have a spirit of adventure and ready to conquert the world. No doubt, there are crooks among the officials and
favouritism abound. It's no different in the larger society. But as a youth, where are your dreams? Iniquity and shady deals should not dampen them!
We didnt allow such to discourage us in our time. It actually emboldened us the more to change the system. I admit it appears we didnt quite succeed
in our enterprise. BUT WE TRIED RATHER THAN GRIPE.

Oh, by the way, I served in Kano and in my time, we were caught up in the Maitatsine riots. That didn't stop me. If cannibals in Africa didnt
stop the missionaries, some miseducated folks couldn't with us.

@topic. Look away from others' mindset and put yourself in the shoes of a peace corpsman of the 60s - hope you've heard of them of old (that's wot you
really are) and prepare for a wonderful and missionary experience in the service of your fatherland. But if you are not cut out for stuff like that, stay where you are.

God bless you all

wow!i feel estatic having to share with y'all my nysc experience,well its been quite some experience i must confess,since the day i collected my callup letter which read in bold print "CONGRATULATIONS, blah blah blah, NASARAWA STATE",and i havent even been to abuja before and here i am going all the way to nasarawa state!i would explain in 3 parts:PART 1:camp was fun-real fun i must confess,coming in from lagos i made sure i was lodid!thanks to all the stories i have heard i just had to make extra sure i had extra cash!!mami market was my temporary residence,twas there i made friends(birds of the same feather) apart the few ones that we all came from the same school,i avoided their food like a bad cold!!i wasnt ready for no "tuwo shinkafa" yet men,i joined obs(orientation broadcasting service)just to avoid the in cessant matching sessions all in the guise of a para-military training(what the hell do i need all that for,when i will be blowing "oye"in my office one day!),being the true lagos boy that i am i hooked up with a shorty from abuja,we were like bonnie&clyde for 2weeks-i was even taking her against her wishes to mami mkt to hang out with my boiz(she finally made us chill at the end of mami avoiding the popular guiness stand!!),my friends in camp were really great accomplices,we called ourselves GENERALS,and threw a party in camp for 2 consecutive nights starting with the camp fire night(while others were dancing round burning log,we were dancing around half-naked gals!!),i finally read the lst meditation on camp which to me was "papas",the most disturbing was when i received my posting,contrary to what people thought and my shenanigans in camp,i got posted to an interior in nasarawa state to teach, PART 2:

PART 2:after doing everything i could and spending a full month in lagos i had to go back to nasarawa state and UDEGE-MBEKI in particular,there was nothing men!my exhorbitant lifestyles and aristrocratic upbringing couldnt save or help me here men!we were all equals (no light,network,water,WC,boutiques,clubs,pretty gals)how was i gonna do it?nysc brought out the man in me -i was independent ,learnt to save cos the only thing i was spending my money on was on cigarrettes!i started writting again,poems,articles,journals,even a book about my experiences in UDEGE-MBEKI!the secondary where i taught geography and government is quite old bout lack everything from infrastructures to teachers and even students who rather be in the farm than school!my principal is a very humble,understanding and reliable man,he is one of the reasons i didnt loose my sanity in UDEGE he made believe God had a purpose for putting a spoilt rich playboy in a village for 1 year!to me it was more than mental torture,i felt like i was incarcerated!, i started PRESS CLUB as a pet project in the school,it wasnt easy getting a bunch of students who cant even writetheir own names and speak good english to write articles and essays!it paid off when one o my students that i tutored won first prize in an essay competition in the whole of nasararwa state(Nigerian Stock Exchange),she was flown to lagos,lodged in a 5 star hotel and splashed with several gift items including shares.My popularity thus increased in the village,and i was proud of myself(felt good to have fulfilled something),though there were times when i would go away for weeks!my principal always got my back with the Z.I(zonal inspector),PART 3:

i finally came to embrace the people of MBEKI with open arms,i will truly miss the times my D.S and i would go out and get drunk off palmwine share jokes ,laugh and all that, we used to call throwing up after drinking spelling "new york",waking up early and going over to nkechis crib(female corper)to holla out neighbour "ina kwana,ya kuri bane abinchi"(neighbour goodmorning,please bring food)!being over dressed for school like i was going for a fashion parade(i used to like waking up early and getting dressedlike am one kind banker on walls street),teaching my students-though they dont understand everything you say,twas fun going into the classroom and imparting knowledge!the latenite conversations with fellow corpers and students,my exploits with the policemen in MBEKI(Sheddy baba n oga usman!how they alweiz try to imperss me "akoi sha",expending in the village which is full of mineral resources begging for exploitation!!i will truly miss mr.paul(an igbo man who runs a store close to my house)there were times when i wouldnt have money and still got what i wantesd!!will miss coming home from school and my roomate vinnie is one corner cooking up a meal!going for CD'S once a month was thrilling stuff cos we have to travel 1hour to a neighbouring village where the CLO stays,the commissioning of a project by corpers in my school(previous batch b)where i was the compere and put on a brilliant performance, LIFE IN THE ROCKS:JOURNALS OF A CORPER!(Is the name of my book which i will publish next year by Gods grace),it took me 9months to know GODS PLAN IN MY LIFE,and am loving it!cos i see life from a different perspective,

@Odada
U sure made my day with such a wow story-very interesting. Glad 2 know adventurists still abound in this generation.
God bless u good.
@schibaba
I admire ur spirit & resilience too.
That's d stuff that separate the boys 4rm the men.
Be cool y'all

@Odada
U sure made my day with such a wow story-very interesting. Glad 2 know adventurists still abound in this generation.
God bless u good.
@schibaba
I admire ur spirit & resilience too.
That's d stuff that separate the boys 4rm the men.
Be cool y'all

@Odada
U sure made my day with such a wow story-very interesting. Glad 2 know adventurists still abound in this generation.
God bless u good.
@schibaba
I admire ur spirit & resilience too.
That's d stuff that separate the boys 4rm the men.
Be cool y'all

@feegood
thanks alot mate!but did u av to post the same thing three times?

@odada
Ddnt mean 2 post same thing thrice. Just one of those times I couldnt the hang of posting with my mobile.
Be cool

i thought i would be one of the last persons posting here, but its nice that the posts are kept alive.
@feelgood thanks for your encouragement. i really was more encouraged when i got home brass bayelsa state and found out how the corpers where enjoying themselves there. its an islalnd and you have to travel by boat to get there. first of all majority of the corpers didnt know how to swim. but they made it. good thing is governor Good-Luck gave all corpers posted to the riverine areas of the state lifevest. Other good thing is brass though an island in the atlantic, has living standards like a very normal city in nigeria. you get all you want there.

You see the major problem i have with NYSC is what should a computer science graduate be doing in a village where there is no light and network. no means of communication with the outside world. in one year you will be very backward. im still serving in Ebonyi but i had to leave that village. i think it would be more apreciated if every body is posted to an area where they could practice what they thought in the univesity. doctors and pharmacist are always given prefrence here. why? i never seena doctor thats not serving in an hospital. so what is an enginer doing in the village or a bank. this is a matter that must really be addressed by NYSC.

i am from benue state and i was posted to owo i ondo state. it wasnt really a waste of time because i used it to discover my self and knew my potentials. i was in a schoool where the principal and the managemnet of the school were as greedy as hell. imagined being pated 1000 naira in the year 2005 when my mates in other sectors were collecting good money. i just no want to dety discuss this things sha. 1000 naira was paid to corps members when i was in secondary school around 1995 and 10 yeaers later i still collected same amount . so much for greed and bad treatment. well i did a personal project which helped me a lot in discovering my potentials and capabilities. well it was worth the time spent sha.

give you more info about how we did things DL and palyed cool

I hope one day to do mine but good enough, I guess I wll be given an opportunity to show the state I want as I skooled abroad like ma friends did, Calaba r here I come

well my own nysc experience was fun i served in bauchi.it was like god how can but after d ist month i served in a ministry i liked bauchi,if i got a job i would have stayed.i worked 4 god learnt how 2 make beads and ran my nim programme,most interestingly visited YANKARI GAMES RESERVE.its fun because i won't serve again.i was batch b 2005 corper in bauchi.if u've not served come do it u do not know 2morrow.take care.

Hello everyone, I think God was thinking of me when this topic came to be. I left Naija for the U.S in 1998 I've just arrived in Nigeria from America last week for the first time since then, and I'm going to complete my NYSC and hopefully stay afterwards depending on the job market. I finished my 1st degree in Engineering in 2004, worked a couple of years, and I'm here to do my NYSC now, I hope I don't regret it. I was in Abuja last week to register, I've requested Lagos state. I was asked to return by the 28th of February for a "Call-up letter". Now, I'd like to know what does the call up letter contain? and also can I be posted to more than one company at once, just incase I'm not accepted in one of the companies? Can anyone please answer my questions? Thanx

@Americana7

let me start by welcumin u bac hme. im currently servin in lagos til august dis yr. stright 2 da point:

u cant get postd 2 2 places @ d same tym
d 3wks prientation camp is kool cos u get 2 meet a wide variety of pple 4rm a wide variety of schs. generally, der shldnt b 2 much a complain wicheva state u get postd 2 cos ur in it wit a whole lot of pple.

my candid advice: get postd 2 lagos (or mayb abuja) by ALL means necessary. other corperz mite argue otherwise but im sure mostof dem(if not all) will be bac in lagos afta dey finish servin

@ Tokunbo

Thanx man! my name sake! I appreciate the feedback. I totally agree with you; I want to be in Lagos by all means, I think Lagos is enough of a change and difference in culture/lifestyle for me, haven been away for so long. Also you say one can't be posted to more than one company at once, so what then happens if one is not accepted at the particular company they're posted to?

Nysc as a compulsory service is not to seek for plesure but to sacrifice. it is  called 'servce' .At nysc orientation we learnt about  adaptation and all such which is to prapare every corp member on expectation. Then i made up my mind that its not where i served that matters but what i do with the service year. i served in shanga local govt of kebbi state where there is no light neither any means of communication. infact none of the social amenties were available.  Thence i have a whole year to spend as a must. The most funny part of it is that d local govt i was posted to have no vacancy for coppers but yet need them.
A question came to my mind as i stepped  into that village,'  why did these people requested for a corper? then i have the answer same way that every community need a change that they cannot effect by themselves, they need  people to encourage them ofcouse they are nigerian and need to fell among. Then i search for what i can offer d village for d period to make it convinent for myself. i have to create my world.
There is two pry schl in d village, one is purely for islamic study and d other is normal but d pupil didnt understand english b/c they were not taught, yet i wanted to make impart. all i do is to employ one of their teacher to interprete and before d end of d year  dir was a serious change which challenged their teachers and the community. The villagers appreciated us though there was no electricity yet a generator were provided for us.
It is a team work of all corp members that were posted in my set.
IF U ARE GOING FOR NYSC HAVE A MIND TO SERVE. ITS ALL ABOUT SHARING OTHERS BURDEN FOR A STATED PERIOD.
I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE IT CONTINUITY BECAUSE IT WILL SURELY PREPARE U IN ALL ASPECT.

it was kind of depressing reading what fellow corpers thought about the NYSC scheme. really sad, i say, anyway, in these days of liberation, it is quite understandable that they are entitiled to their own opinion, however, if it must be said candidly, the NYSC scheme is a beautiful one, very incomparable with programs other nations have in store for its graduands,

let me highlight that from the posts i have seen so far, everyone had a story to telll, meaning the year was not particularly useless or wasted as claimef. secondly, if one really thought of how big nigeria is and how little we know it,, the it should be agreed that if not for NYSC, a lot of us might nt actually be fortunate to visit those places wwhere we served. forget the stress and inconveniences, rural settings, and let us for one moment focus on the bigger picture,

i served in Amudo, a village in Ebonyi state, and unlike a lot of other corpers, i came with a mindset of going anywhere i was possted to nigeria. camp was fun, but life after camp in the village i was posted to took some time to get used to, however,man always adapts. and i adapted. evenn enjoyed my stay termendously and became loved by the locals. i learnt to see things from their own perspectives and the one year i spent with theem was one which i learned a lot of things. though, i ws an eeconomics teacher in the secondary school, i learnt many things which i might never have learnt if not for NYSC,

so, i know this post is coming very late (about a year ) but because of the love i have for NYSC, i just ccould not reist airing my views. so Chinani, if you're still contemplating on whether to serve or not. i'll just say, you wwill be doing yourself some dissservice if you allow the opinions of some people who dont see the big picture sway you.

Really, if u're yet to serve, contact me thru agb@whoever.com or 08056745268 so i can share more, i wrote down my NYSC experience and will be too happy to share with you

fine, ino its supose 2 b "SERVICE"

but do u av 2 suffer suffer cos u wanna serve

The whole scheme is a waste of time, stress filled.etc,but we still have to do it.NYSC camp, was huge fun 4 me, cos i met alot of nice,funfilled pple and I learnt alot in d process as well, but as far as am concerned,thats d only necessary part of d whole scheme,every other tin was bullshit!! stress packed and dis comforting bt then,am glad am done wit that phase of ma life, (na to get better job now remain o)!! i ts kinda important though,cos most banks,prv coys requestfor the certificate.

Odada,  i like ur post. Pt I-III  of ur story is definetly,a journal., nice one though!,

scibaba, u look over fed yet you complained of food hmnmmm.

Odada,  i like ur post. Pt I-III  of ur story is definetly,a journal., nice one though!,

scibaba, u look over fed yet you complained of food hmnmmm.

Please who is currently serving in Ogun state?

i say d hole tin's js a waist of 11months

11months cos d 3weeks in camps funnnnnnnnnnnnnn

everytin else's bulls**t

I served in Zamfara. The camp experience was horrible in the first week but later was interesting as i made lots of friends. The weather was very cold in the night and blazing hot in the afternoon. I turned black. I served at a Govt. school in Gummi and it was a bit boring at first. But, let me tell you the truth. There was no single incident of hand-cutting or sharia stuff as its all political. You're free to wear anything but mustn't be too carried away as you can be followed around by the small children who will sing songs yabbing you. Its a bitter-sweet story that makes the experience worthwhile. But i would definitely never consider living there.

honestly the experience is not encouragin, its jst dat as human Nigerian youth we adapt 2 d condition/environment 2 survive.

moreso u av fellow corpers init wif u so ur not alone, immediately afta orientation u'll hate urslf, mostly wen u dnt get a desired place

but as days turn in2 months , u find urslf survivin but not wishin it lasts longa dan d 1year stipulated

orientation camp was rili rili fun

@agnesoseka
thanks alot baby,i actually do have a journal about my nysc experience which i intend to publish in the near future,i would want others to learn from it cos i had a whole lotta excapade :Dcheers

well after reading all the post on this topic about NYSC, my own contribution is that NYSC gives you the chance to serve your country, i dont know and cant understand why most young graduate are against the scheme.
though i dont have the chance to serve my father land, i got exempted due to age reason which makes me felt so bad.some people may say am lucky but i bet you am not cause i have only stay in the west all my life the NYSC scheme could have been an eye opener for me to meet with other people living in this my great country.
most people have the dream of leaving NIGERIA,they always talk about the opportunity other countries will give them, but have they ever stop to think what it cost the people of those country to make their country what it is today?
i believe so much in NIGERIA, an i will always contribute to the betterment of this country NIGERIA.
let me share this with you when i was in secondary school s.s.I to be prisece, a young man with the name Mr. Akinrinola was posted to my school, the guy was saddled with responsibility to teach my class mathematics (i was in science class).this guy will come to my class with goddy-goddy, in my class we are 25 students the guy always come with 15 goddy-goddy,after each class he will give us class work and the first 15 student to get it right will have their share to the goddy-goddy, this actually challenge everybody in my class to attend his class not that we cant afford the goddy-goddy but everybody want to show off that they are brilliant.if a corper can do this why can we all.
i will forever be greatful to that man, though i dont know where he is now but i will always remember him for his good work.
teaching should be a natural thing to everybody, if some people dont sarcrifice their life to teach will you be in this forum talking about how bad or unlucky NYSC make you feel.
please lets all embrace this scheme,chichi i believe this is an opportunity to contribute your own support to your country.
so think about it well,
so people sacrifice their life for america to be the best country in the world and some people sacrifice their life to make you a better person today, take a cue from this "think about what you for your country and not what your country will do for you"
a word is enough for the wise.
peace.
am out
bukky.

@bukiboi
u have truly spoken well for others to emulate even with the fact that u were exempted/its a case of 1mans food is another mans poison?cheers mate

bukiboy:

well after reading all the post on this topic about NYSC, my own contribution is that NYSC gives you the chance to serve your country, i don't know and can't understand why most young graduate are against the scheme.
though i don't have the chance to serve my father land, i got exempted due to age reason which makes me felt so bad.some people may say am lucky but i bet you am not cause i have only stay in the west all my life the NYSC scheme could have been an eye opener for me to meet with other people living in this my great country.
most people have the dream of leaving NIGERIA,they always talk about the opportunity other countries will give them, but have they ever stop to think what it cost the people of those country to make their country what it is today?
i believe so much in NIGERIA, an i will always contribute to the betterment of this country NIGERIA.
let me share this with you when i was in secondary school s.s.I to be prisece, a young man with the name Mr. Akinrinola was posted to my school, the guy was saddled with responsibility to teach my class mathematics (i was in science class).this guy will come to my class with goddy-goddy, in my class we are 25 students the guy always come with 15 goddy-goddy,after each class he will give us class work and the first 15 student to get it right will have their share to the goddy-goddy, this actually challenge everybody in my class to attend his class not that we can't afford the goddy-goddy but everybody want to show off that they are brilliant.if a corper can do this why can we all.
i will forever be greatful to that man, though i don't know where he is now but i will always remember him for his good work.
teaching should be a natural thing to everybody, if some people don't sarcrifice their life to teach will you be in this forum talking about how bad or unlucky NYSC make you feel.
please lets all embrace this scheme,chichi i believe this is an opportunity to contribute your own support to your country.
so think about it well,
so people sacrifice their life for america to be the best country in the world and some people sacrifice their life to make you a better person today, take a cue from this "think about what you for your country and not what your country will do for you"
a word is enough for the wise.
peace.
am out
bukky.

bukky i would say dont be sad that you were exempted ok. the only thing that i would say you miss is the camp experience and of course the possiblity of mixing with different people from different school, background and mentality. Thats basically all.

Not everybody is born to teach, some people could know and understand something, but do not have the ability to pass it on. Thats why we have teaching as a profession and Banking as a profession. The scheme is funny and not well planned. like i said in one of my past post, a doctor is always sent to an Hospital to practice in his field and build himself for one year. A computer scientist or engineer should be sent to his field too to make himself relevant in his society and start building his future. Majority of the graduates loose one year in there field when they come back from NYSC. Because they never had a chance to practive in there field.

If its about teaching. then everybody should teach nomatter where you are posted to. Sometime its not about the allowee, if we were learning sometihing relevant in that time we would gain from the scheme and the country would gain from our services. I just think the wohle thing could be better planned especially this posting stuff.

Abuja should have a list of all the registered companies, schools, hositals etc in th country and post according to your course of study. I think this method would make more sense.

agnesoseka:

Odada, i like your post. Pt I-III of your story is definetly,a journal., nice one though!,

scibaba, u look over fed yet you complained of food hmnmmm.

agnesoseka, im the good looking guy with the white NYSC canvas. The other well fed Guy is my course mate, the chiks we met in camp. Lovely set of people.